March Madness: How much has Illinois basketball grown? See it from redshirt guard Ty Rodgers' eyes

MILWAUKEE - Through the trials and tribulations that Illinois basketball endured in the 2024-2025 season, the Illini will stand tall at the back end of it all.

They're one of 68 teams to have earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

There's no telling what Illinois will do in Milwaukee this weekend, but teams can't make a run in March unless you make the tournament. Ty Rodgers knows this; he was a starter for Illinois' Elite Eight team last season.

Rodgers made the decision to redshirt before the season began because he wanted to develop his game further. He watched a young Illini team learn from the sidelines as they took more than a handful of bruises.

As a leader, Rodgers helped the team to its feet. What he saw from that was resilience.

"We were low, but we didn't lay down," Rodgers said. "We didn't stop, and we attacked our problems. So to see us get those big wins at the end of the season was huge. I think it's gonna help us a lot in this tournament."

Redshirting meant Rodgers couldn't play this season on a team that had plenty of potential. It wasn't a complete replication of last year's 29-win team that made the Elite Eight, but they had the potential to be a talented group this year and beyond.

Rodgers was the only returning starter from Illinois' Elite Eight team last season. He was also just one of just two returning scholarship players, too. He averaged 6.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 22.8 minutes per game in the 2023-2024 season.

Discussions between Rodgers and Underwood of him redshirting this season happened during the offseason. Rodgers made the decision because he wanted to develop his game further.

"It’s always a loss when you lose a guy who started every game off an Elite Eight Team," Underwood said in November 2024. "I think he’s excited about the next step and his development, as I am."

Not only has this season been a boon for his game on the court, but for how he leads it off the court, too.

"I've been able to get better and lead in new ways that I haven't been able to in the past," Rodgers said. "I feel like it's all going to help me and I think it's been very beneficial to the team."

Rodgers got a chance to learn how to lead this season.

There are seven underclassmen. Three of them are Kasparas Jakučionis, Tomislav Ivišić and Will Riley, who are three of the main contributors to this Illinois team's success.

An illness kept Ivišić out for the majority of February, but is one of the conference's best big men when healthy. Riley earned the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Award for his performance off the bench. Jakučionis' talent and performance during the season has him going in the first round of most NBA mock draft exercises.

But, Rodgers saw a team that's deep as it is talented. The team learned its depth first hand when Ivišić and Morez Johnson Jr. missed time.

"We have some guys that are on the bench that haven't even played that much and I feel like in any given night, they can give you 15-20 points, 10 rebounds," Rodgers said. "We got a lot of guys that can go."

What was most encouraging for Rodgers was how a young team rallied around each other.

The youth movement found its voice when it mattered most.

"The culture, you just keep seeing it," Rodgers said. "It just goes up and up as you win and you go through things and the brotherhood is why we're here."

"It's really strong."