Could Ty Rodgers Still Return to the Illinois Basketball Lineup This Season?

Ty Rodgers started for Illinois' 2024 Elite Eight team, and he has remained on the roster ever since. But he also hasn't played since that loss to UConn, and there's no telling when he'll appear in a game next.

Time is running out in the 2025-26 regular season, with just three games remaining before the Big Ten Tournament. Illinois, ranked No. 10 nationally and in a second-place tie in the conference standings, could have what it takes for a deep NCAA Tournament run.

But it may have to make it without Rodgers, who, after redshirting the 2024-25 season, partially tore the patellar tendon in his left knee this past summer.

Brad Underwood provides update on Ty Rodgers' injury

On Thursday, Illinois coach Brad Underwood addressed whether the program has ruled out Rodgers' return or if it would even make sense for him to come back, given that he would have to use a year of eligibility on just a handful of games.

"It doesn't have much to do with [his eligibility]. It has everything to do with health and just getting back to 100 percent," Underwood said. "If he had been – he had some complications and some other challenges – and I think if he had been 100 percent, we would have had some different conversations."

"But to me, it's always about the health and well-being, and until you get them to 100 percent healthy there's not a whole lot to even spend time thinking about. We want his health to be first and foremost."

Clarifying whether he expects Rodgers to return at any point, Underwood wasn't ready to expand past his practice availability.

"He's not healthy yet, completely healthy," Underwood said of Rodgers. "He can practice, but it's not at full strength yet, in terms of the leg strength and the atrophy and everything else that's going on. But he's been very good in practice. He's been explosive, and that's been exciting as heck to see. But we've got to be fair to him as well."

Illinois on SI's take

Rodgers returning this season doesn't make much sense for a few reasons. First, like Underwood said, he shouldn't play if he's not healthy.

Even if he were 100 percent healthy with any amount of games left this season, what could Illinois reasonably expect out of him? He hasn't played in a college basketball game in nearly two full years.

However great it is that Rodgers is back in practice, there's still a significant jump to be ready for a game from a conditioning and skill standpoint, especially in the most important games of the season. Expecting Rodgers to be a major contributor in the Big Ten or NCAA Tournament after a 24-month absence is far-fetched.

And with all due respect to Rodgers, do the Illini even need him at this point? They're in line for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament as things stand, and their eight-man rotation is fully healthy again.

If Kylan Boswell and/or Andrej Stojakovic were still hurt, perhaps it would make sense to bring Rodgers back. Again, that's assuming full health. None of those eight rotation players have ever appeared in a game with Rodgers, either, so there would be an adjustment from a team chemistry and role-allocation standpoint, too.

Ty Rodgers took the time to sign as many autographs as he could. #Illini pic.twitter.com/FI4mISkUi1
— Scott Richey (@srrichey) December 23, 2025

So for Rodgers' sake, and for the sake of the team, it makes far more sense to use this season as a medical redshirt. That would give him an entire offseason to get fully healthy, return closer to game shape and be ready for the 2026-27 season.

Given that Illinois will lose Boswell and Ben Humrichous, and most likely also Keaton Wagler (and perhaps Stojakovic) after the season, Rodgers – who averaged 10.8 points per game in 2023-24 – could be a far more valuable piece on next year's team than he would be for a few games over the home stretch of this season.