There’s a lot of news each day. Illini Inquirer will try to make it easier to digest each weekday morning with the Daily Digest.
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Illinois basketball after winning its first share of the Big Ten regular-season championship since 2005 had Monday off before reconvening for practice on Tuesday. The Illini have claimed one banner this season but now will shift their focus to the postseason, starting with this week’s Big Ten Tournament when it is the No. 1 seed and open play 10:30 am Friday against either No. 8 seed Michigan or no. 9 seed Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Stats to know
- Only three times has a program won back-to-back Big Ten Tournaments: Michigan State (1999, 2000), Ohio State (2010, 2011) and Michigan (2017, 2018).
- the no 1 seed has made the championship in 12 of 25 Big Ten Tournaments and has won the tournament nine times.
- Illinois is 31-20 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament with seven championship game appearances, including three wins (2003, 2005, 2021).
The Illini are looking for a better reset after winning this title. Illinois coach Brad Underwood has admitted this month that his team was so focused on winning the Big Ten Tournament last March — the team felt it deserved a share of the regular-season title last season after winning two more games than Big Ten champion Michigan, which did not make up three games canceled due to COVID-19 — that the team wasn’t mentally prepared for the NCAA Tournament, which started later in the week. Underwood thinks that may have contributed to the Illini’s highly-disappointing second-round loss to No. 8 seed Loyola Chicago.
- But the Illini seem to have learned from last season’s early exit.
Underwood said on Monday: “This will no longer be the focus of anyone’s attention that’s in the Ubben complex. It’s move on to the next and get them going again. …We’ve got to learn from last year. We’ve got to learn from winning the Big Ten Tournament championship last year. We had such a quick turn last year. We never left the hotel. We never left Indy. At least now, it’s the end of the regular season, and it’s the start of postseason and we can identify that. We’ll push reset, and we’ll be a little better. These guys have a little experience with it.”
Illinois senior guard Trent Frazier said on Sunday: “When we wake up tomorrow, we should kind of erase this. It’s a new season. We’ve got to prep for Friday. That’s got to be our mindset. Obviously, we got to take this break and recover, but when we get back in the gym, our mindset’s got to be we can’t lose no more games. Us being vets, we got to come in with the mindset of setting the tone and the energy to have our guys ready, mentally prepared for what’s ahead of us in Indianapolis and moving forward into March.”
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Kofi Cockburn on Tuesday was named to the First Team All-Big Ten Team for a second straight season, and Trent Frazier and Alfonso Plummer were named Second and Third Team All-Big Ten, respectively. Frazier also was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team for a second straight season.
- Cockburn — who is second in the conference in scoring and first in rebounds — was joined on the All-Big Ten First Team by Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis (the Big Ten Player of the Year), Iowa’s Keegan Murray, Ohio State’s EJ Liddell and Purdue’s Jaden Ivey. Davis, Murray and Cockburn were all named First Team All-Americans by Sporting News and Sports Illustrated.
- Frazier, who returned to Illinois for a fifth season, is third on the Illini in scoring (12.1 points) and leads the team in steals (1.4) and assists (4.0). In an extra season of eligibility, Frazier has risen to No. 5 on the Illini’s all-time scoring list with 1,773 points.
- Plummer has been among the Big Ten’s most dangerous 3-point shooters. Plummer, the lone transfer to make an All-Big Ten Team, currently leads the Big Ten in made 3-pointers (91) and is shooting 41.7% from beyond the arc, second among qualified shooters. His 91-made 3-pointers this season rank No. 4 are the fourth-most by an Illini in a single season, and he has the chance to pass Cory Bradford (96) and Dee Brown (99) before the season ends for No. 2 on the list behind Luther Head (116).
Why it matters: This is the first season Illinois has had three players named to the three All-Big Ten teams since 2005 when Dee Brown (1st), Deron Williams (1st), Luther Head (1st) and James Augustine (3rd) were named All Big Ten.
All-American again: Cockburn, a consensus Second Team All-American last season, is well on his way to consensus First Team All-America honors. He has now been named a First Team All-American by Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News. Cockburn will be just the third Illini to twice be named a consensus All-American, joining Dee Brown (2005, 2006) and Andy Phillip (1942, 1943)
Player of the Year: Johnny Davis, Wisconsin
Coach of the Year: Greg Gard, Wisconsin
Freshman of the Year: Malaki Branham, Ohio State
Defensive Player of the Year: Caleb McConnell, Rutgers
Sixth Man of the Year: Trevion Williams, Purdue
All Big Ten First Team
All Big Ten Second Team
All Big Ten Third Team
Honorable mention
All Freshman Team
All-Defensive Team
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In the interest of transparency, this was my All-Big Ten ballot I submitted, agonizing Player and Coach of the Year until 20 minutes before the deadline.
Thought Davis, Murray and Cockburn were all deserving and thought Underwood, Gard, Pikiell and McCaffery all deserving too. pic.twitter.com/r80XoAXcIT
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) March 8, 2022
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Illinois was one of many schools to reach out to Lafayette transfer center Neal Quinn, 247Sports’ Travis Branham reports. The 7-footer averaged 14.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, four assists and 1.4 blocks per game this season, shooting 54.5% from the field.
- Quinn also heard from NC State, Georgia Tech, Butler, Loyola Chicago, Richmond, Seton Hall and Ohio State, Branham reports.
Quinn told 247Sports: “Loyola and Richmond stood out. I can tell that they like me and think I would be a great fit. I’m looking forward to continuing talking with more programs as well.”
Why it matters: Illinois is doing its due diligence on big-man transfers, which suggests Kofi Cockburn, who went through Senior Day festivities on Sunday could indeed go pro — not a surprise for a two-time All-American, but returning for a fourth season is an option due to NIL — and that Illinois still wants to add competition to a potential post rotation of Coleman Hawkins, Dain Dainja, Omar Payne and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk.
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Illinois baseball lost 4-2 to Eastern Illinois in its 2022 home opener at Illinois Field on Tuesday. Illinois (3-7) managed just five hits against four Panthers (7-3) pitchers, two from Cam McDonald, who hit his first home run of the season scored both of the Illini’s runs. The Illini left 10 men on base. Six Illinois pitchers scattered eight hits over nine innings, but the Illini allowed runs on a field error and a wild pitch.
- The Illini have lost five of six.
What’s next: The Illini head to Bowling Green (Ky.) this weekend to play Western Kentucky in a three-game series.
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Kerby Joseph
With just 50 days from the NFL Drafthere is where some of the major media outlets ranks the Illinois football draft prospects.
ESPN
CBS Sports
Pro Football Focus
Sports Illustrated
The Athletic
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Have a great Wednesday! Glad Packers fans could finally get some good QB news…
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