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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – In his final year of college basketball, Illinois senior guard Kylan Boswell decided to act on an idea he’d pondered throughout his collegiate career: bringing the team together for a players-only meeting before the NCAA Tournament.
Following Illinois’ overtime defeat to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, Boswell reached out to his teammates, organizing a gathering at his home in Champaign, Ill. The meeting took place on Saturday, just a day before the NCAA Tournament Selection Show.
“On our way back from Chicago, [David Mirkovic] suggested we should all meet,” Boswell recounted. “Although I always felt our team was mature enough to handle things, I realized Big Mirk had a point. It was time to unite and discuss things openly.”
The gathering at Boswell’s place featured wings, pizza, and some heartfelt discussions among the players.
“Our conversation wasn’t focused on the loss to Wisconsin,” Boswell explained. “It was more about aligning our mindset. We needed to express any frustrations or thoughts from the year and ensure we were all on the same page. So, when we hit the court for practice on Monday, the team is singularly focused on pursuing the national championship.”
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The message in the meeting?
“1-0 mentality,” the hometown kid said. “It’s the last time this group will get to play together. We’ll all go separate ways, so we just need to enjoy the moment. I think we’ve played our best all year when we’re super intense, aggressive, and we play with the right mentality… Us understanding one another and how much we love each other will be our biggest advantage.”
“We all know what we got to do, but when we all say what we think, what we need to do from our perspective – it definitely helps,” Illini junior center Tomislav Ivisic said. “We know we can do good things, we just need to stick together.”
Ivisic says the group is focused on forgetting the previous 32 games and knowing no previous outcome impacts the NCAA Tournament outcomes.
Brad Underwood wasn’t filled in on the meeting, but was glad to hear it happened.
“That’s great,” Underwood said. “That’s what leaders do… That’s what character is about. This group is really close. I think they know all their goals are in front of them, it’s right there for us to take. One game at a time and you don’t look past anybody, but it’s great to hear that.”
The Illini hope to put these words into action in the big dance, starting on Thursday against 14 seed Penn.