2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 10
Record	15–5 (6-3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Brad Underwood (7th season);
Assistant coaches	Chester Frazier (3rd season); Tim Anderson (3rd season); Geoff Alexander (4th season);
Home arena	State Farm Center
	Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

2023–24 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 Purdue	17	–	3	.850	34	–	5	.872
No. 6 Illinois †	14	–	6	.700	29	–	9	.763
Nebraska	12	–	8	.600	23	–	11	.676
Northwestern	12	–	8	.600	22	–	12	.647
Wisconsin	11	–	9	.550	22	–	14	.611
Indiana	10	–	10	.500	19	–	14	.576
Iowa	10	–	10	.500	19	–	15	.559
Michigan State	10	–	10	.500	20	–	15	.571
Minnesota	9	–	11	.450	19	–	15	.559
Ohio State	9	–	11	.450	22	–	14	.611
Penn State	9	–	11	.450	16	–	17	.485
Maryland	7	–	13	.350	16	–	17	.485
Rutgers	7	–	13	.350	15	–	17	.469
Michigan	3	–	17	.150	8	–	24	.250

† 2024 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represents the University of Illinois during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Illini are led by seventh-year head coach Brad Underwood. The Illini play their home games at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference.

Previous season

The Illini finished the 2022–23 season 20–13, 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. As the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost to Penn State in the second round. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 9 seed in the West Region where they lost to Arkansas in the First Round.^[1]

Offseason

Niccolo Moretti joined the Illini for the second semester of the 2022-2023 academic year and took part in practice and officially joined the team this season.

After declaring for the 2023 NBA draft, both Terrance Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins withdrew and returned to the Illini. Jeremiah Williams committed to transfer to Illinois on June 1, 2023, but later withdrew that commitment and rejoined the transfer portal on June 23, 2023.

In August, the Illini took a ten-day trip to Spain where they played and won three games against Spanish teams.^[2] None of the games were televised but the Illini provided a link to stream the second game for free on Vimeo.

Departures

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Jayden Epps	G	6'2"	190	Freshman	Suffolk, Virginia	Transferred to Georgetown
Brandon Lieb	C	7'0"	210	Junior	Deerfield, Illinois	Transferred to Illinois State
RJ Melendez	G/F	6'7"	205	Sophomore	Arecibo, Puerto Rico	Transferred to Georgia
Matthew Mayer	F	6'9"	225	Graduate Student	Austin, Texas	Graduated; Undrafted in 2023 NBA draft, signed with Houston Rockets
Skyy Clark	G	6'3"	200	Freshman	Los Angeles, California	Left team after 13 games. Transferred to Louisville
Zacharie Perrin	F	6'10"	220	Freshman	Grandfontaine, France	Left team after one game. Returned to France
Connor Serven	F	6'9"	235	Junior	Prairie City, Illinois	Transferred to Eastern Michigan
Paxton Warden	G	6'4"	180	Freshman	Glen Ellyn, Illinois	Transferred to Lewis University

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Marcus Domask	3	G/F	6'6"	215	Graduate Student	Waupun, Wisconsin	Southern Illinois
Quincy Guerrier	13	G/F	6'8"	220	Graduate Student	Quebec City	Oregon
Justin Harmon	4	CG	6'4"	180	Graduate Student	Chicago, Illinois	Utah Valley
Keaton Kutcher	22	G	6'2"	205	Junior	Mount Vernon, Iowa	South Dakota
Max Williams	25	G	6'2"	192	Junior	Chicago, Illinois	DePaul

Source:^[3]

2023 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Amani Hansberry PF	Baltimore, Maryland	Mount Saint Joseph	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Nov 9, 2022
Amani Hansberry PF	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 84
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn CG	Raleigh, North Carolina	Word of God	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Nov 9, 2022
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn CG	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 82
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Terrence Shannon Jr.	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	GS	Texas Tech	Chicago, Illinois
G	1	Sencire Harris	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	So	St. Vincent–St. Mary	North Canton, Ohio
G	2	Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Word of God	Raleigh, North Carolina
G/F	3	Marcus Domask	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	GS	Southern Illinois	Waupun, WI
G	4	Justin Harmon	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	GS	Utah Valley	Chicago, IL
G	5	AJ Redd (W)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	So	St. Ignatius	Chicago, Illinois
G/F	10	Luke Goode	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Homestead	Fort Wayne, Indiana
G	11	Niccolo Moretti	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	RS Fr	NBA Global Academy (Australia)	Bologna, Italy
G/F	13	Quincy Guerrier	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	GS	Oregon	Montreal, Quebec
G/F	20	Ty Rodgers	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	So	Thornton Township	Saginaw, Michigan
G	22	Keaton Kutcher (W)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	South Dakota	Mount Vernon, Iowa
G	25	Max Williams (W)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	Jr	DePaul	Chicago, Illinois
F	33	Coleman Hawkins	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Prolific Prep	Sacramento, California
F	35	Amani Hansberry	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Mount Saint Joseph	Baltimore, Maryland
F/C	42	Dain Dainja	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	RS Jr	Baylor	Brooklyn Park, Minnesota

Head coach

Brad Underwood (Kansas State)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: 12/28/2023

Roster Movement

Shannon was suspended prior to the December 29 game against FDU and became eligible to play again January 19. Moretti suffered a foot injury during the November 19 game against Southern and suited up for the January 14 game against Maryland, but did not play until the following game against Michigan. Hansberry began sitting out games with back spasms starting with the game against Purdue on January 5.

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Spain trip
August 6, 2023* 12:00 p.m.		at Madrid All-Stars	W 84–73	1–0	16 – Dainja	15 – Dainja	4 – Shannon Jr.	WiZink Center (122) Madrid, Spain
August 9, 2023* 12:00 p.m., Vimeo		at Valencia International Basketball Academy	W 105–60	2–0	25 – Shannon Jr.	9 – Tied	5 – Hawkins	L’Alqueria Del Basket (242) Valencia, Spain
August 13, 2023* 5:00 a.m.		at Catalonia All-Stars	W 103–69	3–0	19 – Hansberry	11 – Tied	4 – Moretti	Palau d'Esports Josep Mora (152) Barcelona, Spain
Exhibition
October 20, 2023* 8:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 25	Ottawa (KS)	W 116–65		18 – Shannon Jr.	12 – Hansberry	6 – Domask	State Farm Center (15,154) Champaign, IL
October 29, 2023* 5:00 p.m., BTN	No. 25	No. 1 Kansas Maui Strong Fund game	W 82–75		28 – Shannon Jr.	9 – Guerrier	3 – Rodgers	State Farm Center (12,592) Champaign, IL
Regular season
November 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 25	Eastern Illinois	W 80–52	1–0	18 – Gibbs-Lawhorn	8 – Hansberry	3 – Tied	State Farm Center (15,014) Champaign, IL
November 10, 2023* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 25	Oakland	W 64–53	2–0	15 – Shannon Jr.	10 – Guerrier	5 – Tied	State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL
November 14, 2023* 7:00 p.m., FS1	No. 23	No. 4 Marquette Gavitt Tipoff Games	L 64–71	2–1	21 – Shannon Jr.	10 – Guerrier	3 – Hawkins	State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL
November 17, 2023* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 23	Valparaiso	W 87–64	3–1	22 – Shannon Jr.	9 – Harmon	4 – Shannon Jr.	State Farm Center (14,894) Champaign, IL
November 19, 2023* 7:00 p.m., BTN	No. 23	Southern	W 88–60	4–1	24 – Shannon Jr.	9 – Domask	4 – Shannon Jr.	State Farm Center (12,012) Champaign, IL
November 24, 2023* 8:00 p.m., BTN		Western Illinois	W 84–52	5–1	19 – Shannon Jr.	15 – Guerrier	4 – Rodgers	State Farm Center (13,051) Champaign, IL
December 2, 2023 3:00 p.m., BTN	No. 24	at Rutgers	W 76–58	6–1 (1–0)	23 – Shannon Jr.	10 – Shannon Jr.	3 – Tied	Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ
December 5, 2023* 5:30 p.m., ESPN	No. 20	vs. No. 11 Florida Atlantic Jimmy V Classic	W 98–89	7–1	33 – Tied	6 – Domask	3 – Tied	Madison Square Garden (17,873) New York, NY
December 9, 2023* 11:00 a.m., CBS	No. 20	at No. 17 Tennessee	L 79–86	7–2	22 – Tied	7 – Goode	4 – Hawkins	Thompson–Boling Arena (21,678) Knoxville, TN
December 17, 2023* 12:00 p.m., BTN	No. 16	Colgate	W 74–57	8–2	16 – Hawkins	8 – Tied	5 – Rodgers	State Farm Center (14,026) Champaign, IL
December 22, 2023* 8:00 p.m., FS1	No. 13	vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 97–73	9–2	30 – Shannon Jr.	11 – Shannon Jr.	7 – Domask	Enterprise Center (18,485) St. Louis, MO
December 29, 2023* 8:00 p.m., BTN	No. 11	Fairleigh Dickinson	W 104–71	10–2	19 – Dainja	15 – Rodgers	11 – Domask	State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL
January 2, 2024 8:00 p.m., BTN	No. 9	Northwestern Rivalry	W 96–66	11–2 (2–0)	32 – Domask	10 – Guerrier	6 – Domask	State Farm Center (15,118) Champaign, IL
January 5, 2024 7:30 p.m., FS1	No. 9	at No. 1 Purdue	L 78–83	11–3 (2–1)	26 – Domask	10 – Guerrier	6 – Hawkins	Mackey Arena (14,876) West Lafayette, IN
January 11, 2024 8:00 p.m., FS1	No. 10	Michigan State	W 71–68	12–3 (3–1)	15 – Tied	7 – Hawkins	5 – Domask	State Farm Center (14,727) Champaign, IL
January 14, 2024 1:00 p.m., BTN	No. 10	Maryland	L 67–76	12–4 (3–2)	26 – Domask	7 – Hawkins	5 – Rodgers	State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL
January 18, 2024 7:30 p.m., FS1	No. 14	at Michigan	W 88–73	13–4 (4–2)	21 – Hawkins	14 – Guerrier	4 – Hawkins	Crisler Center (10,919) Ann Arbor, MI
January 21, 2024 12:00 p.m., BTN	No. 14	Rutgers	W 86–63	14–4 (5–2)	18 – Harmon	11 – Guerrier	5 – Domask	State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL
January 24, 2024 8:00 p.m., BTN	No. 10	at Northwestern Rivalry	L 91–96 ^OT	14–5 (5–3)	22 – Tied	13 – Hawkins	6 – Domask	Welsh–Ryan Arena (7,039) Evanston, IL
January 27, 2024 2:00 p.m., FOX	No. 10	Indiana Rivalry	W 70-62 [1]	15-5 (6-3)	16 – Domask	10 – Domask	4 – Domask	State Farm Center (15,554) Champaign, IL
January 30, 2024 6:00 p.m., Peacock		at Ohio State						Value City Arena Columbus, OH
February 4, 2024 5:30 p.m., BTN		Nebraska						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
February 10, 2024 1:00 p.m., CBS		at Michigan State						Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
February 13, 2024 6:00 p.m., Peacock		Michigan						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
February 17, 2024 4:30 p.m., FOX		at Maryland						Xfinity Center College Park, MD
February 21, 2024 5:30 p.m., BTN		at Penn State						Bryce Jordan Center University Park, PA
February 24, 2024 1:15 p.m., BTN		Iowa Rivalry						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
February 28, 2024 8:00 p.m., BTN		Minnesota						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
March 2, 2024 12:00 p.m., BTN		at Wisconsin						Kohl Center Madison, WI
March 5, 2024 6:00 p.m., Peacock		Purdue						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
March 10, 2024 6:00 p.m., FS1		at Iowa Rivalry						Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA
Big Ten Tournament
March 13–17, 2024 Peacock/BTN		vs. TBA						Target Center Minneapolis, MN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source:^[4]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	25	23	RV	24	20	16	13	11	9	10	14	10								Not released
Coaches	RV	23	22	24	18	16	11	9	8	10	14	11

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings.

References

^ "Illinois 63–73 Arkansas (Mar 16, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
^ Niekerk, Maaike. "Illini men's basketball set for ten day pre-season trip to Spain". Retrieved July 29, 2023.
^ "2023 Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball Transfers". ON3.com. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
^ "2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule". Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved November 19, 2023.

[1] "Illinois 63–73 Arkansas (Mar 16, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved May 29, 2023.

[2] Niekerk, Maaike. "Illini men's basketball set for ten day pre-season trip to Spain". Retrieved July 29, 2023.

[3] "2023 Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball Transfers". ON3.com. Retrieved May 29, 2023.

[4] "2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule". Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved November 19, 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)
Rivalries	Indiana Iowa Missouri Northwestern
Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics