TJ Power, Pennsylvania’s top player who had 44 points and 14 rebounds in the Ivy League Tournament Championship Game, has been inactive for practice while dealing with an illness.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 18, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Kevin Ren/The Daily Pennsylvanian)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Pennsylvania head coach Fran McCaffery already knew he’d be without the program’s top scorer for the NCAA Tournament and now he may be without his team’s best overall player.

McCaffery confirmed Wednesday, in his on-site media conference inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolona, Pennsylvania forward TJ Power is questionable to play Thursday night (8:45 p.m., TNT) in its first round matchup against No. 3 seed Illinois.

Power has been battling an illness in the last few days leading up to this NCAA Tournament and did not travel to Greenville with the rest of the Quakers roster. Power, a 6-foot-9 forward and a former five-star prospect who spent one season at Duke and Virginia before transferring a third time to Penn, arrived Wednesday afternoon separately from his teammates but was not active for Penn’s off-site practice or its in-arena open shoot-a-round.

“He’s under the weather. He did not practice today. He's here now. He just got here. He wants to (play), but we'll see,” McCaffery said. “We'll see how he does tomorrow and if he's ready.”

Power capped an amazing weekend on Sunday by scoring half of Penn's points (44 of 88) and grabbing 14 rebounds for his second double-double in as many days in the Ivy League Tournament Championship Game overtime victory over Yale. Power was named Most Outstanding Player of the Ivy League Tournament and his 44-point outburst tied for the third-highest-scoring game in program history with Hassan Duncombe, who scored 44 at Navy on December 8, 1989. The two performances ahead of them were set by Ernie Beck 74 years ago.

When told by media of Power’s illness, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said he didn’t believe McCaffery was playing games through the media about his best player’s health status for this first round matchup.

“I would suspect (Power) will do everything he can to go but the one thing I know about Fran is he’s likely being honest about Power and his health,” Underwood said. “I’ve always said that my best game came while I was dealing with a 102-degree flu. It always scares the hell out of me when I hear about a really good player dealing with being sick.”

Penn (18-11) arrives in Greenville as a 25.5-point underdog against Illinois (24-8) and the Quakers only have three players averaging double figures in scoring this season. Just like this past weekend, Penn will likely be missing its leading 2025-26 season for the NCAA Tournament, who is not Power. Senior wing Ethan Roberts missed the Ivy League tournament with a concussion and McCaffery told local media prior to the start of the conference tournament that Roberts, averaging 16.9 points per game and presented with All-Ivy League second-team honors last week, will likely not recover in time for an NCAA Tournament game. McCaffery reiterated Wednesday that Roberts will not play again this season as this is the second concussion he’s suffered this season.