Illinois Basketball: Illini Who'll Take Biggest Leap Forward in 2014-15

The 2014-15 version of Illinois Fighting Illini basketball enters the upcoming season with increased expectations. A season ago, Illinois came a win or two short of making the NCAA Tournament, after bowing out of the Big Ten Tournament on Tracy Abrams' missed floater at the buzzer against top-seeded Michigan.

Illinois lost seniors Jon Ekey and Joseph Bertrand, but added Aaron Cosby, Ahmad Starks, Leron Black and Michael Finke to this year's roster. On top of those four newcomers, Illinois returns all five starters, along with a trio of sophomores in Jaylon Tate, Maverick Morgan and Austin Colbert.

Seniors Rayvonte Rice, Abrams and Nnanna Egwu all appear to be mainstays in the starting five. Rice was Illinois' top scorer and best player from a season ago. While he won't need to shoulder as much offense as he did last season, look for Rice to lead the team in scoring once again.

Abrams became a starter midway through his freshman season, while Egwu entered the lineup as a sophomore following Meyers Leonard's departure for the NBA. Abrams provides tough on-ball defense and a secondary scorer, while Egwu is one of the league's top shot-blockers and has a smooth mid-range jumper for a player his size.

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This leaves sophomores Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill as the two players who'll take the biggest leap forward in 2014-15. While they finished sixth and seventh on the team in scoring, respectively, it's no secret that Illinois played their best basketball following John Groce's decision to plug the then-freshmen into the starting lineup on February 9, a game Illinois won over Penn State.

Illinois went 7-5 from that point on, including winning five of six games from February 19 to March 13. During that time, Illinois beat Nebraska at home, Minnesota, Michigan State, Iowa and Boston U on the road, and Indiana in front of a pro-Hoosier crowd at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.

Before struggling in Illinois' two NIT contests, Nunn ended his freshman season by reaching double figures on seven occasions in a 10-game span. This included 19-point performances against both Penn State and Minnesota. Nunn also hit 19-of-36 three-pointers during that hot streak, nine of which came during those victories over the Nittany Lions and Golden Gophers.

Nunn's final season stat line came out to 6.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game, in 19.5 minutes of action. During his late season surge, Nunn averaged 32.1 minutes of playing time, enabling him to be honored as part of the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.

Nunn shot 39 percent from three-point range and is a fearless driver to the basket. He is an excellent perimeter defender, who isn't afraid to back down to anyone, including one of the league's top players in Penn State's D.J. Newbill. Nunn was able to get under Newbill's skin, leading to his eventual ejection in Penn State's January visit to Champaign.

While Nunn will have more competition on the wing with Cosby's transfer from Seton Hall, I'd expect to see the former Simeon product retain his role as a starter. In fact, I predict Nunn will be a Third Team or Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection in 2014-15.

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While Hill and Nunn entered the starting lineup at the same time, Hill was given a tighter leash when it came to playing time. While Nunn was regularly surpassing 30 minutes of action, Hill only played over 24 minutes once last season. Hill was the starter, but power forward Jon Ekey was the team's closer at that position, as evidenced by his game-winning three-pointer at Iowa to cap off the regular season.

Hill reached double figure scoring five times as a true freshman, his career-high being 11 points in that road win at Penn State. The 6'6" Hill is a natural small forward who bumped up to the 4 slot due to the team's thin frontcourt.

He'll likely find himself starting at power forward again this season, though four-star freshman Leron Black won't go down without a fight. Darius Paul, younger brother of former Illini Brandon Paul, would have also contended for minutes there, before his arrest in the spring led to Paul transferring and taking the junior college route for his redshirt sophomore season.

Hill, who only turned 18 years old last October, came to the Champaign-Urbana campus as a lanky and frail youngster from Belleville, Ill. Hill has since put on an incredible amount of muscle, while maintaining a low body mass index, and he now checks in at 230 pounds. This should allow Hill to become more comfortable defending the likes of Michigan State's Branden Dawson and Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes.

He can also hit the boards harder, while continuing to be a smooth-shooting threat from the perimeter. Hill averaged 4.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.7 boards, pulling in a career-high eight boards in the team's comeback victory in the NIT over Boston U. After Rice, there are plenty of candidates to be Illinois' second leading scorer. Hill's natural scoring mentality could help him regularly reach double figures as a sophomore.