Ex-Illinois Player Coleman Hawkins Says He Would Have Changed Gameplan Against UConn In Elite Eight

The Illinois Fighting Illini played well for most of the first half against UConn in the Elite Eight.

And then they were on the receiving end of one of the most perfect stretches in NCAA Tournament history. The Huskies went on a 30-0 run on the way to victory and eventually winning their second straight national title the following weekend.

Former Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins said the outcome would have been different if the teams played again.

"I think if we played them one other time, we would have beat them," Hawkins said on the Sleepers podcast. "I think if we played them one other half, we beat them."

How many more chances would Illinois have needed to beat UConn last season?

Coleman Hawkins (@colehawk23) admits the ‘gameplan’ was the problem, but adds his answer…

“If we played them one more time, we would have beat them” pic.twitter.com/Kt316WVloX
— Sleepers Media 💤🏀 (@SleepersMedia) June 19, 2024

Hawkins, who is now at Kansas State, says the Illini failed to make the proper adjustments once the run started. He feels things would have changed if that happened.

"I'm at the five and the whole point of me being at the five is to create advantages offensively," Hawkins said. "We didn't create any advantages offensively. We were at 23 points or whatever at half. I was standing in the corner for a whole half. This is just me being real. I definitely would've switched up our gameplan somehow, some way."

Instead, the Illini became just the next opponent UConn ran over in the tournament. The Huskies won by an average of 23.3 points.

"I think we had a half where we truly ran our offense and attacked certain scenarios," Hawkins said. "And then something a little bit different defensively, i think it would just take us a half. I don't think it would take 40 minutes."

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Illini Now. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com