Illini Power Rankings: Now We Find Out For Sure

It is an undeniable truth--if an annoying one, for diehards like you and me and everyone else who reads a site like this--that the only thing anyone remembers about your college basketball program is what they do in the tournament. I've been thinking about this specific basketball team essentially every minute since mid-November; the first thing I did after running the New York Marathon this year was reward myself with the Illini opener against EIU. All the ups and downs, all the optimism, all the grotesquerie, all the moments when I thought this team might have the most talent of any Illini team of the last 20 years, all the moments when I thought they might just lose to a squad composed of middle-aged geese, those memories will all vanish and be replaced by whatever happens in the next week. The tournament means so much--too much. The tournament is why we held onto Bruce Weber too long (imagine if Illinois loses that game to Arizona; does he make it another 48 months? That win alone earned him four years); it's why we kept believing in John Groce more than we should have (missing the Sweet 16 by one terrible call against Miami made us keep thinking we were just about to turn the corner); it's why Underwood had so many skeptics until he made the Elite Eight last year (and why so many returned in February). One little game changes whole decades of your team's history. It's why the tournament is so great. But it's also why it's so annoying. Everything comes down to the next week. It's almost too much. The rent is too damn high.

Thus, as we write our final Power Rankings of the year--barring a Final Four trip, and hey, who knows?--it's clear the referendum on this season will be settled by the next week. Personally, I'm in this camp:

Lose in first round: This season was a failure and moves should be made in the offseason to make sure it is not repeated.
Lose in second round: This season was an experiment, or maybe just a first draft, and it can be built upon. You would have liked to have done a little better, you'll always wonder what could have been, but all told, you can call it a push.
Reach Sweet 16: The season is a success. The risks Underwood took with this roster ultimately paid off. The journey was worth it.
Reach Elite Eight: We have entered a new golden age of Illinois basketball.
Reach Final Four: Hey, it looks like Leitch just tried to take his pants off over his head.

Is this fair? To gauge an entire basketball program on one game, or two games, or three? It is not. But that is what college basketball is. That is what we signed up for. The plane's already in the air. I guess we gotta ride this all the way.

As always, these rankings are ridiculous, uninformed and written primarily as a nervous tic. There may be nothing I think about more than the Illinois men's basketball team. My name is Will Leitch, a contributing editor at New York magazine, a columnist at The Washington Post, national correspondent for MLB.com and author of seven books, including the novels How Lucky, The Time Has Come and the upcoming Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride, which comes out next May and I would not be against you pre-ordering, were you to feel so inclined. I also write a free weekly newsletter about parenthood and living through these tumultuous times that you might enjoy: You can find it here. I am (somehow, still) perhaps best known as being the founder of the late sports website Deadspin, though I’d prefer you think of me as “former Daily Illini sports editor” and "forever Mattoon Green Wave."

Thank you for letting me scratch this itch once last time this year.

Also, join my newsletter's free NCAA Pool. Winner gets a signed copy of the new book and gets to become my newsletter's assigning editor; you get to force me to write about anything in the world you want.

Men's: RIGHT HERE.
Women's: RIGHT HERE.

11 and 12. AJ Redd, Keaton Kutcher (previously: 11, 12).
I was at the Big Ten Tournament all weekend--I went with my father, my three uncles from Mattoon and my son; credit to the teenager, he watched every game with me but the title game and wasn't even staring at his phone the whole time--and I was glad these two got some minutes the Iowa game. (Carey Booth sure didn't.) But you know which Illini relative unknown I spent the most time watching in the pregame lay-up line? Jason Jakstys. I guess I just didn't realize how huge he was? He's 6-foot-10, and it looks like he has fully embraced the Body by Fletch system. I don't know how it'll work out, of course, I only watched him shoot unguarded jumpers and pick up rebounds, but I was instantly intrigued. I'll put it this way: I'd have taken my chances with him against those Maryland monsters inside more than this next guy.

10. Carey Booth (previously: 9).
Pretty telling that he didn't get into the Iowa game or the Maryland game, not even for a second. Take away that random 3-pointer he hit in during the final minute (his only minute) in the Michigan game, his last appearance was, and will surely remain, that Duke game. I wish Booth all the best, but he's definitely going to win the Niccolo Moretti Award for "guy I totally forgot played for the Illini even when I'm watching a random conference tournament game in which he is figuring prominently." You can watch Moretti in the Dayton-FAU NIT game on Wednesday night, by the way; he gets about 20 minutes a game for the Owls. Booth may have to transfer down to, like, Chicago State to get that many.

9. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (previously: 6).
It's a serious bummer to see DGL's season end like this. At times this year, he was precisely the spark this sometimes lethargic team needed, and for a week or so, I'd even talked myself into wondering if he could even be a lead guard alongside Boswell next year. The last fortnight or so has me convinced he probably just needs a change of scenery, to go to a team that has a logical place for an undersized off-guard who goes on deliriously fun streaks when he's confident and disappears into the latticework when he isn't. The rest of his Illini career looks like it'll consist of checking into games for KJ or Boswell at the last break before a TV timeout to sneak them an extra minute of rest. It's a shame. This still might be my most viscerally thrilling highlight from this season.

8. Jake Davis (previously: 7).
Interesting fact about Jake Davis this year: He has taken exactly six free throws. That's as many as AJ Redd! (Still two more than Carey Booth, though.) That's kind of an issue, considering how often (thanks to injuries, the flu and mono) he has had to play underneath and/or guard bigs rather than sitting on the perimeter waiting for someone to throw him the ball like he should be. He is without question the worst defensive player on the team, though it's more a size thing than an effort one. He's a little savvier, positioning-wise, than you'd think, but asking him to rebound or guard or even set a solid screen is asking too much. He is to stand out there and shoot. That's it. Any more than that, he's in trouble. And so are we.

7. Ben Humrichous (previously: 8).
Humrichous has been a little better since the nightmare that was the Duke game--I know everyone was bad that game, but seriously, Humrichous was Biblically bad--but he definitely feels like he's in Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations Land now, both with the fanbase and with Underwood. When he hits a shot--and, in the most 2024-25 Illini stat ever, he still somehow leads the team in 3-point percentage at 35 percent--or is able to not get dunked on when someone posts up on him, he gets polite applause, the way you give your five-year-old an atta-boy when he doesn't strike out. Also, every time he tries to booty ball, I miss Marcus Domask a little bit more. I understand what he provides for the offense, that the spacing is important, particularly if you have Morez in there, but as this rotation continues to tighten, there seems to be less and less space for Humrichous in it. He has had a frustrating season, but that's the thing about the tournament: All it takes is one perfect shot, at one perfect time, to erase the past and become a legend. He might just hit one.

6. Tre White (previously: 5).
We've seen the right Tre for a few weeks now--this is why Underwood chose him over Ty. White, I find, is more a symptom of Illini success than a cause of it. If he's getting clear cuts to the basket and open 3-pointers in the corner, the Illini offense is working the way it's supposed to; if he doesn't, it's not. He's had some more luck with his dribble-fade-aways lately, but I'd rather him not make a habit of it. He is a perfect role player for this team when it's clicking. The question: Moving forward, will that be enough for him? That's a problem for next year, though--not this week. Of note: I noticed in Indy that out of all the players on the roster, he's the one Underwood seems to yell at the most.

5. Morez Johnson Jr. (previously: 10).
I'm actively surprised he's back, but he looked like the same old Morez in Indianapolis, minus a little conditioning; the week off should help him out there some. (Also, I cannot get enough of the story about the Illini alum whose cast company, founded at the U of I, helped his wrist heal faster. Yeah, science!) He is integral to everything the Illini want to do, particular now that Will Riley has become more of a creator; he's precisely the sort of big target Riley can find when he's rolling to the rim. Hopefully he'll encourage Tomislav to make his passes higher too. My only worry about him in this tournament is that we'll be getting a bunch of refs who haven't been watching him all year and thus will think a bunch of those terrific defends he does are (wrongly) fouls. It's very possible he picks up two quick fouls in the first half and disappears exactly when we need him most. But yeah: I think he might actually be my favorite player on this team, and I hope he plays here for four years, or maybe just the rest of both of our lives.

4. Kasparas Jakucionis (previously: 2).
I'm just gonna say it: Y'all are being way too harsh on KJ. Yes, he's had a rough month or so, and yes, he tries to do too much and dribbles himself into trouble far more often than is logical, or even sane. He's still:

**** Able to beat just about anybody guarding him off the dribble.
**** A guy who is going to have the name "Illinois" next to his announced at NBA stadiums for the next decade.
**** The guy I trust with the ball most in the closing seconds.
**** Eighteen years old.

Look: I know he's a one-and-done guy, and since Illinois hasn't had a one-and-done guy before, our fans have this bizarre idea that he's supposed to be an All-American and do everything right, all the time. That is absolutely not how it works. I live in Athens, Georgia, and I'm a longtime season ticket holder for Georgia basketball. I was here the year Anthony Edwards--who is going to have a pro career that's far, far better than the one that KJ will have, even if everything clicks exactly right for him--played for Georgia, and I'm telling you: It was a terrible season. Edwards didn't care about being here, he constantly solo'd with the ball, he'd have games where he'd shoot, like, 3-for-19 and his team was terrible. More than anything, he was desperate to leave, something that was obvious to everyone watching, including his teammates.

That is 100 percent not the case with KJ. He is struggling like young players often struggle, but the idea that somehow he hasn't been "enough," that more should be expected of him, is absurd. What Jonathan Givony thinks of KJ has nothing to do with what we should think of him. Stop punishing him with future expectations. He's still the most talented player on the roster, he plays hard (I love how he's been rebounding lately), and his teammates obviously adore him. (That bit where Boswell had him take the Fran technical foul shots against Iowa warmed this Illini fan's cold heart.)

And remember: This is what he did in his last moment at State Farm Center.

Get off the kid's case. He's awesome. He's going through it right now. He might not get it back in time for a big tourney win, though I do think he has a Kemba Walker-like run in him. C'mon, guys. KJ is a gift. Let's be grateful.

3. Will Riley (previously: 4).
Riley's emergence of late--and now he's starting to hit threes again too--has also ramped up the pressure on KJ; maybe this is the future pro one-and-doner, not him? Most draft boards (Givony excepted) do not actually have Riley nearly as high as the growing presumption that he's leaving after this year would suggest. If he's not a guaranteed top 20 pick (and he's not), I actually think it would be a mistake for him to go pro. (That is not the same thing as saying that he will certainly return to Illinois. The best way for him to maximize his income would probably be to go the Coleman Hawkins route and offer his services to the highest bidder.) But he has looked like the better prospect over the last month. His court vision is so much stronger than I thought it was going to be; he's fantastic at finding the weirdest, most effective angle to get the ball to the big dude trailing his drives to the basket. It should be said that he was a little bit more tentative against Maryland; he seems to be as scared of those big dudes underneath as the rest of us. This version of Riley is a true pleasure to watch. But next year I think he'd be a superstar--for someone. Hopefully us. In a big moment, though? In the biggest moment? I'm not sure he's the one I want with the ball. I'd be delighted to be proven wrong on that one, though.

2. Tomislav Ivisic (previously: 1).
I knew we were cooked in the Maryland game when he picked up the foul on the very first possession. Getting Ivisic out of there should be the first priority for any opponent; nothing works nearly as well without him. I still wish he'd knock it off with the bounce pass–-dude, you are so tall--and he does tend to pull the trigger finger a little faster than I'd like. But when everything is clicking, he is kind of like the Illini Jokic: The center of the offense, a guy who can do a little bit of everything, the one whose mere presence allows everyone else to be the best version of themselves. It's funny that people interchange him and Morez, because their games are so inherently different. (Their size is the only thing they have in common.) He's not topping this list, just because the guy who is has turned into the leader this team has so desperately needed. But he's irreplaceable, in every possible way.

1. Kylan Boswell (previously: 3).
Is it a coincidence that, now that he has clearly taken control of this team, now that he's finally finding open lanes to the basket (and hitting the layups, at last), now that he's back to being the huge pain on defense he was at his best ... is it a coincidence that the 3-pointers are starting to fall? Whatever the challenge Underwood gave him after the Duke was, it was a challenge verily accepted: It's like Boswell took the team right then and decided to make it his. Everything this team has been good at since that Duke game has been because it's playing more like: It's driving more, it's playing tighter on-ball defense, it's hitting a few more 3-pointers, it's playing with legitimate passion at times. Boswell is the one player on this team with a sincere local connection, and you see it coming out. I think he's going to make the All-Big Ten team next year. He's not the best player on the team. He's not the most talented player on the team. He's not even the most important player on the team. But I do think he's the heart of the team. And that might be what this team needed more than anything else, all along.

So! How's this gonna end? You've been watching this team just like I have. I feel like a first-round exit is as likely as an Elite Eight bid. We all know they're capable of laying an egg out of nowhere; they just did that the last time we saw them, after all. But I choose to believe. This is an extremely talented team. As inconsistent as they are, I do find them a likable team. And I want to remember them fondly. I think we'll still be watching Illinois basketball a week from now. I'm in. There's a whole new world out there. Let's go.

And just in case you weren't ready to run through a wall yet: One last time.

Twenty years, friends. I'm not sure I've ever been happier than I was when that shot went in. It remains, all these years later, what pure joy looks like. Let's see if we can make it happen again.

I'll see you all on the other side.

Will Leitch is a contributing editor at New York Magazine, columnist for The Washington Post, national columnist for MLB, and the founder of the late sports website Deadspin. Subscribe to his free weekly newsletter and buy his novels “How Lucky,” and "The Time Has Come” from Harper Books. And pre-order his next book, "Lloyd McNeil's Last Ride," which will be released on May 20, 2025.