Apr. 11—The 2025-26 season is still seven months off, and the roster isn't even fully set with the Illinois coaching staff hosting potential transfer additions this week as it looks to fill out the rest of its team through the portal. But beat writer Joe Vozzelli offers his best guess on what the starting five might be next season for the Illini women's basketball team.
Handing the keys of the offense over to a freshman is bound to have its ups and downs — especially after had the luxury of experienced point guards in and her first three seasons in C-U — but the five-star recruit and Illinois Miss Basketball out of Whitney Young looks every part the real deal. Jackson flashed a varied skill set her final season with the Dolphins in averaging 21.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.8 steals while leading Whitney Young to the Sweet 16 of the Class 4A playoffs, a sectional championship game loss to eventual state champion Kenwood.
Dolan was well on her way to a breakout sophomore season. Then, a knee injury robbed her of that eventuality. Still, in her eight games on the floor for the Illini this past winter, the Buffalo, N.Y., native saw a major jump in production in putting up 10.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists with a 43.7/35.5/68.8 shooting slash. This after Green made clear before the 2024-25 season started that the Illini coach expected Dolan to take a key leap forward. Now, Dolan will have that chance to do it over the course of an entire season as a junior.
Repeat what Wallace did in two NCAA tournament games, and the wing and former five-star recruit could have a really big sophomore year. Wallace gained valuable March Madness experience combining for 23 points and eight rebounds against Creighton and Texas in the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament in Austin, Texas. That Wallace started the final six games of her freshman year was an early preview of what the Pickerington, Ohio, native can be for Illinois during the 2025-26 season. Her defense remains a work in progress, but Wallace's offensive abilities and poise are two attributes that show through.
Make no mistake the fact Parchment was on campus for the second half of the Illini's season as an early enrollee was significant. Significant enough that it gives the four-star, top-40 recruit an advantage over the likes of fellow incoming freshmen and . Interestingly enough, it was a first for Green to not only have one but two early arrivals with freshman wing coming over from Australia just before Parchment. The Fort Erie, Ontario native Parchment, a power forward, is viewed a potential three-level scorer as both a pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop threat.
This is all about potential. But Vasconcelos could give the Illini the kind of elite rim protection and size it simply has yet to have in the Green era. It's hard to ignore that the Miguel Calmon, Brazil, native is coming off a major injury with a torn ACL last summer ending her 2024-25 season before it even got started after Vasconcelos joined Illinois as a transfer from Baylor. If Vasconcelos can rediscover what made her a four-star recruit and the No. 36 overall prospect in the 2023 class by ESPN's HoopGurlz at Montverde (Fla.) Academy, the Illini's patience will be rewarded.
