The Illinois basketball team has some adjusting to do for the upcoming 2026-27 campaign.
While there is a lot of talent returning to the Illini, Brad Underwood did have to do some work this offseason to fill the holes left by departing players. He did a great job filling the voids, and now Illinois heads into next season with a lot of media hype.
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Despite a great offseason, there are still some concerns Underwood has on his plate. The Final Four run was special, but can we do what it takes to get over the hump and to the national championship?
Here are the three biggest Illinois basketball concerns Brad Underwood is facing
1. Who is the lead dog on the Illinois basketball roster?
I think the biggest question mark coming into the 2026-27 season is about leadership. It is not that there aren’t players on the team who can step up, but is there going to be a lead dog on the Illinois roster?
At the end of the day, I think an underrated aspect of Keaton Wagler was his leadership. He led in many forms.
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Wagler was obviously the best player, and that is natural leadership. But he was also an emotional leader. Wagler never got too high or too low. He would rally the troops when situations were tough. He was the calming force for the Illini.
Illinois is going to need to find the next lead dog. Is that David Mirkovic? He seems a little too sporadic for that role. Can Tomislav Ivisic do it? He doesn’t seem like a good fit. Jake Davis is always a good option, but I don’t think he will start. Is the current Illinois roster going to have an incoming transfer in Stefan Vaaks be the leader?
Here is another thought: why not another freshman leader? Quentin Coleman has a lot of juice, so maybe he slips naturally into the Wagler role.
Talent can win regular season games, but leadership wins NCAA tournament games. Illinois needs to find that leader for next season.
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2. Can Tomislav Ivisic be a true stretch-five?
I would argue the player I was most disappointed in last season was Tomislav Ivisic. He was such a threat from all over the court in year one with the program, but this past season, he fell off a cliff.
Ivisic received roughly the same amount of minutes year-over-year, but he dropped in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and field goal percentage. To top things off, the thing that makes him the most dangerous, three-point shooting, was the biggest drop off.
As a sophomore, Ivisic shot 35.7% from three-point range. Last season, that number dropped to 31.3%.
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By season’s end, teams weren’t taking Ivisic’s three-point shooting ability too seriously. That hurts his style because he is someone who can pull out an opposing big man. That didn’t end up being the case when teams realized he wasn’t shooting well.
Can Ivisic get back on track and be that true stretch-five that Illinois needs? That is a big question that Underwood needs answered heading into the 2026-27 season.
3. Where is the three-point shooting going to come from?
I wasn’t thrilled with Illinois’ three-point shooting last season. Ivisic wasn’t the only one who struggled from beyond the three-point arc.
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Illinois was about average in the country last season, shooting 34.5% from three-point range, which ranked No. 142 in the nation. The thing is, the Illini lost some of our best shooters.
Keaton Wagler shot 39.7%, and Ben Humrichous shot 36.1%. Those are two of our top four three-pointer shooters from last season. Both players are now gone.
Where is Illinois going to get that three-point shooting next season? I mean, Jake Davis shot 40.6% from deep. Is he going to be able to keep that up?
I hope Ivisic sees a boost in shooting. I am looking for him to get to 33%. I think at the end of the day, Illinois is going to look to some of the newcomers for three-point shooting.
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Vaaks shot 35% on 8.4 three-point attempts per game as a freshman. My assumption is that Underwood is going to give him the green light. Coleman averaged 23.1 points per game and shot 50% from three-point range.
While I assume those two will be leaned on heavily, who knows what the Illinois rotation will look like and who is going to be relied on to make buckets from deep?
This article was originally published on www.writingillini.com as 3 biggest Illinois basketball concerns Brad Underwood is still facing.
