Illini Basketball 2025-2026

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#277      
Fighter of the Nightman
Fly Illini Fly! said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1956108592433479848
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I hate when people (especially younger folks on social media) try to act like the conference championship/tournament/other regular season accomplishments don't matter, but I will say this ... in the Underwood Era, we have checked off all of the boxes short of a Final Four, which takes quite a bit of luck and everything coming together. 2020 brought us back to respectability and national relevance. 2021 brought a BTT championship, a #1 seed and top-10-level prestige. 2022 brought us the regular season championship. 2024 brought us that coveted Elite Eight and Second Weekend experience. Hell, even a somewhat disappointing 2025 season arguably cemented us as a player for putting kids in the NBA on par with the elite programs and re-cemented our ability to recruit at a high level for a sustained period, plus ... finally beating Purdue again!

All of that is to say I am A-okay with being third in the pecking order of the Big Ten. While it likely means a league championship will be very difficult, it also means we will be a very good team that earns a good seed. And at this point in our program's trajectory, my major concern is "stacking the odds in our favor" of a Final Four run ... and in college hoops, that means returning to March Madness with the best possible seed you can every year and rolling the dice to see if you can just keep winning. If you're always in the conversation, eventually you will break through.
 
#278      
Illini2010-11
#279      
Brosky
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
They did not play the same # of minutes. That makes a huge difference when it comes to the stats; as the OP pointed out he averaged a DD per 25. If you had the choice, there's little to no reason to pick Z over Rez.
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Except the fact he can shoot. That means you have to guard him. He can stretch the floor, which is something Morez could never do.
 
#281      
HereSoIDontGetFined
Brosky said:
Except the fact he can shoot. That means you have to guard him. He can stretch the floor, which is something Morez could never do.
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My only thought is, Morez added some semblance of balance for us. Having a reliable rebounder/defender/putback guy inside who can put on more muscle and be a real post presence would be nice to complement what we have on the outside.

As it is, we don't have enough of those guys. Especially if we're going to rely on Big Z to shoot it from out top. I don't think either he or Tomi have shown themselves to be tough enough presences down low on the defensive end. Z can block well, but is he gonna get pushed around?
 
#282      
BlueFlag
HereSoIDontGetFined said:
My only thought is, Morez added some semblance of balance for us. Having a reliable rebounder/defender/putback guy inside who can put on more muscle and be a real post presence would be nice to complement what we have on the outside.

As it is, we don't have enough of those guys. Especially if we're going to rely on Big Z to shoot it from out top. I don't think either he or Tomi have shown themselves to be tough enough presences down low on the defensive end. Z can block well, but is he gonna get pushed around?
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Morez is gone . . .

We should be concerned about Morez Johnson now only when we play Michigan.
 
#283      
Illini2010-11
Brosky said:
Confused. Are you talking about the United Center game or the MSG game?
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It is a continuation of the setup that we had with Bama. We had the setup with Bama that we had the game in Birmingham last season and then the UC this year. The setup with UCONN will have us at MSG this year and at the UC next season.

The net result of this scheduling is a marquis "home" game at the UC in consecutive seasons that get rated as a neutral site game for resume purposes (this is a plus). I expect that this type of setup will continue going forward. We have a very strong non-conference schedule forming, and it has what we should strive for:

- A traditional home and home arrangement overlap (what we have with Tennessee and Texas Tech) -- we get a true road game vs a top ranked team, along with a home game against a top ranked team (makes season ticket holders happy with a marquis non-conference home game).

-A neutral site "home and home" arrangement overlap (what we have with Bama and UCONN)


This results in four games that are great for the resume (one true home game, one true road game, and two neutral site games). Very good schedule-making, and one I hope continues for a long time. When you add in the Braggin Rights, you get five very strong non-conference games to add to the resume (possibly all Quad 1 opportunities).
 
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#284      
Fighter of the Nightman
Illini2010-11 said:
@Fighter of the Nightman got his wish for a marquis game at the UC. This will be two straight seasons with top-tier matchups at the UC.

Very happy with this announcement.
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d

Brosky said:
Confused. Are you talking about the United Center game or the MSG game?
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As Illini2010-11 touched on, we'll get the return game with UConn in Chicago next season. I have said before that I am not the scheduling genius to make this work, but I think our goal over a several-year period should be to stagger these 4-year series' so as to try to get both a marquee home matchup and a marquee United Center matchup every season. In the non-conference, we played 4 Power Conference teams in 2023-24, 5 in 2024-25 and we have 5 scheduled for 2025-26. I tried this once, but using the last couple of years as a template and trying to incorporate some new programs, here is what this could look like in a hypothetical near future

2025-26
Home - vs. Texas Tech in Champaign, IL
Neutral Home - vs. Alabama in Chicago, IL (return game for 2024-25 in Birmingham, AL)
True Neutral - vs. Missouri in St. Louis, MO
Neutral Away - vs. UConn in New York, NY
Neutral Away - at Tennessee in Nashville, TN
Away - N/A


2026-27
Home - vs. Kentucky in Champaign, IL (begins a 4-year series)
Neutral Home - vs. UConn in Chicago, IL (return game for 2025-26 in New York, NY ... ends UConn series at 2 years)
True Neutral - vs. Missouri in St. Louis, MO
Neutral Away - N/A
Away - at Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX (return game for 2025-26 in Champaign, IL)

2027-28
Home - vs. Florida in Champaign, IL (begins a 4-year series)
Neutral Home - vs. Tennessee in Chicago, IL (return game for 2025-26 in Nashville, TN ... ends Tennessee series at 4 years)
True Neutral - vs. Missouri in St. Louis, MO
Neutral Away - at Texas Tech in Dallas, TX (with return game next year in Chicago, IL)
Away - at Kentucky in Lexington, KY (return game for 2026-27 in Champaign, IL)

2028-29
Home - vs. Kansas (begins a 4-year series)
Neutral Home - vs. Texas Tech in Chicago, IL (return game for 2027-28 in Chicago, IL ... ends Texas Tech series at 4 years)
True Neutral - vs. Missouri in St. Louis, MO
Neutral Away* - at Kentucky in Indianapolis, IN (with return game next year in Chicago, IL)
Away - at Florida in Gainesville, FL (return game for 2027-28 in Champaign, IL)

* I know Indianapolis vs. Kentucky is more of a true neutral, but I think they would gladly take that as a return for Chicago (where they would also bring plenty of fans). As I have said before, Illinois and Kentucky playing each other in a packed house in Indianapolis would be nothing short of an EXCEPTIONALLY awesome troll of the Hoosiers, lol.
 
#287      
Illinicpa14
From this board you would think Morez is either the boogeyman or the next Zach Edey.

I think at this point I’d rather hear another Podz or Hutch story
 
#288      
Emerson Bigguns
If Wagler is playing a lot, it’s because he is way better than his ranking. This team doesn’t need a freshman hero to be good.
I’m a Mirk believer. He played at least as well in the Adriatic league last year as Tomi did the year before, and Tomi was a heck of a B1G player last year.
Don’t underestimate the impact of guys like Tomi, Kylan, and Ben…even Z to an extent having a full summer in the Fletch program. They all got pushed around a bit last year, but that’s the beauty of the offseason. Guys just tend to look different here in year two as opposed to year one. I’m not saying they will turn into bulldozers, but they will be better equipped to hold their positions in the post.
Kylan’s confidence grew throughout last year, and his play consistently improved. Looks like this is his team to lead. The fact that he’s been in Greece with Stoj & Petro tells you all you need to know about whether he’s embraced that…
 
#289      
BlueLeader
Hope Boz really takes a jump, but losing KJ and especially late season Riley is a major gap to fill.
 
#290      
RabidDawgClassic
Emerson Bigguns said:
Kylan’s confidence grew throughout last year, and his play consistently improved. Looks like this is his team to lead. The fact that he’s been in Greece with Stoj & Petro tells you all you need to know about whether he’s embraced that…
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Has it been confirmed that Petro is working out with Boswell and Andrej?
 
#291      
Brosky
He's been loyal. He wants to play for the University of Illinois.
 
#293      
Trueblue777
BlueLeader said:
Hope Boz really takes a jump, but losing KJ and especially late season Riley is a major gap to fill.
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Stojakovic will more than replace WR. I expect him to be our leading scorer in 25-26. He has 2 MBB seasons under his belt, under Fletch he’s in the best shape of his life.
 
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