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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at large:
So, this is an update from Switzerland and the FIBA U19 World Cup from … Champaign. While Illinois assistant coach Geoff Alexander is in Lausanne — a beautiful city in the southwest corner of the country overlooking Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) — I’ve been following along from home during the first four days of the tournament.
Wednesday marked the Round of 16. The quarterfinals resume today, with Team USA celebrating the Fourth of July by playing its neighbors to the north, Team Canada.
Group play and the Round of 16 provided plenty of fodder for the not-so-casual college basketball fans, whether it was Illinois recruiting targets playing well, current/future Big Ten foes showing out or Team USA handling all comers for a 4-0 start.
Some takeaways …
Eyes on Huan, Morillo
The only players in Switzerland with Illinois offers are Chinese center Sinan Huan out of Georgetown Prep (Md.) and Dominican guard Lucas Morillo out of The Newman School (Mass.). Neither had extensive team success in group play, but they flashed some real individual skill.
The 7-foot-1 Huan, who is teaming up with his twin brother Sifeng, blocked eight shots in China’s opener and had his best overall performance in a Round of 16 loss to New Zealand with 16 points, six blocks, five rebounds and two steals. Huan is averaging 10.5 points, 5.3 blocks and 4.3 rebounds heading into today’s game against France.
Morillo and the Dominican Republic are also in the wrong half of the bracket after going 1-2 in group play and losing to Australia in the Sweet 16 on Wednesday. Not for lack of effort — or production — on Morillo’s part. The 6-7 guard currently ranks third in the tournament in scoring at 21.5 points per game and has also averaged 8.3 rebounds and three assists heading into today’s game against Serbia.
Team USA cruising
The first four days in Switzerland were smooth sailing for the Americans, who won all four games by double figures and averaged a 44 1/2-point margin of victory. Dropping 140 points on Jordan in Wednesday’s Round of 16 matchup padded that particular stat.
Arizona forward Koa Peat, Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr. and BYU wing AJ Dybantsa were the top three scorers through the first four games. Former Illinois forward Morez Johnson Jr. is the team’s leading rebounder and is averaging 8.8 points and six rebounds for the tournament. While he got ejected following a double technical against Cameroon on Tuesday — limiting himself to just 9 minutes on the court — he bounced back with 19 points, five rebounds and three steals in the 140-67 win against Jordan on Wednesday.
Big Ten not lacking for talent
The infusion of international talent into the Big Ten isn’t restricted to Illinois’ takeover of the Balkans. Four conference newcomers have made an impression during their time in Switzerland, with Israeli guard Omer Mayer (Purdue) at the top of that list.
While the Boilermakers return starting guards Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and C.J. Cox/Gicarri Harris for the 2025-26 season, Matt Painter should probably make room in his backcourt for Mayer. The 6-4 guard is the leading scorer in Lausanne and averaged 23.7 points on 44/44/69 shooting to go with 4.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. Israel only played two group games after Jordan refused to play Sunday in protest of the conflict in Gaza.
Here’s how the rest of the Big Ten players have fared in Switzerland:
Tyler Kropp, Argentina (Northwestern): 21.8 ppg, 10.3 rpgHannes Steinbach, Germany (Washington): 18.3 ppg, 13.0 rpg, 2.3 apgHayden Jones, New Zealand (Wisconsin): 13.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 2.8 apgOscar Goodman, New Zealand (Michigan): 7.0 ppg, 4.8 rpgDaniel Jacobsen, USA (Purdue): 7.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.0 bpg
Illinois scheduled tough
Two of the Illini’s non-Big Ten opponents (that are currently known) are represented in Switzerland, with Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson playing for a dangerous German team and Connecticut teammates Jacob Furphy and Eric Reibe playing for Australia and Germany, respectively.
Anderson started seven of 35 games for the Red Raiders last season and could be in store for a breakout sophomore season paired in a high-level inside-out combo with JT Toppin. The 6-2 guard is averaging 14.5 points, 6.8 assists and four rebounds in four games for Germany.
Reibe has given the Germans a dominant frontcourt duo playing alongside Steinbach. The 7-footer has averaged 16.5 points and six rebounds so far, with his future Huskies teammate leading the Australians in scoring putting up 21.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
