Dec. 29--Illinois' roster has been decimated by a host of injuries and issues.
The latest: mumps.
Illinois coach John Groce declined to name the player who will miss Wednesday's Big Ten opener against Michigan in Champaign, but the Decatur Herald-Review report the sick player is point guard Khalid Lewis.
Groce said the ill player was "day to day."
Lewis has been playing more significant minutes at point guard and averages 3.7 points and 3.2 assists per game in an average of 23 minutes of play. Lewis transferred to Illinois from LaSalle.
The Illinois campus had an outbreak of mumps at the beginning of the school year and urged students to re-immunize.
The Illini have dealt with a series of injuries to six other players since the preseason.
Groce said forwards Leron Black and Mike Thorne, Jr., are still out indefinitely with knee injuries. Groce noted that the swelling had subsided for Black but that the sophomore was still "not where it needs to be yet."
Groce also noted that Kipper Nichols, a 6-foot-7 freshman transfer from Tulane, has joined the team at practice. He is enrolled at Illinois but likely won't be able to see game action until after the 2016 fall semester, per NCAA transfer rules.
"He offers a lot of versatility," Groce said. "He's got a man's body. He's a great kid. He fits right in line with the character in our locker room."
