Illinois Basketball’s Marcus Domask Limited by Hamstring

Illinois Basketball’s Marcus Domask Limited by Hamstring

Injuries are an unfortunate part of the game. Unfortunately for Illinois, there always seems to be a lagging injury to a key player or someone that will miss some time. Last year, Luke Goode suffered a major foot injury prior to season’s start. Goode was expected to play a major role and his consistent shooting stroke was certainly missed to start the season. Goode missed about 3/4 of the season, however elected to return in the final few games. Prior to that year, Kofi Cockburn missed the first few games due to the NCAA being weird. Trent Frazier, Austin Hutcherson and Andre Curbelo also went through early season bruises.

Marcus Domask was the first transfer portal addition for Illinois Basketball. His shooting stroke and secondary playmaking could be vital in a year that will need both. However, Illinois fans will have to wait as Domask was seen on the sidelines in the team’s open practice. Per Brad Underwood, Domask has dealt with a nagging hamstring injury and was held out of practices.

A missed opportunity to gel

Most thought that Domask would be a shoe in for the starting lineup. He has the ability to stretch the floor and be a secondary playmaker as Ty Rodgers starts his reign as starting point guard. Unfortunately, Marcus will not have the opportunity to gel with his new teammates. A hamstring injury can be nagging. Sometimes you feel like you’re improving, only to step on the court and still feel tightness. Because of this, Brad Underwood and his staff are electing to be cautious.

Per Brad’s Media availability, “Marcus has had a somewhat-frustrating summer from an injury standpoint. He’s tweaked a hamstring. He did it again. Being on the cautious side and we’re not having him do anything. With hamstrings, we’ll err on the side of caution with those. It’s been something that’s aggravating.”

Hope for a successful return to start the season

The season is still a number of months away, so this could just be a small bump in the road for Marcus Domask. Domask graded out as one of the better players against high major talent out of the three transfers. Despite a small sample size, Illinois could theoretically use Domask’s skillset.

Luke Goode, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and Sencire Harris will all have to step up in Domask’s absence, but we all hope that the experienced veteran is 100 percent for season’s start