2023-10-09 22:52:10
Head coach Shauna Green made her second appearance at Big Ten Basketball Media Days since taking over at the helm of the Fighting Illini women’s basketball program in March 2022. One year following describing a vision for an Illinois team that had won just seven games the season prior to her arrival, Green has a full year under her belt. And what a year it was.
The Orange and Blue finished the 2022-23 campaign with a 22-10 record, their most wins in over two decades, and they ultimately earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. Illinois earned a spot in the Associated Press top-25 poll, snapping a 23-year absence, while Makira Cook put together one of the best seasons in program history in her first season in Champaign. Cook became the first Illini player since 2010 to earn All-Big Ten first-team honors by both conference coaches and media, and she was one of four players to earn all-conference status.
Cook was one of three Illinois student-athletes – alongside two other 2022-23 All-Big Ten honorees, Kendall Bostic and Genesis Bryant – who made the trip to Minneapolis to represent the program heading into the second season of the Shauna Green era in Champaign.
As the Illini head into the 2023-24 with even bigger goals and aspirations, here are five takeaways from Illinois’ appearance at Big Ten Basketball Media Days on Monday.
Green is incredibly excited regarding how her roster has taken shape
When Green first arrived in Champaign, she inherited a significantly depleted roster, bringing in eight new faces to create a new-look team with a lot of unknowns. While the Illini approached this offseason looking to add more talent to the roster, Green and her staff knew what they were looking for, allowing the group to create some depth following dealing with issues last year.
Illinois made a splash in the transfer portal, adding fifth-year center Camille Hobby from N.C. State and rising sophomore forward Shay Bollin from Duke. The Orange and Blue also brought in a strong recruiting class of freshmen Cori Allen and Gretchen Dolan, both of whom might play big roles for Green’s squad this season.
The four newcomers will provide much-needed depth to an already talented and experienced Illini roster, though Green is especially excited to return all five starters from last season’s team.
“I’m excited regarding this group, and it’s nice to now have a year under our belt with returners coming back who understand expectations, our standards, our system, and our style,” Green said. “It’s very nice to have our returning five starters back, and we added some depth this year with two freshmen and two transfers. We really needed depth last year. We just were not deep enough, so we addressed some spots we knew we needed to get better at.”
Green made sure to spotlight Dolan, who joins the Illini following an incredible high-school career in New York. The Illinois head coach says Dolan has quickly learned and caught on to the team’s system, style of play, and defensive schemes. Green foresees a bright future for the true freshman not only this year, but for seasons to come.
“I knew she was a good player, but just seeing how quickly she’s transitioned and caught on to stuff, she’s ahead of the game for a freshman, and I think she’s really going to help us,” Green said. “Gretchen might be really, really good, and she’s going to be really, really good. She’s going to be able to help us right away with her ability to score.
“She’s a great player, but she’s a great kid. She loves the game. You can tell she’s a coach’s kid, loves the game, loves to put the work in, so I’m really excited regarding her.”
Illini prioritize returning to the NCAA Tournament following snapping their 20-year drought in 2023
The Orange and Blue earned a spot among the 68 best teams in the nation following hearing their name called on Selection Sunday for the first time in 20 years. Illinois received a berth into the Big Dance and took part in the NCAA Tournament First Four, which took place once morest Mississippi State in South Bend, Ind.
After entering the contest with 22 wins, the Illini’s incredible year came to a close in its NCAA Tournament opener, falling to the Bulldogs at Purcell Pavilion. Though the season finale came early into the tournament, Green is still extremely proud of her squad in her first year with the program.
“I think all of our dreams and hopes and goals were to make an NCAA Tournament,” Green said. “That’s what you want to do every year. That’s what you want to accomplish, but to be able to do that in year one was really, really special for our team and our staff. It’s a testament to these players who bought in right away, were willing to do the work, willing to do the hard things over and over and over to get us to somewhere we hadn’t been in 20 years.”
Cook, who was making her second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance following playing in the competition in 2022 with Dayton, says the continued community support was one of her favorite parts of the experience. She will be a key piece of the puzzle heading her senior season as the Illini look to return to the biggest stage in women’s college basketball for back-to-back years for the first time since 1999-2000.
“We have a lot of work to do in order to accomplish that, but that’s our goal,” Green said. “That’s what these guys are working for nonstop, and that’s the vision of where we want to get to.”
Green, Bostic look to continue to embrace the high-paced style of play on the court
One of the biggest parts of the Illini’s identity is playing fast, and this season will be no different. Green emphasizes intense defense, the Phoenix transition, and scoring in under six seconds when possible, a reason why Illinois averaged over 75 points per game while allowing 65.
Bostic says this mindset has been an outstanding success following she was a member of the program’s seven-win season in 2021-22. Averaging nearly a double-double every game, Bostic has thrived under Green’s leadership, and she will continue to play a big role on the glass and in the paint.
“The intensity and the philosophy of basketball were really some things that changed from my first year here to last year,” Bostic said. “All coaches have different philosophies, and I really think Shauna’s philosophy is best for this program. The defensive intensity, the principles, all that stuff was different. I think last year was a big learning process for us, so I really think this year, we’re going to be able to build off of what we did last year instead of having to relearn everything.”
One year in with her staff, along with the addition of assistant coach Britney Anderson, Green is excited to maintain that identity and continue to improve following a fifth-place finish in conference play last season.
“I thought we were pretty good in terms of how fast we played, but I still think we can get a lot better,” Green said. “Now, having a year of experience of running our Phoenix transition, it all starts with our defense. Everyone says they want to run, but you have to build a defend and then rebound in order to play that fast and free. Continuing to tighten up those things, be more disciplined, and then obviously rebounding. I think the experience of a year with our transition will help us play a little bit faster.”
Green is encouraged by the team’s harder non-conference schedule heading into year two
The Illini completed the first non-conference schedule of Green’s tenure with a 10-1 record, tying their most wins over out-of-conference opponents in a single campaign in program history. While Green wants to replicate that early-season success once more this year, she also emphasized creating a tougher non-conference schedule to prepare the team for a difficult Big Ten slate.
Illinois will play two 2023 NCAA Tournament teams during its nonconference schedule, taking on Marquette in Milwaukee in a true road game and Notre Dame in Washington D.C. as part of the Citi Shamrock Classic. The Orange and Blue will also participate in the West Palm Beach Classic (opponents TBD) and play seven non-conference opponents at State Farm Center, including Missouri in the McBride Homes Braggin’ Rights game.
“Our non-conference schedule, we upped it from last year, which was needed, and we’ll continue to hopefully add to that in terms of the competition level that we have,” Green said. “This league is so deep this year, and it’s going to be another really tough battle every single night with every single team in this conference.”
Illinois will begin the second year of the Shauna Green era and the 2023-24 season once morest Truman State in an exhibition game at State Farm Center on Oct. 30. The Illini’s regular-season opener will be held on Nov. 7 in Champaign once morest Morehead State.
With the Orange and Blue voted to finish fifth in the preseason poll by conference coaches, Green is eager for her squad to take the court once once more and build on a strong debut season at Illinois.
“One year has made a big difference in where we’re at as a program, so I’m really excited to start year two,” Green said. “Obviously, last year we made some strides in our program. Definitely not where we want to get to, but it’s a great start. Practices are going really well, and I’m super excited to get going.”
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