The 2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Illini were led by seventh-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 defeated Wisconsin to win the Big Ten Tournament. The team was then awarded the #3 seed in the East region of the NCAA Tournament, in which they advanced their first Elite Eight since 2005. There they lost to the eventual champion, UConn 77–52.
The Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team drew an average home attendance of 14,990 in 18 games in 2023–24.
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.
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 Terrence 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 later that month on June 23.
In August, the Illini took a ten-day trip to Spain where they played and won three games against Spanish teams. 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 departureJayden EppsG6'2"190Suffolk, VirginiaTransferred to GeorgetownBrandon LiebC7'0"210Deerfield, IllinoisTransferred to Illinois StateRJ MelendezG/F6'7"205Arecibo, Puerto RicoTransferred to GeorgiaMatthew MayerF6'9"225Austin, TexasGraduated; Undrafted in 2023 NBA draft, signed with Houston RocketsSkyy ClarkG6'3"200Los Angeles, CaliforniaLeft team after 13 games. Transferred to LouisvilleZacharie PerrinF6'10"220Grandfontaine, FranceLeft team after one game. Returned to FranceConnor ServenF6'9"235Prairie City, IllinoisTransferred to Eastern MichiganPaxton WardenG6'4"180Glen Ellyn, IllinoisTransferred 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" 230 Graduate Student Quebec City Oregon Justin Harmon 4 CG 6'4" 200 Graduate Student Chicago, Illinois Utah Valley Keaton Kutcher 22 G 6'2" 200 Junior Mount Vernon, Iowa South Dakota Max Williams 25 G 6'2" 200 Senior Chicago, Illinois DePaul Source:
2023 recruiting class
Roster
Note: While listed above as a graduate student for NCAA eligibility purposes, Shannon is a fifth-year senior working towards his bachelor's degree.
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 and returned to action against Ohio State on January 30.
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=""|Spain trip
!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=""| Regular season
!colspan=9 style=""|Big Ten Tournament
!colspan=9 style=""|NCAA tournament
Source:
Rankings
References
External links
2023–24 Illinois MBB record book