Illinois head coach Brad Underwood and junior Jake Davis met with the media ahead of the team’s home game against Rutgers on Thursday.
A greatly improved Jake Davis
There hasn’t been a major second year jump with regard to stats for Jake Davis, but it’s clear that Davis is a much improved player. Known as a three-point specialist, the junior from Indiana has increased his three-point percentage from 34.4% to 39% this season.
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“He just does everything right,” Underwood said. “He plays so hard. He does everything we ask, whether it’s rebound, whether it’s defend. He’s turned into a sneaky good defender. He’s tougher than nails. Everybody knows he’s an elite, elite shooter.”
Davis has taken on more of a leadership role in his second year in the program as well.
“I think it’s kinda what Brad says every day,” Jake Davis told the media. “It’s the Every Day Guys mentality. You just come in every day with the mentality to work harder, get better, make everybody else better, make your team better. I think if you can do that every day with consistency, it’s going to work out in the long run.
A positive update on Ty Rodgers
After starting all 38 games for the 2023-24 Illini, Ty Rodgers hasn’t appeared in a game since.
“He’s doing some participation in practice but it’s not full on stuff in practice yet,” Underwood said. “Made some positive gains. It’s nice to see him out there in a practice jersey doing certain things. He’s continuing to gain strength. Obviously, there was atrophy in the leg. No one is working harder than him. We’ll just keep taking it day by day, but right now it’s nice to see him participating in practice.”
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Underwood also noted that Rodgers didn’t travel to Philadelphia for the Penn State game because he was battling the flu.
Previewing Rutgers
Despite this being arguably the worst Rutgers team of the Steve Pikiell era, Brad Underwood knows they’re no pushover.
“They’re going to throw body blows the whole game. You have to take ‘em,” said Brad Underwood. “There’s no quit in any of his teams. You’ve gotta keep doing your job every single time. You’ve gotta match their effort. You’ve gotta match their tenacity. That’s the way they play. Steve’s teams have done that year in and year out. This one’s no different.”
Rutgers notched their first conference win on Monday, beating Oregon in overtime to move to 8-7 and 1-3 in the Big Ten.
