Star-crossed Illinois loses another key player to injury
The most snake-bitten team in college basketball will be without another key player to start the season.
Illinois announced Tuesday that starting guard Kendrick Nunn will miss about eight weeks as a result of the left thumb injury he suffered in practice last week. The junior is scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday to repair ligament damage in the thumb.
Nunn’s injury is merely the latest blow to an Illini team that has lost a handful of key players during the past few months.
Starting point guard Tracy Abrams tore his Achilles tendon over the summer and will miss the entire season for the second straight year. Potential impact transfer Darius Paul got sent home from the team’s European tour a couple weeks later and was eventually dismissed from the program. Sophomore forward Leron Black tore his meniscus earlier this month and could miss the start of the season, while top freshman Jalen Coleman-Lands is still not yet back at full strength as a result of a stress fracture that sidelined him for three months this offseason.
If the eight-week timetable for Nunn proves accurate, he’d miss the team’s first nine games including tough matchups with Providence, Notre Dame, UAB and either Iowa State or Virginia Tech. The 6-foot-3 Chicago product averaged 11.1 points per game as a sophomore and led the Illini with 54 threes.
Nunn’s absence further diminishes hope that Illinois can weather its tumultuous offseason and return to the NCAA tournament this season. Aside from high-scoring wing Malcolm Hill, the Illini will start the season with a lineup devoid of proven players.
Pass-first point guard Jaylon Tate is the likely replacement for Abrams, though La Salle transfer Khalid Lewis could also see some time at the position. The other wing position alongside Hill is up for grabs until Nunn is back, with freshmen Aaron Jordan and D.J. Williams the most likely contenders unless Coleman-Lands gets healthy in a hurry. Mike Thorne, a 6-foot-11 graduate transfer from Charlotte, is the most established of the contenders for playing time in the frontcourt.
The key for Illinois will be trying to stay afloat in November and December until its full complement of players returns by the start of conference play. That wasn’t going to be an easy task even with Nunn available, and it only gets tougher without him.
– – – – – – –
Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
