Illinois Basketball: Te'Jon Lucas will be fully cleared to practice in October
Illinois basketball’s freshman point guard is set to hit the floor at the beginning of October.
The Illinois Fighting Illini dealt with a glut of injuries last season. Between losing their starting point guard Tracy Abrams and their All-American caliber player Kendrick Nunn, the Illini finished four games under .500, good for only 12th place in the Big Ten Conference.
They already began the off-season on the wrong foot when Jalen Coleman-Lands suffered a broken shooting hand, forcing the shooting guard to miss up to eight weeks. While he is likely to be ready for the season, head coach John Groce needs his best players on the court in order to produce the results necessary to keep him off the hot seat.
Finally, this weekend, Illinois received positive news on the injury front. According to CBS Sports, three-star freshman point guard Te’Jon Lucas is expected to be cleared for full basketball activities on October 3.
Illinois freshman PG Te'Jon Lucas (foot) will be fully cleared for the start of practice on October 3rd, John Groce told @CBSSports.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 25, 2016
Lucas suffered a fractured foot in a high school game back in February, but he looks to be on target to play on opening night in November.
The 5’11” Milwaukee, WI native is not ranked in ESPN’s top 100, however, he is the second best player in the state of Wisconsin in the class of 2017 and is ranked as the 32nd best point guard.
While Lucas doesn’t have great size and needs to add a lot of strength, his speed and quickness in the open floor will be a valuable asset for Groce and company.
Even though Tracy Abrams is returning from his Achilles injury and is expected to be the starter at the lead guard position, Illinois needs someone to play spot minutes off the bench in his stead. It’s unlikely that Lucas will be given major time in year one, but he is capable of taking some pressure off of Jaylon Tate and/or D.J. Williams.
Due to Illinois’ history of injuries, it’s important that they have as many options as possible at the team’s most important position.
In addition, even if Lucas doesn’t get to play in the actual games, his participation in practice will be crucial moving forward. Lucas, 2017 point guard Trent Frazier and 2017 shooting guards DaMonte Williams and Javon Pickett are the future of Illinois’ back court.
The more teaching opportunities Lucas receives in year one, the more it will benefit him moving forward into the 2017-18 season.
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