Quincy Guerrier Ignites Illinois Basketball Comeback

Quincy Guerrier Ignites Illinois Basketball Comeback

Quincy Guerrier finally decided to come to Illinois Basketball. In his high school days, the Canadian native picked Syracuse over Oregon and Illinois. He then transferred to Oregon after two years in New York. After another two years at Oregon, Guerrier came full circle and decided to spend his last year of eligibility with Illinois. Quincy Guerrier has played multiple roles throughout his four years. At Syracuse, he was used as a power forward who specialized in rebounding. In Oregon, he was used as more of a wing shooter. Illinois looks to use Guerrier in both roles and that was evident in the game against Oakland.

A Veteran Presence

In certain lineups, Quincy Guerrier could provide a really nice compliment to Coleman Hawkins. His ability to rebound and his perimeter skills gave Illinois a lot of options and spacing. If he can shoot the ball well, Guerrier will have the ability to drive to the rim and draw fouls. Doing so takes a lot of pressure off of Terrence Shannon Jr, Coleman Hawkins, and Marcus Domask to make plays off the bounce. In the game against Oakland, Illinois came out and struggled on both ends. On defense, Illinois was having a tough time stopping their shooters. On Offense, they looked stagnant against a 1-3-1 zone and struggled to get easy buckets. Without a true point guard, this is bound to happen.

However, Quincy Guerrier took matters into his own hands. The Montreal native played like he did in the closing moments against Kansas. He drove the ball and pulled in rebounds. Guerrier ended off with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

A new Father

Brad Underwood let the media know that Quincy welcomed a newborn son into the world. Quincy did not mention this to likely avoid detracting attention from the win, but congratulations to Quincy and his family! Guerrier has probably had a whirlwind of a week as he went from helping his family out all week to starting a Division-1 basketball game. However, he really saved Illinois from a very close game. The Illini trailed by 3 at one point and looked like they would be in for a nail-biter. Despite this, Illinois must be ready for the games to come. They will host the Marquette Golden Eagles who currently sit in the top 10 of most college basketball rankings. They need to come out with an edge and desire like they did against Kansas.

If Illinois basketball continues to start slow, they may be in for a rough time.