Robert Montgomery Knight once said to give him guys that can shoot and he'll teach them to play defense.
The best defense is a good offense. Often attributed to Sun Tzu but whoever uttered the exact quote is lost in the mist of history.
Illini Basketball 2025-2026
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The best defense is a good offense. Often attributed to Sun Tzu but whoever uttered the exact quote is lost in the mist of history.
Have we been told what year (or how much eligibility) Petrovic is or has left?
Please see three posts above
89 squad was very good with 2 lottery picks, Gill, Nick, and Battle also a 1st rounders and both Bardo a very early second rounder and Marcus Liberty a second round pick too. That was our most talented team ever.
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MDchicago
- Lake Norman NC
With today's immediate eligibility rules, the 1987 Illini probably had more talent/pros (#3 seed in the tournament, with Nick Anderson and Kenny Battle sitting in street clothes behind the bench all year). Would have been fun to see...
Norman was dominant inside that year (20.7/9.8), and Alternberger and Tony Wy both shot ~47% from 3FG with the short 3FG line they started with. Adding two more future 1st rounders to the mix would have been an embarrassment of riches, and that is without factoring in Ben Wilson who potentially could have been on that team as well....
Lowell Hamilton
Ken Norman
Kenny Battle
Nick Anderson
Doug Altenberger
Tony Wysinger
Glynn Blackwell
Kendall Gill/Steve Bardo/Larry Smith
Jens Kujawa/Phil Kunz
my favorite Luther Head moment is in the Arizona comeback, right when they announced the under minute announcement he hit that 3. It was so cold blooded man.
I don't mean to invoke a hypothetical argument over teams. I wasn't alive for the Flying Illini though everything you say makes sense and would have made an incredible team even MORE dangerous.
I merely meant to point how savage a Terrence Shannon/Kofi Cockburn team would be. Obviously, SOME diminishing returns in that I don't think Domask gets anywhere near his 1st Team B1G performance.
You'd essentially have 2 of the Top 5 front runners for Player of the Year on one team.
TSJ in the open court, then Kofi in half court sets. Nasty work
DB11Headband
- Chicago Burbs
Two years
Has the NCAA made a formal determination on eligibility? Or is that just what we expect it will be?
SampsonRelpenk
- Edwardsville, IL
Same game for me, but it was when he made that breakaway steal in OT and stared down the defender closing in as he drove to the hoop like "I will end your entire bloodline if you even attempt to deny this basket".
I agree that rim protection was their biggest issue but the year before they were 26th and Mayer was really the only loss(he was a capable defender) and Epps was awful defensively.
Only a few teams really had good 5s so playing Hawkins there really shouldn't have been a major issue and the versatility of TJ, Ty, Coleman, and Guerrier should have led to a better defense.
But yes if you put a 5th year Kofi on that team and run the Domask offense with Kofi in the dunker spot(they wouldn't have done that) then that roster probably would've been the undefeated national champion.
Not Illini basketball itself but Illinois Inquirer found their Derek Piper replacement with Kyle Tausk
Unknown if long term but it's easy to see he's got a very bright future. Very well spoken. If you closed your eyes and listened, you'd think it was Piper speaking
Will try to link 1st pod below
Unknown if long term but it's easy to see he's got a very bright future. Very well spoken. If you closed your eyes and listened, you'd think it was Piper speaking
Will try to link 1st pod below
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He’s an intern. Him and another senior at UIUC got internships for this year. The other one will cover football and they both will do the other sports combined. He does a great job though but unknown if it’ll be a long term thing.Not Illini basketball itself but Illinois Inquirer found their Derek Piper replacement with Kyle Tausk
Unknown if long term but it's easy to see he's got a very bright future. Very well spoken. If you closed your eyes and listened, you'd think it was Piper speaking
Will try to link 1st pod below
Petrovic and Mirkovic have finally been rated by 247- 4 stars for both.
Returning Petro, Stoj, and the twins should be the primary focus for next off-season. I do not buy the "everyone's here for one year" talk - tomi and boz are massive returns for this team, same with Coleman and TJ two years ago.
IMO Tomi's the lone one with a legitimate shot at going pro.
IMO Tomi's the lone one with a legitimate shot at going pro.
I’ll add Mirkovic.
The goal needs to be to return them or put them in the NBA. Transfer is not an option.
I’d add Wagler too. I’m Cautiously way too overly optimistic
Stojakovic is a 6'7 wing that moves pretty well and averaged 18 points in the ACC as a sophomore.
He is by far the best NBA prospect on the roster this year imo and it's pretty to see bigger guards/wings that can score stick around 4 years(getting Shannon for year 5 was a unicorn scenario).
Tomi doesn't move well enough to be a coveted NBA draft prospect imo. Kalkbrenner stayed 5 years and was a 2nd round pick which would probably be Tomi's ceiling in the draft imo.
I actually think Zvonimir is probably a better NBA prospect than Tomi even if Tomi is better in college because Zvonimir is a lot more fluid of an athlete and a better rim protector.
This is what leads to dejection year after year on this board come April. Posts like these stir up unrealistic expectations of literally returning the entire roster - which simply doesn’t happen nowadays. For anybody.
The no doubt STARTERS are the ones you put that emphasis on. That's Petrovic, Stojakovic, and the twin bigs. Last year it was Kylan, Tomi, Morez (not counting NBA guys) - I say we did okay at 2/3.
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I was fine with our retention last year as well - don’t disagree.
But are we sure Z is a no doubt starter?
Being Tomi's bro immediately adds that emphasis IMO. But regardless, if he has the year we expect - approx 10 PTS, 5 REB, 2+ BLK - I don't see how he isn't a no doubt starter.
He's a no doubt starter this year if we're being honest.
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