Illinois Basketball: Maverick Morgan a Bright Spot for the Illini

It has been stated over and over again how bad this Illinois basketball season has been.

I really wanted this year to be different from the past three, but clearly, we are missing the NCAA Tournament once again.

But despite the downturn with the program, there have been a few bright spots on this team.

Maverick Morgan is one of those bright spots this season and his development as a player is actually quite astonishing.

When Morgan began his career with the Illini back in 2013 I didn’t think he would turn out to be a good player.

illinois fighting illini basketball

Writing Illini 23hIllinois Basketball: Five Illini Head Coach Options for 2017

More headlines around FanSided:

1 d - Illinois Basketball: Illini are Trending Toward Last in the Big Ten 2d - Illinois Basketball: Early Starting Lineup for the Illini in 2017-18 2d - Illinois Basketball: It Is Time to Move on From John Groce 3d - Illinois Basketball: The King of Mediocrity Under John Groce 1 w - Illinois Basketball: Three Focuses for the Illini Against WisconsinMore News at Writing Illini

In year one Morgan only averaged 1.5 points and 1.2 rebounds per game in the 7.1 minutes per game he was receiving.

The following year was about the same as Morgan averaged 8.9 MPG and in that time he put up 2.5 PPG and 1.5 RPG.

Through two seasons we didn’t see much of Morgan and he was limited in many ways on the basketball court. Illinois needed a big man and they received one in Mike Thorne the following season.

Well, Thorne went down with an injury about eight games into the 2015-16 campaign and Morgan was thrown into serious minutes for the first time in his career.

Last season Morgan wasn’t terrible but he clearly still had a lot of limitations. He averaged 21.1 MPG and in that time put up 8.3 PPG and 3.5 RPG.

But this season there is something different about Morgan. I think it is a combination of him developing a little bit on defense and getting stronger in the offseason.

Morgan is actually a force on the inside now. He doesn’t just have a sweet touch from ten feet and in, he is a complete player and easily the most improved on the team.

So far this season, Morgan has averaged 10.3 PPG and 4.2 RPG in the 23.3 MPG he is receiving. He has also had three double-double’s and has scored in the double digits in 14 games for the Illini.

Will Morgan go down as one of the greatest Illini centers in history? No, but his development into a solid Big Ten center is something I never saw coming and I was completely wrong about him.

Morgan is a solid player and I wish we could see him for a few more years. This is one player that John Groce has done a good job on and I hope nothing but the best for him in the future.