2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by third-year head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini played their home games at State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Illini finished the season 21–10, 13–7 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place. Their season ended following the cancellation of postseason tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1]

2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 22
AP	No. 21
Record	21–10 (13–7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Brad Underwood (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Orlando Antigua (3rd season) Stephen Gentry (1st season) Ron Coleman (3rd season)
Captains	Ayo Dosunmu Andres Feliz
Home arena	State Farm Center
Seasons ← 2018–19 2020–21 →

2019–20 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 17 Wisconsin	14	–	6		.700			21	–	10		.677
No. 9 Michigan State	14	–	6		.700			22	–	9		.710
No. 12 Maryland	14	–	6		.700			24	–	7		.774
No. 21 Illinois	13	–	7		.650			21	–	10		.677
No. 25 Iowa	11	–	9		.550			20	–	11		.645
Penn State	11	–	9		.550			21	–	10		.677
No. 19 Ohio State	11	–	9		.550			21	–	10		.677
Rutgers	11	–	9		.550			20	–	11		.645
Michigan	10	–	10		.500			19	–	12		.613
Purdue	9	–	11		.450			16	–	15		.516
Indiana	9	–	11		.450			20	–	12		.625
Minnesota	8	–	12		.400			15	–	16		.484
Northwestern	3	–	17		.150			8	–	23		.258
Nebraska	2	–	18		.100			7	–	25		.219
The 2020 Big Ten tournament was canceled prior to the second round due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Illini finished the 2018–19 season 12–21, 7–13 in Big Ten play and finished in a three-way tie for 10th place. Due to the tie-breaking rules, they received the No. 11 seed in the Big Ten tournament where they defeated Northwestern in the first round before losing to Iowa in the second round.^[2]

Offseason

The Illini took a trip to Italy and compiled a 3-1 record, beating the three Italian teams they faced and losing to the Dutch team. Cockburn and Feliz did not come on the trip due to visa issues.^[3]

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Drew Cayce	3	G	6'1"	175	RS Junior	Libertyville, IL	Graduated
Adonis de La Rosa	12	C	7'0"	265	RS Senior	Bronx, NY	Graduated
Anthony Higgs	22	F	6'8"	215	Freshman	Baltimore, MD	Transferred to Chipola College
Aaron Jordan	23	G	6'5"	210	Senior	Plainfield, IL	Graduated
Samba Kane	34	C	7'0"	220	Freshman	Dakar, Senegal	Transferred to Indian Hills Community College

2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk PF	Lommel, Belgium	KA Pegasus	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jun 8, 2019
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Kofi Cockburn C	Kingston, Jamaica	Christ the King (NY) / Oak Hill Academy (VA)	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	290 lb (130 kg)	Jan 6, 2019
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (89)
Jermaine Hamlin C	Lincoln, Illinois	Lincoln	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	240 lb (110 kg)	Aug 20, 2019
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Overall recruit ranking:    Rivals: 58    247Sports: 70    On3: 56
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Illinois Commits". Rivals. "ESPN- Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals. "2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team". 247Sports. "2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team". On3.

Roster

2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Alan Griffin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Oak Park and River Forest HS/Archbishop Stepinac HS White Plains, New York G 1 Trent Frazier 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Wellington High School (FL) West Palm Beach, Florida F 2 Kipper Nichols 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Sr St. Edward High School (OH) Cleveland, Ohio G/F 3 Jacob Grandison  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Phillips Exeter Academy / Holy Cross Oakland, California F 4 Zach Griffith (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Fisher High School Fisher, Illinois F 5 Tevian Jones 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Culver City High School Culver City, California G 10 Andrés Feliz (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr West Oaks Academy/Northwest Florida State Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic G 11 Ayo Dosunmu (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Morgan Park High School Chicago, Illinois F 13 Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk   6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr KA Pegasus Lommel, Belgium F 15 Giorgi Bezhanishvili 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So St. Patrick High School Rustavi, Georgia G 20 Da'Monte Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Manual High School Peoria, Illinois C 21 Kofi Cockburn 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 290 lb (132 kg) Fr Oak Hill Academy (VA) Kingston, Jamaica G 22 Austin Hutcherson  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Hun School of Princeton / Wesleyan New York City G 32 Tyler Underwood (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) GS Nacogdoches High School / Oklahoma State Nacogdoches, Texas F/C 34 Jermaine Hamlin 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Lincoln Lincoln, Illinois G 35 Samson Oladimeji (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr William Fremd High School Rolling Meadows, Illinois	Head coach Brad Underwood (Kansas State) Assistant coach(es) Orlando Antigua (Pittsburgh) Ron Coleman (Lamar) Stephen Gentry (Gonzaga) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 6, 2019

Note: Alan Griffin would later be removed from the roster site due to transferring out of the program.

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Italy Trip
August 6, 2019* 12:00 p.m.		at CUS Insubria	W 118-56	1–0	27 – Dosunmu	11 – Griffin	5 – Dosunmu	(273) Varese, Italy
August 7, 2019* 1:00 p.m.		at Gazzada All-Stars	W 112-63	2–0	31 – Griffin	9 – Bezhanishvili	8 – Williams	(763) Gazzada Schianno, Italy
August 9, 2019* 1:00 p.m.		at Livorno All-Stars	W 107-74	3-0	26 – Dosunmu	10 – Jones	4 – Williams	(337) Livorno, Italy
August 10, 2019* 12:00 p.m.		vs. The Netherlands National B Team	L 72-82	3–1	27 – Dosunmu	6 – Tied	4 – Dosunmu	(171) Roma, Italy
Exhibition
November 1, 2019* 8:00 p.m., BTN Plus		Lewis	W 83–50	0–0	16 – Cockburn	11 – Cockburn	4 – Dosunmu	State Farm Center (12,867) Champaign, IL
Regular season
November 5, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus		Nicholls	W 78–70 OT	1–0	23 – Feliz	11 – Tied	4 – Frazier	State Farm Center (10,034) Champaign, IL
November 8, 2019* 8:00 pm, WCIX		at Grand Canyon	W 83–71	2–0	23 – Cockburn	14 – Cockburn	6 – Dosunmu	GCU Arena (7,498) Phoenix, AZ
November 10, 2019* 8:00 p.m., P12N		at No. 21 Arizona	L 69–90	2–1	15 – Dosunmu	10 – Feliz	4 – Dosunmu	McKale Center (13,780) Tucson, AZ
November 18, 2019* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU		Hawaii O’ahu Classic	W 66–53	3–1	15 – Cockburn	14 – Cockburn	5 – Feliz	State Farm Center (11,589) Champaign, IL
November 20, 2019* 8:00 p.m., BTN		The Citadel O’ahu Classic	W 85–57	4–1	18 – Cockburn	17 – Cockburn	5 – Frazier	State Farm Center (11,196) Champaign, IL
November 23, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus		Hampton O’ahu Classic	W 120–71	5–1	20 – Dosunmu	13 – Cockburn	5 – Tied	State Farm Center (9,732) Champaign, IL
November 26, 2019* 7:00 pm, BTN Plus		Lindenwood O’ahu Classic	W 117–65	6–1	24 – Dosunmu	8 – Cockburn	9 – Feliz	State Farm Center (9,712) Champaign, IL
December 2, 2019* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2		Miami (FL) ACC–Big Ten Challenge	L 79–81	6–2	23 – Cockburn	8 – Bezhanishvili	5 – Bezhanishvili	State Farm Center (11,819) Champaign, IL
December 7, 2019 4:00 p.m., ESPN2		at No. 3 Maryland	L 58–59	6–3 (0–1)	13 – Frazier	8 – Tied	3 – Dosunmu	Xfinity Center (16,690) College Park, MD
December 11, 2019 8:00 p.m., BTN		No. 5 Michigan	W 71–62	7–3 (1–1)	19 – Cockburn	10 – Cockburn	3 – Dosunmu	State Farm Center (13,277) Champaign, IL
December 14, 2019* 5:00 p.m., BTN		Old Dominion	W 69–55	8–3	15 – Griffin	9 – Cockburn	4 – Bezhanishvili	State Farm Center (13,276) Champaign, IL
December 21, 2019* 12:00 pm, SECN		vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights	L 56–63	8–4	21 – Dosunmu	6 – Griffin	2 – Bezhanishvili	Enterprise Center (15,259) St. Louis, MO
December 29, 2019* 1:00 p.m., ESPNU		North Carolina A&T	W 95–64	9–4	26 – Cockburn	9 – Cockburn	5 – Bezhanishvili	State Farm Center (13,676) Champaign, IL
January 2, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1		at No. 14 Michigan State	L 56–76	9–5 (1–2)	18 – Dosunmu	9 – Cockburn	4 – Frazier	Breslin Student Events Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI
January 5, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1		Purdue	W 63–37	10–5 (2–2)	16 – Griffin	12 – Griffin	6 – Feliz	State Farm Center (12,153) Champaign, IL
January 8, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN		at Wisconsin	W 71–70	11–5 (3–2)	18 – Dosunmu	6 – Cockburn	6 – Dosunmu	Kohl Center (16,108) Madison, WI
January 11, 2020 11:00 a.m., BTN		Rutgers	W 54–51	12–5 (4–2)	18 – Dosunmu	17 – Cockburn	2 – Tied	State Farm Center (11,070) Champaign, IL
January 18, 2020 4:00 p.m., BTN	No. 24	Northwestern Rivalry	W 75–71	13–5 (5–2)	16 – Frazier	7 – Cockburn	6 – Dosunmu	State Farm Center (14,131) Champaign, IL
January 21, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPNU	No. 21	at Purdue	W 79–62	14–5 (6–2)	22 – Cockburn	15 – Cockburn	11 – Dosunmu	Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN
January 25, 2020 11:00 a.m., FS1	No. 21	at Michigan	W 64–62	15–5 (7–2)	27 – Dosunmu	7 – Dosunmu	2 – Dosunmu	Crisler Center (12,707) Ann Arbor, MI
January 30, 2020 6:30 p.m., FS1	No. 19	Minnesota	W 59–51	16–5 (8–2)	17 – Feliz	10 – Cockburn	4 – Bezhanishvili	State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL
February 2, 2020 12:00 p.m., FS1	No. 19	at No. 18 Iowa Rivalry	L 65–72	16–6 (8–3)	17 – Feliz	6 – Tied	3 – Dosunmu	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,056) Iowa City, IA
February 7, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1	No. 20	No. 9 Maryland	L 66–75	16–7 (8–4)	16 – Dosunmu	9 – Griffin	4 – Dosunmu	State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL
February 11, 2020 8:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 22	Michigan State	L 69–70	16–8 (8–5)	17 – Dosunmu	9 – Dosunmu	4 – Frazier	State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL
February 15, 2020 3:30 p.m., BTN	No. 22	at Rutgers	L 57–72	16–9 (8–6)	14 – Griffin	10 – Cockburn	4 – Feliz	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ
February 18, 2020 5:30 p.m., FS1		at No. 9 Penn State	W 62–56	17–9 (9–6)	24 – Dosunmu	7 – Tied	4 – Williams	Bryce Jordan Center (9,506) University Park, PA
February 24, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN		Nebraska	W 71–59	18–9 (10–6)	18 – Dosunmu	10 – Cockburn	3 – Tied	State Farm Center (15,354) Champaign, IL
February 27, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN		at Northwestern Rivalry	W 74–66	19–9 (11–6)	24 – Griffin	14 – Cockburn	7 – Feliz	Welsh–Ryan Arena (7,039) Evanston, IL
March 1, 2020 1:00 p.m., BTN		Indiana Rivalry	W 67–66	20–9 (12–6)	17 – Dosunmu	7 – Feliz	4 – Feliz	State Farm Center (15,554) Champaign, IL
March 5, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 23	at No. 19 Ohio State	L 63–71	20–10 (12–7)	21 – Dosunmu	11 – Feliz	5 – Dosunmu	Value City Arena (16,382) Columbus, OH
March 8, 2020 6:00 p.m., BTN	No. 23	No. 18 Iowa Rivalry	W 78–76	21–10 (13–7)	17 – Dosunmu	8 – Cockburn	8 – Dosunmu	State Farm Center (15,554) Champaign, IL
Big Ten tournament
Canceled
NCAA Tournament
Canceled
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[4]

Rankings

See also: 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	24	21	19	20	22	RV	RV	23	21	21
Coaches	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	—	—	RV	22	19	21	23	RV	RV	22-T	22	22

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings