International players in Final Four: How Illinois, Michigan, Arizona, UConn used global influence for rosters

International players in Final Four: How Illinois, Michigan, Arizona, UConn used global influence for rosters originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The 2026 Final Four teams have been set. Illinois, Michigan, Arizona and UConn have advanced to the 2026 NCAA Tournament semifinals with one win standing between them and an appearance in the national championship game.

While each of these programs is a premier college basketball destination for recruits, they aren’t completely made up of homegrown talent. Illinois and UConn, for example, have crafted rosters that have carried them to the Final Four by leveraging global basketball markets and bringing in international players. Both the Fighting Illini and Huskies have nearly half their rosters from outside the U.S.

Here is more on the international players participating in the 2026 Final Four.

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International players in Final Four

Illinois

Position	Player	Country
F	David Mirkovic	Niksic, Montenegro
G	Brandon Lee	San Juan, Puerto Rico
G	Andrej Stojakovic	Thessaloniki, Greece
F	Toni Bilic	Trogir, Croatia
C	Tomislav Ivisic	Vodice, Croatia
F	Zvonimir Ivisic	Vodice, Croatia
G	Mihailo Petrovic	Prokuplje, Serbia

The Fighting Illini have a 15-man roster, and seven of the players are international.

David Mirkovic

Mirkovic was born in Niksic, Montenegro, in 2006. He started his professional basketball career at 16, playing for Studentski centar, also known as SC Derby. Mirkovic was part of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders and Adidas Next Gen Showcase in 2023 and 2024. He represented Montenegro and then made the senior national team in 2024 at the FIBA EuroBasket Qualifier.

Mirkovic played in all 36 games for the Fighting Illini this season, despite being a freshman. He is 6-9 and started 35 of the 36 games he played in. Mirkovic averaged 13.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists over 29.5 points per game.

Brandon Lee

Lee was born in San Jose, Puerto Rico in 2006. His father, Butch Lee, was the 1978 Naismith Player of the Year and was the No. 10 pick by the Atlanta Hawks in 1978. The elder Lee became the first Puerto Rican player to ever play in the NBA. Lee’s older brother Matthew was a member of the St. Peter’s team that made the 2022 Elite Eight.

Lee is a freshman who came off the bench for Illinois in the 2025-2026 season. He played in 18 games and averaged 1.7 points in 4.1 minutes per game.

Andrej Stojakovic

Stojakovic is the son of former NBA player Peja Stojakovic, who played in the pros from 1998 to 2011. While Andrej was born in the U.S., Peja was born in Croatia. The younger Stojakovic was a star for the Fighting Illini this season, playing in 33 games and averaging 13.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

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Toni Bilic

Bilic was born in Croatia in 2005. He began playing professional basketball in Croatia in 2022 with KK Cedevita Junior Zagreb in the country’s Premier League. Bilic spent two years with the club before enrolling late at Illinois. He was approved to join the Fighting Illini in December and is included on their team roster, but he did not play during the season. Bilic was given permission to practice and is expected to make his debut in the 2026-2027 season.

In 2023, he started for Croatia in the FIBA U18 European Championship and averaged 18.2 points per game across six games. Bilic was promoted to the U20 team at the FIBA U-20 European Championship but struggled, averaging just 5.8 points in four starts.

Tomislav Ivisic

Ivisic was born in Vitez, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2003, but also lived in Croatia. He began playing professional basketball when he was 16, with Sibenka which is in the Croatian League. Ivisic played alongside Mirkovic with SC Derby form 2022 to 2024.

Tomislav is one-half of the Ivisic twins who play for Illinois. The fraternal twins are both juniors for the Fighting Illini and the school’s website makes sure to point out that Tomislav is four minutes older. Tomislav played in 33 games this season, averaging 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds. He is listed at 7-1 on the team website.

Zvonimir Ivisic

The other Ivisic twin followed in a similar path to his brother. He also played for Sibenka for the 2019 season, and then joined the SC Derby team for two years.

Zvonimir began his collegiate basketball career at Kentucky, which is likely the first time that he wasn’t on the same team as his brother. After John Calipari took a different job at Arkansas, Ivisic followed. After one season with the Razorbacks, he transferred again, this time joining his fraternal twin brother at Illinois. Zvonimir played in 36 games this season, largely coming off the bench. Still, he averaged 6.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game.

Mihailo Petrovic

Petrovic was born in Prokuplje, Serbia, in 2003. He started playing professional basketball in 2021 when he was 18 years old. Petrovic played for Partizan, Dunav, Borac Cacak, OKK Beograd and Mega, all in Serbia. He represented Serbia at the 2023 U20 European Championship and averaged 14.4 points over seven games.

Petrovic is a freshman at Illinois. He saw action in 19 games and came off the bench in all of them. Petrovic had 1.6 points and 1.1 assists per game.

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Michigan

Position	Player	Country
F	Oscar Goodman	Opunake, New Zealand
C	Aday Mara	Zaragoza, Spain
C	Malick Kordel	Oberhausen, Germany

Oscar Goodman

Goodman was born in Opunake, New Zealand in 2007. He has four younger brothers, and his parents, Matt and Andie, were both rowers. Goodman began competing for New Zealand’s youth national team in 2022 at the FIBA Under-15 Oceania Championship. By the time he was 17, he began representing the New Zealand national team, becoming the youngest player ever to play for it.

Goodman is a 6-7 freshman. He played in 15 games this season, averaging 1.5 points and 1.3 rebounds.

Aday Mara

Mara was born in Zaragoza, Spain in 2005. His father, Francisco Javier Mara, was a professional basketball player in Spain, and his mother, Angelica “Geli” Gomez, played for Spain’s national women’s volleyball team. Mara’s dad is 6-7, and his mom is 6-3, but he towers over them still at 7-3. The center began playing professionally in 2021 for Basket Zaragoza, CBP Huesca and Anagan Olivar in Spain.

Mara began his collegiate career at UCLA. After two seasons, he transferred to Michigan. He is hard to miss on the court, listed at an impressive 7-3. Mara is one of Michigan’s best players. He played in 38 games this season and averaged 11.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.

Malick Kordel

Kordel actually grew up playing handball, starting at six years old. He didn’t start playing competitive basketball until 2021, when he was 17. Kordel made the switch because COVID-19 shut down the indoor handball courts, but he was able to play basketball outside. He is the third German player to suit up for Michigan in the last decade, joining Mortiz Wagner and Franz Wagner, who are both in the NBA.

Kordel is a 7-2 freshman who played in 13 games this season. He has a lot of upside, but even his impressive size wasn’t enough to help him crack the starting lineup when Mara is available. Kordel averaged 1.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per game in limited action.

MORE: Inside Michigan’s history in the Final Four

Arizona

Position	Player	Country
F	Dwayne Aristode	Lelystad, Netherlands
G	Anthony Dell’Orso	Melbourne, Australia
F	Ivan Kharchenkov	Munich, Germany
G	Jackson Cook	Oxford, England
F	Sidi Gueye	Guediawaye, Senegal
F	Montejus Krivas	Siaulia, Lithuania
F	Mabil Mawut	Bor Town, South Sudan
G	Sven Djopmo	Reims, France

The Wildcats have 16 players listed on their team roster, and eight of them are international.

Dwyane Aristode

Aristode was born in Lelystad, Netherlands and grew up there. His father named him after Dwayne Wade. He moved to Spain to play youth basketball for Joventut Badalona. Aristode moved to the United States in 2023 to enroll at Brewster Academy, which is a boarding school in New Hampshire. He had offers from Duke, USC, Xavier, UCLA and Michigan State, but opted to commit to Arizona.

Aristode was productive as a depth player for Arizona in the 2025-2026 season. He played in 34 games, but came off the bench in all of them. Aristode averaged 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. Even off the bench, he logged 13.3 minutes per game.

Anthony Dell’Orso

Dell’Orso was born in Australia and grew up there. He played basketball at Maecellin College, which is listed as a “secondary boys college” in Australia.

Dell’Orso is a senior guard who began his career at Campbell University in North Carolina. He transferred to Arizona ahead of the 2024-2025 season. After starting 28 games for the Wildcats last season, Dell’Orso only came off the bench this season. He still played 21.1 minutes per game, more than he did when he was starting, and averaged 8.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists.

Ivan Kharchenkov

Kharchenkov played for Germany’s U-18 team at the 2023 FIBA European Championship and played well, averaging 17.1 points. He has been involved with FC Bayern Munich in Germany since he was 12. Kharchenkov joined the senior team when he was 16. In his final season with the youth team, he led the team with 22.5 points per game during the 2023 season.

Kharchenkov is a freshman forward. The 6-7 wing started all 38 games for Arizona this season. He played an average of 28.3 minutes per game, while averaging 10.5 points, 4.3 boards and 2.3 assists per game.

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Jackson Cook

Cook is originally from Oxford, England. Not much is known about his international career, but he came to the U.S. for high school and played at Montverde Academy in Florida.

Cook has been at Arizona for two seasons. He has played in a combined 11 games in his tenure, with nine of the appearances being this season. Cook mainly comes in at the tail end of games, averaging just 1.3 minutes per game. He is still searching for his first career points.

Sidi Gueye

Gueye was born in Guediawaye, Senegal in 2007. He moved to Spain by the time he was 13, joining Real Madrid’s youth team. Gueye made his way up the youth leagues and then finally debuted for the adult basketball team in October 2022. He debuted for Real Madrid’s professional team in October 2024. Gueye played in the EB Next Generation Tournament in 2024 and was a Liga ACB champion in 2025.

Gueye is a 6-11 freshman. He played in 26 games this year, but has yet to start a game. Gueye averaged only 3.4 minutes of action per game, and averaged 1.3 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.3 blocks per game.

Montejus Krivas

Krivas was born in Siauliai, Lithuania in 2004. That is where he grew up, and he first played professional basketball in 2019 for BC Zalgiris-2 in the National Basketball League in Lithuania. Krivas was a member of the Boston Celtics for five games in the 2023 Basketball Without Borders youth basketball program.

Krivas is a 7-2 junior who has spent his entire collegiate career at Arizona. After he only played in eight games last season before a season-ending foot injury, he returned to start all 38 games for the Wildcats this year. The big man averaged 10.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, both career highs.

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Mabil Mawut

Mawut was born in Kenya and grew up in Uganda. He started playing basketball when he was 13, and spent his childhood playing soccer and swimming. Mawut speaks three languages: an African tribal language, Luganda and English. He attended the NBA Academy in Senegal and played two seasons of his high school career at Our Savior Lutheran in New York.

Mawut is a 6-11 freshman who didn’t play in any games this season and redshirted.

Sven Djopmo

Djopmo was born in France and played basketball while growing up. He played for Club Champagne-Basket from 2018 to 2021, and then joined U21 Nanterre 92 in France.

Djopmo is a sophomore guard who has been at Arizona for two seasons. He only played in two games last year, but came off the bench 18 times this season. Djopmo played only 1.8 minutes per game and averaged 0.6 points and 0.2 rebounds.

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UConn

Position	Player	Country
F	Dwyane Koroma	Berlin, Germany
G	Jacob Furphy	Smithton, Tasmania
C	Rrezon Elezaj	Peja, Kosovo
C	Eric Reibe	Hanover, Germany
G	Uros Paunovic	Belgrade, Serbia

Dwyane Koroma

Koromo was born in Germany in 2001 and has five siblings: one brother and four sisters. He played club ball in Europe for the Berlin Tigers before coming to the U.S for high school, attending Bishop Walsh High School in Maryland.

He is a senior who has transferred every year of his collegiate career. He began at Iona in 2020 and started 12 games. Koroma then transferred to UT Arlington, where he played in 30 games, starting 14. He transferred yet again, this time to Le Moyne. Koroma started 30 games that season and averaged 11.5 points with 7.2 rebounds.

He returned to Division I basketball this year, joining UConn. Koroma played in only 17 games and averaged 5.3 minutes, 1.4 points and 0.9 rebounds per game.

Jacob Furphy

Furphy is actually from Tasmania. He participated in the NBA Global Academy in Cranberra, Australia. Furphy also participated in Basketball Without Borders in Asia in 2023 and the Global program in 2024. He played for both the Tasmanian and Australian national teams.

Fuprhy is a freshman guard. He didn’t start any games this year, but averaged 2.4 minutes off the bench. Fuprhy averaged 0.4 points and 0.1 rebounds in his 14 appearances.

Rrezon Elezaj

Elezaj was born in Peja, Kosova before he moved to Istanbul, Turkey when he was a teenager. He played for the Turkey national team, helping them earn a bronze medal at the 2024 U17 World Cup. Before joining UConn, Elezaj played for Turkey at the 2025 FIBA U18 Eurobasket tournament, where he helped Turkey reach the quarterfinals.

Elezaj is listed as a 7-1 freshman. He only saw action in four games, and it was in garbage time. Elezaj didn’t score this season, but had three rebounds and a block.

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Eric Reibe

Reibe grew up in Hanover, Germany. He played professional basketball for OrangeAcademy, which is the ProA affiliate of Ratiopharm Ulm, for the 2022-2023 season. Reibe then transferred to the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland. He was selected to play in the 2025 McDonald’s All-American game and was considered a top-30 prospect in the 2025 class.

Reibe is a 7-1 freshman center who played in all 38 games this year, drawing five starts. He played 14.2 minutes per game and averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds.

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International players in Final Four: How Illinois, Michigan, Arizona, UConn used global influence for rosters

International players in Final Four

Illinois

Michigan

Arizona

UConn

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