Brad Underwood, coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini, firmly believes that you can never have too much of a good thing.

In fact, he would take more if he could. Instead, Underwood will have to settle for the loaded roster he has heading into this college basketball season. The Illini have signed 10 new players, including two potential lottery picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Is it a problem to find playing time for everyone? Absolutely not.

“I'm not going to believe that you can have too much,” Underwood said. “That's an excuse. People who say that don't have it. We're going to figure it out.”

The Illini have signed players like Morez Johnson, Jason Jakstys and Will Riley from high school, as well as Ben Humrichous (Evansville), Kylan Boswell (Arizona), Tre White (Louisville), Carey Booth (Notre Dame) and Jake Davis (Mercer) from the transfer portal. Not to mention Kasparas Jakucionis and
Tomislav Ivsisic from Lithuania and Croatia.

Ivsisic and Riley are already on NBA teams' radar as potential one-and-done players, and Underwood believes all 10 new additions could end up in the starting lineup at some point this season.

“We spent a lot of time studying character, studying the guys that we know fit what we do,” Underwood said. “I think we were very intentional and tried not to neglect the character, the talent, the specific needs of these guys. We're versatile. We can play really big. You see Ben playing the three. You see a smaller backcourt emerging. You see a lot of things happening.”

Shandel Richardson is the editor of Illini Now. He can be reached at [email protected]

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