Good Morning, Illini Nation: Know the Foe -- Illinois State

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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at large:

The rest of Illinois' 2025-26 schedule should be published in the next two weeks. Why it takes the Big Ten increasingly longer each offseason to get this done remains a mystery. Until then, we'll take a look at the other teams the Illini will face this season: 

Illinois State

When the Redbirds are on the schedule: Oct. 19, State Farm Center (exhibition)

Last year’s finish: 22-14, 10-10 Missouri Valley Conference (Fifth)

Most important returning player: The notable thing about the Redbirds is they returned every player that could from last year’s CBI championship team. That … doesn’t happen for good mid-major teams in the transfer portal era. Leading the way is junior forward Chase Walker. The Columbus, Ohio, native certainly had opportunities to leave Normal, but he’ll return after leading ISU in scoring (15.2 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg) last season.

Best offseason acquisition: The sheer number of returning players lessened the need for impact newcomers. While the Redbirds did lure Landon Moore back home after the Bloomington native spent the previous two seasons as a backup guard at Butler, freshman guard Ty’Reek Coleman is an intriguing long-term option for the ISU backcourt. The 2025 N-G All-State First Team selection averaged 20.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals while shooting 54 percent overall and 39 percent from three-point range as a senior at Waubonsie Valley.

Projection for 2025-26: Will this be the year ISU makes it back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998? Maybe so. The Redbirds are nominal favorites in the MVC — Northern Iowa, Bradley and Belmont will have a say in the title race — and not taking advantage of returning so many key players (former St. Joseph-Ogden star Ty Pence included) would be a serious disappointment.