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Welcome to "Green Street," your dose of women's college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Joe Vozzelli. He'll offer up insight on Shauna Green's Illini team and the women's game at large every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The 2025-26 Illinois women's basketball roster is now in place. So let's proceed accordingly with a roster breakdown of Shauna Green 's fourth team.

➜ What she's done: Benson arrives on the Illinois campus perhaps without the same level of hype as some of her freshmen teammates. Not with Destiny Jackson a five-star guard from Whitney Young. And Manuella Alves and Cearah Parchment both Top 61 recruits. But Benson has every bit the same credentials as a Top 100 recruit (rated No. 98 overall in the Class of 2025 by espnW's HoopGurlz) after a standout career at Streetsboro High School in Ohio. Benson is now officially on campus after the four-star forward averaged 19.1 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 3.1 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 56.8 percent from the field overall as a senior for the Rockets, who finished with a 23-4 record and ended up one win shy of reaching the OHSAA Division IV state tournament.

➜ What her role will be in 2025-26: Benson will have some valuable on-court time during Illinois' eight-week long summer workouts with Alves and Parchment both away from the Illini team playing for the international teams. That could prove beneficial to Benson as Illinois debuts a retooled frontcourt. Really outside of sophomore forward Berry Wallace , there's plenty of unknowns surrounding what the Illini's frontcourt rotation will look like this upcoming season. But Benson is among the players that will be in the mix for steady minutes. The key for Benson — and the rest of Illinois' eight newcomers — is getting up to speed in Shauna Green 's system, especially the defensive responsibilities required for consistent playing time.