Last year’s CBI champion returns the bulk of its roster, putting Illinois State basketball in a prime position for its best season ever.
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Illinois State basketball.
When it comes to ranking the top 100 teams, you’ll very rarely see a team like Illinois State, but lo and behold, they make the cut this year. The NCAA tournament has been a distant memory for fans, not making a tournament this century, but that could change this year. After a 22-14 season that ended with a CBI Championship, they return their top two scorers, Chase Walker and Johnny Kinzenger. They also return the third leading scorer, Ty Pence.
Illinois State started conference play 2-5, but quickly figured it out, ending the season 10-10 in conference play. Now, they’ll look to start hot and finish hot. What’s interesting is that in an era where the transfer portal is so prevalent, especially with mid-major guys transferring up, Illinois State lost just one player and gained just one player. Most of the conference can’t say the same, which could give them that leg up.
The big question will be who steps up and replaces Dalton Banks, who led the team in assists per game and steals per game, as well as third in scoring per game. Perhaps that’s Boden Skunberg, who missed all of last season to injury, but averaged 14 a game playing for North Dakota State.
Head coach:Â Ryan Pedon (4th season overall and at Illinois State)
2024-25 record:Â 22-14 (10-10)
2025 postseason finish:Â CBI Champion
Notable departures:Â
- Dalton Banks (10.1 PPG, 4.0 APG, 3.5 RPG)
- Malachi Poindexter (6.8 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 1.3 APG)
Notable non-conference games:Â
- vs. Charlotte (November 27th)
Projected Rotation
PG: Boden Skunberg (6-5, 210, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-2024 stats: 14.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.1 APG, 0.6 SPG, 34.0 3P%, 79.0 FT% (North Dakota State)
SG: Johnny Kinzenger (5-11, 170, Jr.)
2024-2025 stats: 14.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.0 SPG, 43.8 FG%, 38.6 3P%, 89.6 FT%
SF: Ty Pence (6-6, 205, Jr.)
2024-2025 stats: 7.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.4 APG, 0.6 SPG, 51.7 FG%, 36.7 3P%, 83.1 FT%
PF: Jack Daugherty (6-8, 210, So.)
2024-2025 stats: 6.3 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 0.3 APG, 47.3 FG%, 47.6 3P%
C: Chase Walker (6-9, 280, Jr.)
2024-2025 stats: 15.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.0 APG, 0.7 SPG, 58.0 FG%
6: Landon Wolf (6-5, 210, Sr.)
2024-2025 stats: 6.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 0.7 APG, 0.7 SPG, 44.9 FG%
7: Landon Moore (6-3, 205, Sr.)
2024-2025 stats: 3.2 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.3 APG, 73.2 FT% (Butler)
8: Brandon Lieb (7-1, 250, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-2024 stats: 3.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 0.5 APG, 0.4 BPG, 70.8 FT%
9: Isaac Erickson (6-8, 195, Fr.)
2025 247Sports #233rd ranked recruit
10: Cameron Barnes (6-10, 205, So.)
2024-2025 stats: 2.1 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 0.3 APG, 6.1 MPG
Illinois State Basketball team MVP: Chase Walker
Walker was an All-MVC first-teamer last year, and with Bennett Stirtz out of the picture, he might be the favorite to take the conference player of the year title. He averaged over 15 PPG on great efficiency, shooting 58% from the field. At 6’9, 280, he’s a big body, and being able to defend him down low is a nightmare. What’s more impressive is that he did this in just 24.3 minutes a game.
He’s not a three-point specialist by any means, but he can space the floor a bit. He shot about one a game and made them at a 35% clip. Defensively, he definitely lacks, but his offensive dominance and efficiency more than make up for it. As a junior now, that experience will definitely play a part in his success this season. On a team loaded with talented guards, Walker will need to hold it down for the forwards, and like he did last year, he’ll do it again.
Illinois State Basketball make-or-break player: Boden Skunberg
We discussed it earlier, but Skunberg was great at North Dakota State. He averaged 15 points a game his junior year, then stayed consistent at 14 a game his senior season. He’s also a good rebounder for his size, averaging 5.4 a game. While Skunberg won’t replace the playmaking element Banks did, he can add a new element to this team with his scoring ability.
The big question is how effective he can be after missing a full season. Skunberg suffered a leg injury in the preseason and was forced to sit out all of last year. On one hand, he’s been part of the program, learning the schemes and seeing how his teammates play and mesh, but when you don’t have game action for a full year, it could take some time to get back into that. Having a three-headed trio of Walker, Skunberg, and Kinzenger could not only mean a conference title, but a win or two in the NCAA Tournament is not out of the question.
Key analytic: True Shooting %
True Shooting % measures a player or team’s efficiency in shooting the ball. Typically, the better your true shooting percentage is, the more likely the team is to be successful, as we saw with Duke (#2), High Point (#5), and Alabama (#7), to name a few. Illinois finished 12th in that category, per Warrennolan.com, at 59.3%.
Walker was extremely efficient last year, and so was Ty Pence. It felt like Ryan Pedon had a really good eye for when a player started to struggle, and brought in the right guy to keep that efficiency at a high level. If they can stay in that top 15, or even top 25, good things are coming for this Red Bird team, and with Walker leading the way, expect them to be right there.
Illinois State Basketball 2025-26 projections
Projected conference finish:Â 1st in the Missouri Valley
Projected postseason ceiling:Â NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Exit