# 2016–17 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by fifth-year head coach John Groce, the Illini played their home games at State Farm Center as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 20–15, 8–10 in Big Ten play to finish in ninth place. They lost in the second round of the Big Ten tournament to Michigan. They received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Valparaiso and Boise State before losing in the Quarterfinals to UCF.
On March 11, 2017, Illinois fired head coach John Groce. Shortly thereafter, the school announced that Assistant coach Jamall Walker would coach the team in the NIT. On March 18, the school hired Brad Underwood as the new head coach.

## Previous season

The Fighting Illini finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 15–19, 5–13 in Big Ten play to finish in 12th place in conference. The Illini defeated Minnesota and Iowa to advance to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament where they lost to Purdue.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Khalid Lewis | 3 | G | 6'3" | 185 | RS Senior | Trenton, NJ | Graduated |
| Mike LaTulip | 10 | G | 6'1" | 170 | Senior | Arlington Heights, IL | Graduated and transferred to Wright State |
| Kendrick Nunn | 25 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Junior | Chicago, IL | Dismissed due to domestic battery guilty plea, transferred to Oakland |

### Incoming transfers

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Drew Cayce PG | Libertyville, IL | La Lumiere (IN) / Creighton | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Jul 21, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, 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: ||||||

### 2016 recruiting class

On September 16, 2015, Te'Jon Lucas of Milwaukee, Wisconsin verbally committed to attend Illinois in the fall of 2016 and signed his National Letter of Intent to finalize his recruitment on November 11, 2015. Lucas attended the NBA Top 100 camp in June 2015, had scholarship offers from California, Memphis, Purdue, and Wisconsin, and he strongly considered both USC and Old Dominion before committing to Illinois. Lucas is only the third player from the State of Wisconsin to commit to Illinois, and is the first since 1926.
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Te'Jon Lucas PG | Milwaukee, WI | Washington (WI) | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Sep 16, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: 247Sports: 109 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, 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: "Illinois 2016 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015. "2016 Illinois Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015. "ESPN Recruiting Nation Basketball". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015. "Illinois 2016 Basketball Commits". 247sports.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Oct 30, 2016* 2:00 pm, BTN+ | | WashU | W 82–75 | | 20 – Morgan | 6 – Hill | 5 – Tate | State Farm Center (10,359) Champaign, IL |
| Nov 4, 2016* 7:00 pm, BTN+ | | Lewis | W 95–51 | | 16 – Coleman-Lands | 9 – Finke | 4 – Tate | State Farm Center (12,753) Champaign, IL |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 11, 2016* 8:00 pm, BTN | | Southeast Missouri State | W 81–62 | 1–0 | 21 – Hill | 8 – Hill | 6 – Tate | State Farm Center (10,790) Champaign, IL |
| Nov 13, 2016* 5:00 pm, BTN+ | | Northern Kentucky | W 79–64 | 2–0 | 40 – Hill | 12 – Hill | 3 – Tied | State Farm Center (10,888) Champaign, IL |
| Nov 15, 2016* 7:00 pm, BTN | | McKendree | W 112–65 | 3–0 | 18 – Tied | 10 – Thorne, Jr. | 8 – Tate | State Farm Center (10,135) Champaign, IL |
| Nov 18, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Detroit NIT Season Tip-Off | W 89–69 | 4–0 | 25 – Hill | 7 – Thorne, Jr. | 6 – Tate | State Farm Center (10,396) Champaign, IL |
| Nov 21, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Winthrop NIT Season Tip-Off | L 80–84 $^{OT}$ | 4–1 | 18 – Finke | 9 – Hill | 6 – Abrams | State Farm Center (9,502) Champaign, IL |
| Nov 24, 2016* 2:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. No. 19 West Virginia NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals | L 57–89 | 4–2 | 13 – Finke | 9 – Black | 4 – Tate | Barclays Center (2,451) Brooklyn, NY |
| Nov 25, 2016* 11:30 am, ESPNU | | vs. No. 25 Florida State NIT Season Tip-Off 3rd place game | L 61–72 | 4–3 | 18 – Hill | 11 – Black | 4 – Lucas | Barclays Center (3,713) Brooklyn, NY |
| Nov 29, 2016* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | NC State ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 88–74 | 5–3 | 22 – Hill | 9 – Hill | 4 – Hill | State Farm Center (13,481) Champaign, IL |
| Dec 3, 2016* 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. VCU Hoophall Miami Invitational | W 64–46 | 6–3 | 18 – Black | 8 – Black | 5 – Hill | American Airlines Arena Miami, FL |
| Dec 6, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | IUPUI | W 85–77 | 7–3 | 32 – Hill | 9 – Black | 6 – Abrams | State Farm Center (10,536) Champaign, IL |
| Dec 10, 2016* 2:00 pm, BTN+ | | Central Michigan | W 92–73 | 8–3 | 31 – Abrams | 11 – Thorne, Jr. | 5 – Tate | State Farm Center (13,045) Champaign, IL |
| Dec 17, 2016* 8:30 pm, BTN | | vs. BYU State Farm Chicago Legends | W 75–73 | 9–3 | 15 – Abrams | 10 – Morgan | 5 – Tate | United Center Chicago, IL |
| Dec 21, 2016* 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights | W 75–66 | 10–3 | 21 – Hill | 11 – Morgan | 6 – Tate | Scottrade Center (12,409) St. Louis, MO |
| Big Ten regular season |||||||||
| Dec 27, 2016 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Maryland | L 59–84 | 10–4 (0–1) | 21 – Hill | 7 – Hill | 2 – Tied | Xfinity Center (17,950) College Park, MD |
| Jan 1, 2017 6:00 pm, BTN | | Ohio State | W 75–70 | 11–4 (1–1) | 20 – Hill | 15 – Black | 3 – Hill | State Farm Center (12,221) Champaign, IL |
| Jan 7, 2017 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | at No. 25 Indiana Rivalry | L 80–96 | 11–5 (1–2) | 21 – Tied | 4 – Tied | 4 – Lucas | Assembly Hall (16,506) Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 11, 2017 8:00 pm, BTN | | Michigan | W 85–69 | 12–5 (2–2) | 16 – Morgan | 8 – Nichols | 8 – Lucas | State Farm Center (11,404) Champaign, IL |
| Jan 14, 2017 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Maryland | L 56–62 | 12–6 (2–3) | 15 – Morgan | 4 – Lucas | 9 – Black | State Farm Center (14,002) Champaign, IL |
| Jan 17, 2017 6:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 21 Purdue | L 68–91 | 12–7 (2–4) | 15 – Morgan | 6 – Black | 5 – Hill | Mackey Arena (13,920) West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 21, 2017 1:15 pm, BTN | | at Michigan | L 57–66 | 12–8 (2–5) | 16 – Hill | 5 – Hill | 4 – Hill | Crisler Center (12,234) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Jan 25, 2017 8:00 pm, BTN | | Iowa Rivalry | W 76–64 | 13–8 (3–5) | 17 – Finke | 7 – Tied | 6 – Lucas | State Farm Center (11,787) Champaign, IL |
| Jan 28, 2017 3:30 pm, BTN | | at Penn State | L 67–71 | 13–9 (3–6) | 19 – Hill | 7 – Tied | 7 – Hill | Bryce Jordan Center (10,202) University Park, PA |
| Jan 31, 2017 8:00 pm, BTN | | No. 10 Wisconsin | L 43–57 | 13–10 (3–7) | 10 – Tied | 4 – 4 Tied | 2 – 3 Tied | State Farm Center (12,334) Champaign, IL |
| Feb 4, 2017 3:30 pm, BTN | | Minnesota | L 59-68 | 13-11 (3-8) | 16 – Nichols | 11 – Morgan | 6 – Hill | State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL |
| Feb 7, 2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 68–61 | 14–11 (4–8) | 14 – Hill | 9 – Hill | 6 – Lucas | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,614) Evanston, IL |
| Feb 11, 2017 1:00 pm, BTN | | Penn State | L 70–83 | 14–12 (4–9) | 14 – Hill | 5 – Finke | 7 – Lucas | State Farm Center (13,010) Champaign, IL |
| Feb 18, 2017 1:00 pm, BTN | | at Iowa Rivalry | W 70–66 | 15–12 (5–9) | 21 – Hill | 8 – Hill | 5 – Finke | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,400) Iowa City, IA |
| Feb 21, 2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | Northwestern Rivalry | W 66–50 | 16–12 (6–9) | 18 – Hill | 10 – Morgan | 5 – Hill | State Farm Center (11,206) Champaign, IL |
| Feb 26, 2017 6:30 pm, BTN | | at Nebraska | W 73–57 | 17–12 (7–9) | 19 – Hill | 5 – Black | 6 – Abrams | Pinnacle Bank Arena (14,236) Lincoln, NE |
| Mar 1, 2017 8:00 pm, BTN | | Michigan State | W 73–70 | 18–12 (8–9) | 22 – Hill | 7 – Black | 4 – Hill | State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL |
| Mar 4, 2017 11:00 am, ESPNU | | at Rutgers | L 59–62 | 18–13 (8–10) | 16 – Morgan | 8 – Morgan | 7 – Hill | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,706) Piscataway, NJ |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| Mar 9, 2017 12:00 pm, BTN | (9) | vs. (8) Michigan Second Round | L 55–75 | 18–14 | 23 – Abrams | 7 – Finke | 3 – Lucas | Verizon Center (12,189) Washington, D.C. |
| NIT |||||||||
| Mar 14, 2017* 6:15 pm, ESPN2 | (2) | (7) Valparaiso First Round – Illinois State Bracket | W 82–57 | 19–14 | 25 – Hill | 12 – Black | 6 – Lucas | State Farm Center (4,719) Champaign, IL |
| Mar 20, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPN | (2) | (6) Boise State Second Round – Illinois State Bracket | W 71–56 | 20–14 | 18 – Abrams | 10 – Black | 7 – Lucas | State Farm Center (5,713) Champaign, IL |
| Mar 22, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2) | at (4) UCF Quarterfinals – Illinois State Bracket | L 58–68 | 20–15 | 29 – Hill | 7 – Black | 6 – Lucas | CFE Arena (10,011) Orlando, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||