Athletic Director Josh Whitman made a drastic change to both programs. On the men’s side of things, Brad Underwood was left with some talent but not a lot. There were transfers and decommitments that would have helped his team. On the women’s side, first-year head coach Nancy Fahey has something similar on her hands.
Fahey is in her first season still, and I see some people giving her and Whitman criticism already. They don’t like the hire and have been questioning Whitman’s decision making across the board. I am not sure why this is happening, though. Early career struggles at Illinois should be expected from not only the men’s basketball and football teams but from the women’s basketball team as well.