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:
Deon Thomas knows a thing or two about team chemistry and the impact that can have on success. Because Illinois’ all-time leading scorer was on some teams during his basketball career that didn’t have all that much of it. Their success was commiserate with how well they connected.
Thomas was also on teams that enjoyed a close connection. Their chemistry cup runneth over. Like his Maccabi Tel Aviv teams won three straight Israeli League and Israeli Cup championships.
The Illinois Hall of Famer is hearing good things on the chemistry front from his discussions with the Illini coaching staff this offseason. An important development given the sheer number of newcomers Illinois will have in 2022-23.
“Talking to some of the coaches about the personalities of the guys they brought to the team, everybody is happy for everybody when somebody does well,” Thomas said. ” It seems like they have recruited the players to fit that portion of their culture as well. … Our (Maccabi Tel Aviv) team was tight. we cared about each other. We wanted the best about each other. I hear this team is a lot like that and how they feel about each other — genuinely, not just on the surface.”
