Brad Underwood has heard the concerns heading into the 2023-24 season regarding point guard play.

With the transfer of Jayden Epps to Georgetown and Terrence Shannon expected to see more time playing the 2-guard this season, some have wondered where Illinois’ production will come from at perhaps the most important position on the floor.

But at B1G Media Days Tuesday Underwood told reporters that he isn’t as worried about the position as some on the outside may be. He expects Ty Rodgers, incoming freshman Niccolo Moretti and Sincere Harris to all play well at the 1 for Illinois this season:

“Yeah, it’s good. Everybody seems to be worried about it except me,” Underwood said. “I think one of the big mistakes I made last year is I didn’t play Ty Rodgers there exclusively. Ty is 6’6″, been very good.”

“I feel really good about it,” he continued. “We’re multi-dimensional. We have scoring there. We have passing. We’ve got size. I think one of the advantages of our team is positionally we can be very, very big. Starting Ty there, you know, 6’6″ with a 6’11” wingspan. You have Terrence Shannon at the two. 6’6″ or 6’7″, and then multiple options at the three, four, and five.”

More than anything, Underwood seemed excited by the size of this Illini team. Playing Rodgers and Shannon at the 1 and 2 is a crazy height advantage over even most Power 5 programs.

The Illini tip off the 2023-24 season on November 6 against Eastern Illinois.