Nov. 4—There are very few questions about the top eight in Shauna Green’s rotation (A possible double-post look? Freshman guard Gretchen Dolan’s role?) with 23rd-ranked Illinois raising the curtain on the 2023-24 season on Tuesday at home against Morehead State. Illini beat writer Joe Vozzelli breaks down how he sees the Illini’s rotation shaping up right now:
Makira Cook
Hometown: Cincinnati
➜ Position: Guard
➜ Height: 5-6
➜ Number: 3
➜ What she did last season: That whole difficult transition to the Big Ten? It wasn’t really an issue for Cook. That much was evident when she dropped 33 points in 39 minutes in her Big Ten debut, a 65-61 loss at Indiana. Cook would go on to become a consensus All-Big Ten selection as a junior after averaging 18.3 points and 4.2 assists while propelling Illinois to its first NCAA tournament appearance in two decades.
➜ How she can improve: Consistency shooting the ball. Especially from beyond the arc. Cook went through a shooting slump, starting in mid-January, that lasted seven games (4 of 33 on her three-point attempts, 12.1 percent). Cook shot the ball relatively well last season (41.4 percent overall, 34.2 percent from three-point range), but being able to avoid those cold spells, or at least not having prolonged ones, will help Illinois better navigate the Big Ten grind this winter.
➜ What her role will be this season: As cliche as it sounds, the Illini go, as Cook goes. Hence, her role as the team’s point guard. Shauna Green has said multiple times this offseason that Cook is in a good place both mentally and confidence wise. That should bode well for Illinois this upcoming season. It’s clear Cook has made an even greater commitment to film work before her senior year in an effort to counteract the attention she’s sure to receive again from opposing defenses.
Genesis Bryant
➜ Hometown: Jonesboro, Ga.
➜ Position: Guard
➜ Height: 5-6
➜ Number: 1
➜ What she did last season: Bryant was exhibit A of taking advantage of the benefits of the transfer portal. Lightly used in two seasons in Raleigh, N.C., the North Carolina State transfer thrived during year one in C-U. After coming off the bench for Illinois’ first 11 games, Bryant broke into the starting five in mid-December and never looked back, putting up 15.2 points and 3.6 assists per game en route to collecting second team All-Big Ten honors.
➜ How she can improve: Reducing turnovers. Bryant led the Illini in that stat while splitting point-guard duties with Makira Cook at times. Cook was better at taking care of the ball, though, with 71 turnovers while playing more minutes (1,018) compared to Bryant, who had 84 turnovers in 908 minutes. Sure, Bryant joined Cook in dishing out 100-plus assists, but the Illini need Bryant to straddle the assist/turnover line more effectively for Illinois to become a more efficient offensive team.
➜ What her role will be this season: Repeating her first season in the Big Ten would be a good place to start. Bryant plays in a way that can be a real catalyst with a smooth three-point shot and the willingness to step in and take a charge on defense. Even in practice. Green would like to see Bryant not lay her body on the line quite so often in practice (for obvious reasons), but that style has also endeared the humble Georgia native to her teammates.
Adalia McKenzie
➜ Hometown: Brooklyn Park, Minn.
➜ Position: Guard
➜ Height: 5-10
➜ Number: 24
➜ What she did last season: As one of five holdovers from the Nancy Fahey era, McKenzie quickly made herself a fan favorite, especially to the young girls who waited around for an autograph from her after home wins. On the court, McKenzie embraced the fresh start afforded by the new coaching staff as an every game starter for Green and got better in a lot of key areas during her sophomore season with the Illini, including points (13.6), rebounds (6.1) and steals (1.4) per game.
➜ How she can improve: McKenzie is very good at getting downhill to the bucket. But still isn’t the kind of finisher that Cook or Bryant are at the rim from the guard position. There’s also the issue of McKenzie’s free-throw shooting. That she made 64.6 percent of her attempts last season was an improvement from her freshman-year numbers (57.6). But Illinois needs McKenzie to take another leap in that regard, especially with how good the former four-star recruit is at drawing contact.
➜ What her role will be this season: McKenzie again playing the third wheel in a talented backcourt led by Makira Cook and Genesis Bryant isn’t the worst thing that could happen to Illinois. The fact McKenzie has yet to show her full potential and was still one of the team’s most-improved players on the Illini’s 22-10 squad last season should be considered a good sign. Developing into one of the top two-way guards in the Big Ten appears to be the ceiling for McKenzie entering her junior year.
Brynn Shoup-Hill
➜ Hometown: Goshen, Ind.
➜ Position: Forward
➜ Height: 6-3
➜ Number: 23
➜ What she did last season: Last winter might as well have been Shoup-Hill’s first true college season. Sure, she got on the floor as a freshman at Dayton, but she still only played 139 minutes the entire season. Following Shauna Green from Dayton to Illinois was the right choice for Shoup-Hill, who started all 28 games she played in and averaged 6.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. The Flyers, meanwhile, struggled under new coach Tamika Williams-Jeter during the 2022-23 season and went 7-21.
➜ How she can improve: Few players on Illinois shot the ball better than Shoup-Hill from behind the three-point line. Her 40.0-percent efficiency ranked fourth on the Illini last season. Where Shoup-Hill wasn’t as effective was as a rebounder. Shoup-Hill did not reach the 10-rebound mark in a single game last season. The closest Shoup-Hill got to double-digit boards was pulling down nine rebounds three times (twice in wins against Minnesota during Big Ten play and a nonconference victory at Butler last December).
➜ What her role will be this season: If Green keeping the same starting five from last season in place for Illinois’ 121-60 exhibition-game rout of Division II school Truman State on Monday night is any indication, expect Shoup-Hill to reprise her role. Shoup-Hill looked like her old self, too, after she was slowed by a foot injury late last season into the NCAA tournament. The junior forward put up 12 points, nine rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and one steal in 21 minutes in the Illini’s lone exhibition game.
Kendall Bostic
➜ Hometown: Kokomo, Ind.
➜ Position: Forward
➜ Height: 6-2
➜ Number: 44
➜ What she did last season: Like Adalia McKenzie, Bostic stayed in place through the coaching change from Nancy Fahey to Shauna Green. It was a roundabout way that Bostic and Green wound up as player and coach, respectively. Bostic spurned Dayton for Michigan State as a high school recruit only to transfer to Illinois for Fahey’s final season and then remain on board once Green took over in March 2022. The end result was good for all parties, with Bostic a second-team all-conference performer last winter.
➜ How she can improve: Three-point shooting. The Illini don’t need Bostic to shoot the ball like Makira Cook, Genesis Bryant or Brynn Shoup-Hill. But the threat of a three-point shot would make Bostic a matchup nightmare. The forward was 6 of 22 from beyond the arc as a freshman at Michigan State but has yet to carry that part of her game over from East Lansing, Mich., to C-U, with Bostic 0 of 25 on three-point attempts at Illinois
➜ What her role will be this season: Bostic and Green laughed before last season’s NCAA tournament First Four game about the subject of the former’s height. “What, (6-foot-1) on a good day,” Green asked Bostic a day before the Illini’s 70-56 season-ending loss to Mississippi State. “In basketball shoes,” Bostic replied back. Truth be told, Bostic is one of the best rebounders in the Big Ten despite being undersized by post-player standards. That Bostic could average a double-double over an entire season is very realistic.
Jada Peebles
➜ Hometown: Raleigh, N.C.
➜ Position: Guard
➜ Height: 5-10
➜ Number: 11
➜ What she did last season: The longest-tenured Illini player got her reward after a tough few years. Peebles nearly left Illinois behind, entering the transfer portal after Nancy Fahey retired from coaching. Even after Peebles opted to stay, she underwent offseason ankle surgery that prevented her from being at full strength until a few weeks into the 2022-23 season. Though initially unsure about her new role, Peebles shined as a spark off the bench for Illinois.
➜ How she can improve: The veteran guard was the Big Ten’s version of a catch-and-shoot specialist. Peebles hit 45.2 percent of her three-point attempts. Only six players in Division I women’s college basketball last season had a higher three-point efficiency (Indiana’s Yarden Garzon was the only high-major-conference player ahead of Peebles, with Garzon making 45.8 percent). But Peebles was also only a 38.6-percent shooter (22 of 57) on non-three-pointers. That made it easier for opposing teams to guard her on a nightly basis.
➜ What her role will be this season: Peebles, who turned 23 on Oct. 27, could be a three-and-D player for the Illini during her final college season. A few weeks ago at a practice, Illini coach Shauna Green singled out Peebles in front of the entire team and said her vision for the fifth-year senior was as a “lockdown defender.” Green said Peebles’ defense was “solid” last season but nothing close to what the Illinois coach has seen from Peebles this summer into the fall.
Camille Hobby
➜ Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla.
➜ Position: Center
➜ Height: 6-3
➜ Number: 41
➜ What she did last season: Hobby sat behind All-American center Elissa Cunane for three seasons at North Carolina State before getting her opportunity for coach Wes Moore’s Wolfpack. Hobby was one of only two players on the team to start all 32 games last winter, averaging career-highs in points (8.8), rebounds (4.2) and minutes (21.3) per game, as N.C. State finished with a 20-12 record and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Princeton as a No. 7 seed.
➜ How she can improve: Double-doubles. No, seriously. Hobby has zero double-doubles in 113 career games. Even more surprising? Hobby’s single-game high in terms of rebounds is nine. Sure, Hobby has only 33 career starts with all but one of them coming last season, but Illinois needs Hobby to be far more effective on the glass. Hobby had five rebounds (all on the defense boards) to go with 12 points on 6 of 9 shooting in 16 minutes during her Illini debut in Monday’s exhibition game against Truman State.
➜ What her role will be this season: Can Illinois make a double-post look work this winter with Hobby and Kendall Bostic on the floor together? To be determined. Adjusting to the pace the Illini want to play at is among the challenges facing Hobby ahead of her one and only season in C-U. Hobby will likely come off the bench to start. Whether that changes might not be known until Illinois reaches the new year when the Illini will play a bulk of their 18-game Big Ten schedule.
Gretchen Dolan
➜ Hometown: Buffalo, N.Y.
➜ Position: Guard
➜ Height: 5-11
➜ Number: 5
➜ What she did last season: Scored a lot of points. Dolan capped her standout preps career by becoming the first girls’ basketball player from western New York to be named Miss New York Basketball, an award that dates to 1986, after a final year stat line that saw Dolan average 38.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 3.7 steals, 1.7 blocks per game. Dolan finished with 2,622 points for her high school career at Williamsville South.
➜ How she can improve: Defense. The quickest way to find yourself sitting on the bench next to Shauna Green? Not playing sound defense. Dolan had a few defensive mistakes in Illinois’ exhibition game, mostly going under a couple of screens. Understandable for a freshman. Still, Green will expect Dolan, who celebrated her 19th birthday on Wednesday, and the rest of the newcomers to quickly develop the attention to detail the Illini coach demands on the defensive end. Or else. It’s really that simple.
➜ What her role will be this season: Green hasn’t shied away from saying she believes Dolan will play a key part in helping Illinois this winter. What that looks like remains to be seen. The fact is the Illini won’t go more than eight deep with their rotation means Dolan will have plenty of competition for playing time with Duke transfer forward Shay Bollin also in the mix to be that eighth player in the rotation for Illinois.
