Ups and downs still led Illinois men to NCAA tournament

Mar. 16—DES MOINES, Iowa. — Coleman Hawkins doesn't often mince words. He speaks his mind. Is open and honest.

So it shouldn't have come as any surprise when Hawkins spoke candidly ahead on the eve of the NCAA men's basketball tournament about his frustrations early this season. It was simply different for a player who came up on two veteran Illinois teams.

Those Illini knew how to close out tight games. Knew how to win on the road.

It was all a work in progress for this year's team. A young team that put multiple freshmen on the court in significant roles from the start of the season. Even the veterans were newcomers, with Texas Tech transfer Terrence Shannon Jr. and Baylor transfer Matthew Mayer sought out in the portal for their experience as much as their skill set.

The nearly wholesale roster changes ahead of the 2022-23 season created a scenario Hawkins just hadn't experienced in his time at Illinois.

"We had games as early as the Maryland game or the Virginia game where we weren't able to finish out games," Hawkins said Wednesday. "It was tough for us on the road this year. We lost a lot of road games this year. I was used to a team who went in and we were road warriors. We were tough, we were older, we were veterans, we knew what we were going to go out and do."

This Illinois team was not that. But the season also never spiraled completely out of control.

Still, the losses the team did take only deepened Hawkins' level of frustration.

"With that frustration there was kind of a loss of motivation for myself," Hawkins said. "I wouldn't say for anybody else because I was just kind of lost to where I was at. Is it my fault? Am I not leading these guys the right way?"

Hawkins had to adapt and adjust as much as Illinois did as a team. Wholesale schematic changes at both ends of the court weren't a cure-all, but as roles became defined, wins continued to outnumber losses.

Enough so the Illini (20-12) secured a spot in another NCAA tournament with a shot — starting at 3:30 p.m. Thursday against Arkansas (20-13) — to make the type of postseason run those last two older, more experienced teams couldn't.

"I was proud for this team, and I was able to see we were capable of winning any game," Hawkins said. "We were capable of beating anybody."

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It's that kind of belief Illinois coach Brad Underwood has tried to instill in his team.

Saying his team was playing its best basketball of the season after the regular-season finale loss to Purdue on March 5 was part his belief in the good the Illini showed in the second half, and part trying to keep that idea alive for his players.

"Belief," Underwood said. "You've got to believe you can win. Everything you do to this point is to get you to this point. ... I know one thing growing up the way I grew up in this profession, I sure don't take this for granted. I don't want our players to do that. I want them to enjoy it. I've used the term, 'Let your hair down' and let's go play. We've talked a lot about that.

"Now, it's kind of loose. It's win or go home. This team has a great personality to handle that, and I really believe that."

That sense of belief in this Illinois team had to weather a season full of inconsistencies. Never the same type either.

Turnovers. Poor shooting. Defensive lapses. Never just one warning sign to try and fix.

The sum total created a season that featured the highest of highs with signature victories against UCLA and Texas, and bottom-scraping lows like blowout home losses to Penn State and Indiana and getting absolutely thumped by Missouri in Braggin' Rights. But still a path that led Illinois to the NCAA tournament and a first-round matchup against an Arkansas team that had its own struggles with consistent play.

"I feel like every team is going to go through some things," Shannon said. "If you're winning and not losing, it's just in the shadows and it be won't be out to the public. But when you are losing, things come to light. You find reasons to why you were losing. Everybody has an opinion.

"But the guys that are here now, they stuck through it and fought through adversity that we faced. It just brought us closer together, and that's how we got here now."

Youth connects Illinois and Arkansas. The Illini play three freshmen. So do the Razorbacks, who start two of them. Young teams that have been vulnerable to mistakes this season. Mistakes that now have to be avoided.

"We have done a pretty good job of learning from mistakes and getting this far," Hawkins said. "It's time new guys aren't new guys, and people are going to have to step up and play as hard as they can and limit their mistakes so we can go out and win. ... I just feel confident right now. I feel like we're going to go out and play hard, play well, and I think we're going to leave everything out on the line and I think we're going to shock some people.

"I'm just excited. I can't wait to start playing. It's all or nothing."