Oct. 9—ROSEMONT — A moment happened at a recent Illinois women’s basketball practice when Shauna Green realized her new-look team wasn’t quite understanding the concept the fourth-year Illini coach was trying to get across.
It was the sort of epiphany that Green has had at several instances throughout the offseason. That was to be expected given what Illinois lost from last season’s 22-win team that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. Specifically a transformative senior class that completely changed the trajectory of the Illini program.
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Now, with the 2025-26 season starting in 26 days on Nov. 4 against Southeast Missouri at State Farm Center, Illinois will have the youngest roster in the Big Ten — and the third-youngest roster in Division I women’s basketball.
That’s a huge flip, with the Illini incorporating a five-player freshman class and three transfers into a roster that also features seven returners.
“They are overthinking everything,” Green said on Wednesday on BTN during a Big Ten Media Day interview of helping a young team overcome that lack of experience. “So, when you put in a new drill, it doesn’t look good right away. I’ve had to learn. Actually (Tuesday) I was like, ‘I have to do things different. I have to teach this a different way. They’re not understanding this concept. So, what am I going to do to make them understand it?’
“That’s my job. It’s good for me, too. I’m growing. I’m constantly having to evaluate how I’m doing stuff daily, so I can get better. I have to help them. I have to help them grasp these concepts quicker and better, so we can continue to progress as a team.”
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That progression has been accelerated the last few weeks with Illinois now in the midst of official practices.
The Illini didn’t have their full roster available to them throughout summer workouts. Forwards Irene Noya Catoira, Cearah Parchment and Manuella Alves played for their respective national teams and center Lety Vasconcelos and guard Destiny Jackson missed valuable practice time because of injury.
Green said her latest Illinois team is “super talented, super hungry” with Jackson, a five-star guard and the 2025 News-Gazette All-State Player of the Year out of Whitney Young in Chicago, the headliner of a 2025 recruiting class that ranked top 10 nationally.
The Illini also brought in potential impact transfers in sophomore point guard Aaliyah Guyton (Iowa) and junior guard Maddie Webber (Villanova).
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“I love this team,” Green said. “They bring so much energy. They’re so coachable. They want to be great. But they don’t know what they don’t know. We just have to get experience, so literally every day, every moment, every possession, I’m learning more about them individually and collectively.
“Still, a lot of unknowns in terms of who’s going to play where and who’s going to play together and all of those combination stuff that I’m constantly working on daily. But love the versatility, the length and the depth of this team.”
For all the unknowns Illinois has, Green is counting on returners like guards Gretchen Dolan and Jasmine Brown-Hagger and forward Berry Wallace to bridge that divide.
The Illini coach referenced on Wednesday that she views this roster as the deepest she’s had in her four years in C-U. That was said with the caveat that health is a major factor. Having a fully healthy roster has been an issue in the Green era.
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Still, there’s optimism around Ubben Basketball Complex.
“With the returners along with the new people, they’ve just brought such a great energy so far,” Dolan said. “All are so willing to learn and be so receptive to new information. It’s been a lot of fun just gaining the chemistry with them and being on the floor with them.”
A learning curve the eight newcomers face that has fallen on Dolan and Wallace to make easier to understand.
But one that Dolan and Wallace are prepared for as the next wave for the Illinois women’s basketball program. Especially based on what they have already accomplished during their Illinois careers. Dolan, a junior, averaged 10.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists through eight games last season before her season ended prematurely with a knee injury. Wallace, a sophomore, delivererd a breakout college debut year in putting up 9.0 points and 3.1 rebounds per game last winter.
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“I think just as one of the only returners for our team just knowing that experience that I had last year just gives me confidence that I can give that advice to any of our new players or people that just came into our team,” Wallace said. “Just remembering what we had last year and even the leaders that poured into me last year from our team I think has helped me a lot in the preseason using what they gave me and things that they taught me throughout our time playing together and using that to help my teammates, too.”
