Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team:

Duncan Robinson emerged as one of the breakout players of the 2019-20 NBA season. His ongoing play in the bubble with the Miami Heat dueling the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals continues to put his game on display. 

Robinson is averaging 13.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in his first full season in the league. What’s kept him in the Miami lineup, though, is his 44.6 percent three-point shooting.

That Robinson began his college basketball career at Division III Williams College (Mass.) is, of course, notable. He eventually transferred to Michigan and was a part-time starter for John Beilein’s Wolverines in three seasons.

There will be another sharp shooting guard with a Division III background in the Big Ten this coming season. Here in Champaign, actually, and Illinois redshirt junior guard Austin Hutcherson doesn’t mind the occasional comparison to Robinson one bit.

“I don’t really see it as pressure,” Hutchinson said. “I have the pressure on myself to try and make it to that level anyway, so the comparison, I welcome it. I know Duncan. I’m friends with him. I love the comparison. Any time you’re compared to an NBA player, it’s flattering. We come from the same area. I take it as an honor.”

Hutchinson has yet to play a game in an Illinois jersey, of course, after sitting out the 2019-20 season after his transfer from Wesleyan University (Conn.). The 6-foot-6, 180-pound guard projects, however, to play a key role on the wing for the Illini. Hutcherson’s background should help bolster what was a lackluster shooting team from a year ago.

“I hope to have people expect stuff of me,” he said. “I never really like going into a situation where everyone kind of doesn’t really care about you and don’t really expect much. The expectation is what drives me besides my own goals. Just having that pressure and that expectation, it gives you a reason to come to work every day and get better.”