The 2022–23 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by sixth-year head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini played their home games at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 20–11, 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie in fifth place. As the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they were defeated by 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.
Previous season The Illini finished the 2021–22 season 23–10, 15–5 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for the regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they were defeated by No. 9 seed Indiana in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 4 seed in the South Region, where they defeated Chattanooga in the First Round before losing to Houston in the Second Round.
Offseason In a preseason scrimmage, Luke Goode broke his foot. He missed most of the season prior to returning in February. Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Reference Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk 13 F 6'8" 235 Redshirt Sophomore Lommel, Belgium Transferred to South Carolina Kofi Cockburn 21 C 7'0" 285 Junior Kingston, Jamaica Declared for 2022 NBA draft, went undrafted, signed with Utah Jazz André Curbelo 5 G 6'1" 175 Sophomore Vega Baja, Puerto Rico Transferred to St. John's Trent Frazier 11 G 6'2" 175 Senior Wellington, Florida Graduated, signed with KK FMP Jacob Grandison 3 G/F 6'6" 210 Graduate Student Oakland, California Transferred to Duke Austin Hutcherson 22 G 6'6" 190 Graduate Student New York City, New York Graduated Omar Payne 4 F 6'10" 240 Junior Kissimmee, Florida Transferred to Jacksonville Alfonso Plummer 11 G 6'1" 180 Graduate Student Fajardo, Puerto Rico Graduated Brandin Podziemski 0 G 6'5" 200 Freshman Muskego, Wisconsin Transferred to Santa Clara Da'Monte Williams 20 G 6'3" 215 Senior Peoria, Illinois Graduated, signed with U.D. Oliveirense
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Dain Dainja 42 F 6'9" 270 Redshirt Sophomore Brooklyn Park, Minnesota Baylor Matthew Mayer 24 G/F 6'9" 225 Graduate Student Austin, Texas Baylor Terrence Shannon Jr. 0 G 6'6" 215 Senior Chicago, Illinois Texas Tech
2022 recruiting class
Roster
Note: Skyy Clark and Zacharie Perrin left the team mid-season and were removed from the official Illini Roster page.
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=""| Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=""| Big Ten tournament
!colspan=12 style=""| NCAA Tournament
Rankings
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings.
References