Illinois basketball: 5 questions the Fighting Illini must answer in 2020

1. Will Illinois basketball be Big Ten contenders if Dosunmu and Cockburn return?

In a perfect world for Illinois basketball, Dosunmu and Cockburn return and the Fighting Illini take the Big Ten’s top spot and earn a high seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Frazier plays a final fulfilling chapter in his college career and earns Big Ten postseason honors and the recruiting class shows a great amount of promise for the future.

Hypothetically speaking, if Dosunmu and Cockburn were to return, Illinois’s starting lineup would be one of the best in the conference. Frazier, Dosunmu, Kipper Nichols, Bezhanishvili and Kofi Cockburn would be an excellent lineup. Fighting Illini fans would get to see what Frazier could do as a starting point guard, Dosunmu and Cockburn would continue to produce as the program’s best players and the team would have the reserves to supplement that lineup’s production and still be effective.

They would have to contend with the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans,  Wisconsin Badgers, Iowa Hawkeyes and Maryland Terrapins to name a few teams in order to claim ownership of the conference title.

Sadly for Fighting Illini fans, it’s more likely Dosunmu and Cockburn stay in the NBA Draft. They have a lot to be excited about this upcoming season because of the talented recruiting class they have. Grandison and Hutcherson are going to give them a big boost in all areas of the game and the upside of Miller, Andre Curbelo and Coleman Hawkins is high.

The Illini will be in good hands with those three players as the future of Illinois basketball.