Reinforcement could be coming for the Chicago Bulls as Torrey Craig nears a return, and Ayo Dosunmu leads the pack of second-round draft picks from his 2021 class.
The WNBA will host fans at draft night in Brooklyn this April as the Chicago Sky prepare to make important selections at No. 3 and No. 8.
No. 12 Illinois men’s basketball dropped a final loss to No. 3 Purdue after ceding the Big Ten while Northwestern remains stuck in third in pursuit of a tournament berth. Meanwhile, the DePaul men’s program is careening toward a winless season in the Big East.
Every Wednesday throughout the season, Tribune writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Bulls, Sky and local basketball.
Torrey Craig nears return
The Bulls could get their final reinforcement this week as forward Torrey Craig prepares for a return after missing six games with a right knee sprain.
Craig previously missed 22 games with a sprained plantar fascia in his right foot, then made a successful return before All-Star weekend. But he sprained his knee while working out away from the team over the break, which removed all power forward options from the Bulls, who are already missing Patrick Williams due to a season-ending foot injury.
Ahead of Monday’s game in Sacramento, coach Billy Donovan said Craig could return by the end of this week’s four-game road trip on the West Coast. The Bulls will play back-to-back in Utah and San Francisco on Wednesday and Thursday, then face the Los Angeles Clippers in a day game on Saturday.
“He’s moving in a really good direction,” Donovan said of Craig. “I don’t know about this road trip, but it’s certainly not out of the question. A lot of this could be depending on how he continues to progress, but I think the medical guys are pretty optimistic of where he is at this point in time.”
Craig will be under a minutes restriction when he returns, but his size and adaptability would help to bolster the Bulls’ defense, which has leaned heavily on Alex Caruso without any other power forwards available.
WNBA opens draft night to fans
The WNBA will welcome fans to draft night for the first time since 2016 in a seated event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on April 15. The return to an in-person event is a purposeful move as the league hopes to harness excitement surrounding this year’s draft class, which is helmed by Caitlin Clark.
Clark announced her intention to declare for this year’s draft shortly before her senior night with Iowa on Sunday, during which she broke Pete Maravich’s record for all-time NCAA scoring. The Indiana Fever are expected to select Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
Fans and executives around the league are still waiting on final draft declaration decisions from top players like Stanford’s Cameron Brink. Regardless of those decisions, the Chicago Sky will be at the center of the action this year after making several trades — including a blockbuster move to part with star Kahleah Copper — to acquire the No. 3 and No. 8 picks.
General manager Jeff Pagliocca and coach Teresa Weatherspoon will have a wealth of top talent to select from, including Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson, South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso, LSU’s Angel Reese and Connecticut’s Aaliyah Edwards.
Tickets for the event will go on sale at 11 a.m. CT on March 7.
Illinois men drop loss — and Big Ten title — to Purdue while Northwestern seeks tournament berth
Although they led for most of Tuesday’s matchup against No. 3 Purdue, No. 12 Illinois could not hold off the back-to-back Big Ten champions in their final meeting of the regular season. The Illini dropped a 77-71 loss to the Boilermakers despite a 20-point performance from Marcus Domask as Purdue’s Zach Edey roped in 28 points.
Purdue had already clinched their second consecutive outright Big Ten title this weekend with a win over Michigan. Now, the attention turns to the Big Ten tournament — which could be most impactful for Northwestern.
The Wildcats remain stuck at third in the conference behind Purdue and Illinois. And without a top 25 ranking, Northwestern has slowly slipped from a bubble team to an outlier for the NCAA tournament. With Illinois dropping the loss this week, the Wildcats have the opportunity to move up into the No. 2 seed position for the Big Ten tournament.
DePaul men’s basketball could finish winless in the Big East
A season to forget for the DePaul men’s basketball team could end on another low note this week — finishing the season without a single win in the Big East conference.
This has been a disastrous season for the Blue Demons, who fired coach Tony Stubblefield in January after a 3-15 start. The Blue Demons are 0-20 in conference play after dropping their 31st consecutive regular season game to St. John’s on Tuesday. With their loss to Butler last week, they surpassed Georgetown for the longest conference losing streak in Big East history.
It’s been nearly 14 months since DePaul last beat a Big East opponent on Jan. 18, 2023.
DePaul faces one more opportunity to avoid a winless conference season: Saturday’s season finale at Seton Hall.
Number of the week: 2,002
Ayo Dosunmu scored 20 points against Sacramento on Monday, passing the 2,000-point threshold to bring his career total to 2,002 points.
Dosunmu is one of only two players selected in the second round of the 2021 draft to score 2,000 or more points in their career. Herb Jones has scored 2,027 in his three seasons with the New Orleans.
Week ahead: Bulls
- Wednesday: @ Utah Jazz, 8 p.m., NBC Sports Chicago
- Thursday: @ Golden State Warriors, 9 p.m., NBC Sports Chicago
- Friday: Off
- Saturday: @ Los Angeles Clippers, 3 p.m., NBC Sports Chicago
- Sunday: Off
- Monday: Dallas Mavericks, 7 p.m., NBC Sports Chicago
- Tuesday: Off
What we’re reading this morning
- Onuralp Bitim finds joy in his new Bulls role after taking a leap — and ‘gamble’ — coming from Turkey
- Bulls fall apart in chippy 16-point loss to the Bucks: ‘We let our frustrations get the best of us’
- Is Andre Drummond the NBA’s best rebounder since Dennis Rodman? ‘Best to ever do it,’ the Bulls center says.
- ‘It’s Clarkonomics.’ WNBA teams see increase in ticket sales after Caitlin Clark announces draft plans.
- Big Ten women’s bracket: When do Northwestern, Illinois and Caitlin Clark begin play in Minneapolis?
- Ex-Wisconsin assistant coach Howard Moore gets standing ovation at game after 2019 car wreck
- DePaul sets record with its 30th consecutive regular-season Big East loss, falling to Butler 82-63
- Column: The place to be for basketball in Chicago? Loyola’s Gentile Arena, where ‘fans are family.’
Quotable
“I don’t really look at it like, ‘Oh, me and Deebo was doing this and that.’ I look at it as we got a good, solid team win.” — Coby White after combining with DeMar DeRozan for 70 of the Bulls’ 113 points in Monday’s win over Sacramento
