Thanks for another great preview. UIC is a team last year that seemed to hit its ceiling (good for them). They lost their best player but are bringing a lot back. Other than Ava Thomas from Furman, the portal was not great for them. Certainly something to be said about continuity and they are bringing guys back in an era where that is rare. Ehsan will find a way to get the most out of this team, time will tell what that is.
UIC is a story in his the NIL era can be a success story. Especially for state schools. UIC went from being a bottom feeder HL/MVC team to a top tier MVC team quickly in no short thanks to the NIL era. They are a flagship campus of the Illinois system and have a large alumni/enrollment base as a result.
What hurts them the most is the fact that they are a majority commuter campus with up to 90% of students coming from off campus. Can't build a sports culture without students around and I take it a lot of students don't see the benefit in staying a few extra hours in campus to catch a BBall game