The Illinois Fighting Illini are ranked No. 3 to start the 2026-27 college basketball season and have their first game scheduled for Nov. 2 against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at the State Farm Center.

Freshman guard Quentin Coleman has turned heads during the Illini's exhibition season, becoming a willing passer with a penchant for driving the lane and getting his own offense when the moment calls for it.

Coleman followed in the footsteps of a familiar name and face, Keaton Wagler, on a prestigious award watch list that shows how well-respected his game is heading into the new season. 

The Jerry West Award is given to the best shooting guard in college basketball each year and is named after former West Virginia Mountaineers star and program legend Jerry West, who also starred with the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and whose silhouette graces the NBA's famous logo. 

Coleman was named to the award's preseason watch list, along with other recognizable players. The list includes Denzel Aberdeen of Florida, Matt Able of North Carolina, Alijah Arenas of USC, Finley Bizjack of West Virginia, John Blackwell of Duke, Miles Byrd of Providence, Collin Chandler of BYU, Mason Falslev of Utah State, Austin Goosby of Texas, PJ Haggerty of Texas A&M, Caleb Holt of Arizona, Trey McKenney of Michigan, John Mobley Jr. of Ohio State, Byron Mullins of UConn, Tyler Perkins of Villanova, Trent Perry of UCLA, Killyan Toure of Iowa State, Seth Trimble of Louisville, and Jeremiah Wilkinson of Arkansas. 

Players can play their way onto or off the list at any point in the season. 

The odds look stacked against the Illini freshman in a sea of more experienced players, but he has a good chance of competing for, and perhaps winning, the award based on the buzz surrounding him in Champaign, Ill. so far this offseason.

Coleman showed many different aspects to his game during each of Illinois' three exhibition contests, during which coach Brad Underwood's team went 2-1. He will almost certainly be Illinois' starting point guard on opening night, which could cause him to slip in the eyes of the award's selection committee, but Coleman is versatile enough to slide over to the two-guard spot in Underwood's "positionless" system. 

Coleman will likely start alongside fellow freshman Ethan Brown, which could lead to growing pains early on in the season, something Underwood has commented on recently. Underwood prefers playing freshman if they are talented enough, something Wagler clearly was last season as he led Illinois to a Final Four appearance, which Coleman also hopes to do this season.