What’s up, y’all? We are back with another summertime MBB preview, and today we’re going to be looking at the Illinois Fighting Illini. The Illini shocked most of the basketball world last season by finishing 3rd in the Big Ten (a 28-9 record), and making it all the way to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament, but now they’re back and coach Brad Underwood is looking to build on that positive momentum. They will have to build said momentum without breakout star point guard Keaton Wagler (17.9 points 5.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists per game), though, as he is entering the 2026 NBA Draft and is projected to be taken in the mid-late lottery. They’ll also be without Kylan Boswell (12.3 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists per game), a 6’2” guard who is graduating.
They will be keeping Andrej Stojakovic (13.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1 assist per game) though, which is rare in the current landscape of college sports, and considering Illinois was his third school in three years when he transferred in before last season. Also returning is Montenegrin big man David Mirkovic (13.3 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists per game), giving coach Underwood a solid front court to build on.
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Joining them via the Transfer Portal is Stefan Vaaks, a 6’7” shooting-guard who averaged 15.8 points per game in his only collegiate season at Providence.
The kid pretty clearly patterns his game after Lakers guard Luka Dončić, but takes a decent amount more three pointers per game than he probably should (8.4 of his 12.3 shots per game last season were from beyond the arc). But he shot them at a decent 35% clip, so I can’t fault him too hard for it. I’d still like to see that number even out a little bit, though.
They’ll be rounding out the rest of the roster via the #20 recruiting class in the country (according to 24/7 sports), headlined by 5-star recruit Quentin Coleman, a 6’4” guard from St. Louis, MO. Coleman uses his quickness to hunt the passing lanes on defense and get out in transition but can also step out and knock down the three ball, with a very smooth shooting form. He’s also an above average rebounder for his position, averaging a tournament high 11.4 rebounds per game in the FIBA U18 AmeriCup tournament earlier this June.
The Fighting Illini will make the trek to Eugene this season, but at time of writing, we do not know exactly when.
As always, ‘Sco Ducks.
