Ty Rodgers started all 38 games for Illinois last season.
He apparently won’t play in one in 2024-25.
Illinois coach Brad Underwood confirmed a report from 247 Sports’ Illini Inquirer on Monday that the former Michigan high school basketball star has decided to redshirt this season.
The decision from Rodgers, a Saginaw native who played at Grand Blanc, had been in the works for multiple weeks but didn’t become official until days before Illinois’ opener vs. Eastern Illinois.
Rodgers, who chose Illinois over both Michigan and Michigan State, among others, averaged 6.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2 assists while playing nearly 23 minutes per game for a team that went 29-9 and made the Elite Eight.
The specific reason for the redshirt wasn’t disclosed, but Underwood mentioned the need for an expanded offensive game to a report from 247 Sports.
“The one thing about young people is they have goals, they have things they want to try to reach,” Underwood said. “I think it was an opportunity that he felt and we felt he could continue to grow in terms of his game offensively. There’s not a sweeter — and I use that term — nicer young man, kind heart, good human being, does everything right.”
Rodgers, 6-6, 210 pounds, was considered a top 60 prospect in the 2022 class. He shot nearly 53% from the field last season, but his attempts almost exclusively came around the basket, via drives or put backs on rebounds.
He did not attempt a 3-point shot and shot 58.5% from the free throw line.
“The one thing about young people is they have goals, they have things they want to try to reach,” Underwood said. “I think it was an opportunity that he felt and we felt he could continue to grow in terms of his game offensively. There’s not a sweeter — and I use that term — nicer young man, kind heart, good human being, does everything right.
“He will be a coach to these guys, but just has some areas of his game that he wants to continue to work on. We support that. Development is what we’ve hung our hat on in this program. He knows he’s got a great group of coaches to help him do that. It’s always a loss when you lose a guy who started every game off an Elite Eight team”
So far, there’s no indication that Rodgers may leave the program, but in modern college basketball, that always remains a possibility.
“Yeah. It’s the world we’re in,” Underwood said. “I think he’s an Illini. I think he’s our guy. We love Ty to death, but our world doesn’t have any guarantees now. We’ll do everything we can do within our power to help him be as successful as he can be. There’s no rhyme or reason to anything. We sure hope he’s an Illini.”
Underwood called Rodgers “a winner” going back to his time in AAU ball and at Grand Blanc where he helped the Bobcats to a 15-2 record.
Illinois added several key players with similar builds to Rodgers in the offseason including Louisville transfer Tre White and five-star freshman Will Riley, who scored a game-high 31 points on Monday.
Tim Anderson, Rodgers’ lead recruiter, also left the program two months ago on indefinite personal leave.
Illinois beat EIU 112-67 on Monday. It plays Michigan State twice, in East Lansing on Jan. 19 and in Champaign on Feb. 15. The Illini play Michigan once, in Ann Arbor, on March 2.
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