Maui was announced in
October 2016 (the Groce era).
That, plus being 1 of the 8 teams chosen for the Gavitt Games (vs Georgetown), going on the road in the B1G/ACC Challenge (at ND), & tough early B1G games was out of Illinois' control.
For a new team that hadn't had a chance to fully form, opening with 7 tough games (6 away from home) in their first 9 contests was combination of bad luck (Maui is setup so far in advance), things out of IL's control (Gavitt Games, B1G/ACC Challenge, early B1G games), and questionable decision-making (moving B1G home opener away from home, deciding not to play 3-straight home games in December). But now is not the time to look back, now we have the beginnings of a new era- an era of winning basketball on the court as well as winning decision-making on the scheduling calendar. Go Illini