Illinois basketball: 3 starting lineup options for 2020-2021 season

Worst-case scenario

• Point Guard: Andre Curbelo
• Shooting Guard: Da’Monte Williams
• Small Forward: Austin Hutcherson
• Power Forward: Giorgi Bezhanishvili
• Center: Kofi Cockburn

The loss of Dosunmu is expected at this point for Illinois, but his departure could have some ripple effects on Illinois’ lineup. Griffin’s transfer hurts in this case, but the Illini could also lose the commitment of Miller in our worst-case scenario.

Miller has not signed his letter of intent yet, and it is possible that he is waiting to see what Dosunmu, his former high school teammate, decides to do. If Dosunmu goes pro it is conceivable that Miller decommits and moves on, creating a new vacancy in Illinois’ starting five.

The hole in the lineup can be filled by incoming freshman Andre Curbelo, an underrated point guard prospect. Curbelo is a sneaky athletic point guard who can defend and has excellent court vision, which should serve him well as the facilitator of Illinois’ offense.

The Illini would then shift Williams over to the two, giving Curbelo a veteran presence next to him in the backcourt. The rest of the lineup from our previous scenario remains intact with most of the scoring burden falling to Hutcherson and Cockburn.

There isn’t too much of a difference between this lineup and the last one, but the drop off from Miller to Curbelo in the starting five hurts a bit. Illinois still has a tremendous team on paper and should be nationally ranked in our worst-case scenario, which means they have an excellent shot to reach the NCAA Tournament if all goes well.

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