Illini Must Count on Experienced Kipper Nichols Off the Bench

Illinois fifth-year senior Kipper Nichols expected to provide leadership and production as Illini's first frontcourt player off Brad Underwood's bench in 2019-20 season.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Brad Underwood no longer has to look far down his bench anymore to find a frontcourt player with size, athleticism and experience.

All of those traits reside in the 6-foot-6, 220-pound body of fifth-year senior Kipper Nichols but the Illini third-year head coach knows it is the consistency of being able to be a reliable option in his eight or nine player rotation will be a major early-season key.

“I’m looking for as much productivity off the bench as I am from my starting five,” Underwood said. “You want some punch and some value off the bench. Kipper is a guy who has had big moments and had a lot of success. He’s also a guy that isn’t going to be all nervous and worked up and up tight. You know what you’re getting from him.”

Nichols saw a noticeable dip in critical production numbers (rebounding, 3-point shooting, free throw shooting and points per game) in his third season with the Illini that saw him start only 14 of the 33 games last season for an Illini team that stumbled to a 12-21 season. After posting 13 points in each of the first two games of the 2018-19 season, Nichols totaled just nine in the three games of the Maui Invitational and had a month-long stretch from the Braggin’ Rights game vs. Missouri (Dec. 22) to the game at Minnesota (Jan. 30) where he only totaled 30 points and 33 rebounds in 201 minutes of action.

“All throughout last season, it was a tough time not only for myself but the whole team,” Nichols said. “I think it’s our time now. We’ve been through the ups and downs. We’ve been through the process.”

Both Nichols and his head coach seem to understand this kind of roller coaster ride in Nichols’ final season in an Illinois jersey simply won’t do.

“Kipper has been one of the big surprises in the first eight practices. I’ve seen a very consistent Kipper. A guy who’s made huge strides defensively. That started this summer,” Underwood said. “So many people want to stereotype Kipper as an offensive player. Kipper was a very effective rebounder his sophomore year. He was a guy who drew a lot of tough assignments. We’re starting to see that. The maturity of our group overall has helped him. He’s helped that by becoming more mature; exactly like a fifth-year senior should. I have been very very pleased with Kipper.”

In a 2019-20 season brimming with expectations of a return to the top half of the Big Ten Conference standings and the program’s first NCAA Tournament bid since 2013, the one major question mark on this squad early on could be frontcourt depth.

Illinois opens its 2019-20 campaign tonight vs. Nicholls State (14–17 last season with a 10th place finish in the Southland Conference) when questions will begin to be answered about Underwood’s lineup and rotation when Illinois Illinois returns 85 percent of its scoring from last season, the third-highest percentage among teams from the six major conferences.

With the suspension of Tevian Jones for what university officials are calling a “violation of team academic policies”, Nichols remains the only scholarship frontcourt player with any noteworthy experience.

Underwood said Monday he kept freshman center Kofi Cockburn on the floor for much too long then he intended during the Illini’s 83-50 exhibition game win over Division II Lewis University. The 28 minutes for Cockburn resulted in Underwood saying he only played Giorgi Bezhanishvili at the center spot for around five minutes in a blowout win. If Underwood is true to his word in games that count, Nichols will be counted on to play more than the 12 minutes he got in the exhibition game and that time will likely be spent split between the power forward and small forward/wing spots of the Illini lineup.

“I learned a lot (last season) about being consistent and every day, trying to bring the best out of myself,” Nichols said. “It’s really you vs. you every day.”

Illinois forward Kipper Nichols (2) shoots during the second half against Missouri in the Braggin' Rights Game at Enterprise Center in St. Louis :: Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports

With early-season challenging road tests in the next five days for the Illini (Nov. 8 at Grand Canyon and Nov. 10 at No. 21 Arizona), Nichols may be needed more than freshman Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk. Bosmans-Verdonk, an 18-year-old from Belgium who has experience in the FIBA Under-16 European Championships, still has a single-digit amount of practices under his belt due to his late arrival to campus. While the 6-foot-8 athlete showcased his shooting ability in the exhibition game (11 points on 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point range), Underwood is trying to temper those expectations for the freshman.

“His understanding of what we do and his basketball IQ is through the roof,” Underwood said. “I was really pleased with that (in the exhibition game). There is a fragile line (with him) between playing and playing well. So expectations are a little higher and maybe a little more frequent but again, it’s a comfort thing until he gets really dialed in.”