How Ben Humrichous can get back on track for the Illini

Ben Humrichous came into this season with a lot of expectations as a graduate transfer from Evansville. The 6 foot 9 forward shot over 40 percent from the three-point line and showed an impressive combination of size, skill, and shooting. With the Illini being so young this year, many tabbed Humrichous as the likely leading scorer of the bunch given his experience and shooting stroke. Through eight games, Humrichous has averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 rebounds on 37.3 percent from the three-point line. This may seem solid, however, he is coming off a very poor performance in a tough loss vs Northwestern. Humrichous has been the target of some criticism since the loss, and he needs to get back on track if the Illini want to have the season they are hoping for.

With Humrichous going 7 for 25 in his last four games from the three, Brad Underwood needs to find ways to get Humrichous going.

Shot profile

Ben Humrichous has a totally different role than he did last year at Evansville. So far, the Illini have used him strictly as a floor-spacer as Kasparas Jakucionis and Kylan Boswell work through pick-and-rolls. There are a lot of roll-replace concepts with Tomislav Ivisic that leave Humrichous open on the wing. However, there is more to Ben’s game than that. So far this year, Humrichous has attempted 62 total shots. 51 of those shots (82.2%) are three-point shots. Ben is tabbed as an elite shooter, however, he has a good amount of skill with the ball in his hands.

Through Marcus Domask’s first 12 games as an Illini (up until January 2024), he averaged 11.6 points per game. He ended the season averaging 15.9 points per game. Can Ben Humrichous figure out that same turnaround? Brad Underwood will need to help figure that out.

Defensively

Defensively, Ben Humrichous was targetted on essentially every possession in the second half. Either Brooks Barnhizer or Nick Martinelli found a switch on to Humrichous and went to town. The problem is that Ben is not quick enough to guard athletic wings on the perimeter, and he simply isn’t physical enough to guard stronger, bigger forwards like Barnhizer and Martinelli. It looks like Ben will simply be a bit of a liability on the defensive end with his limited lateral quickness and defensive acumen. Underwood needs to find ways to put Ben in the best position possible. Is having Morez Johnson Jr. in the lineup and sliding Ben to the small-forward spot a possibility?

Illinois will not have the time to figure this out as their schedule never lets up from here on out. Hopefully, Underwood and his staff can find more creative ways to get Ben the ball so that he is not so limited to strictly catch-and-shoot threes. Ben has to find a way to have the impact that former Illini Jacob Grandison had- shoot the ball at a high clip and crash the glass at every opportunity.

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