Illini Basketball 2025-2026

[PepeSilvia]

Broadly, Illini just can't get a lot of Chicago metro traction, it seems to me. Particularly true for football but somewhat true for early & regular season basketball too. Just unable to get the city really engaged in our Illini. There's barely an Illini bar presence. Someone mentioned the Budweiser Brickhouse being Champaign north but my experience (limited) with that has been very disappointing.

It's just a very very large city that attracts graduates from schools all over the country you're just not going to get a predominant group in a city that big.

You don't have season ticket holders for this game and there really aren't that many tickets available though and the majority are in the far upper deck. It's only Monday afternoon and I'd bet a lot of tickets tend to get sold a day or two in advance especially since those tickets tend to drop in price closer to tip off.

Sidenote: the 8 pm tip on a weeknight isn't a great time for bringing in the fans from the suburbs. 7 or 7:30 are just better tip times for central time.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

For a fun exercise, according to this website, these are the "Illinois Alumni" totals for Cook County, IL.

92,739 UIUC
120,491 UIC
2,196 UIS
---> 210,025 U of I System

And according to this other website, Indiana University (I believe the entire system) has 77,825 grads in Marion County, IN, where Indy is.

A quick Google search says 43.6% of Cook County, IL residents have a bachelor's degree or higher, so that is a population of around 2,217,963. Marion County, IN had 25.7% of the same stat, which would be a population of 253,814.

So even if you make the incredibly bold assumption that all UIC and UIS grads were Illini fans and all non-Bloomington campus IU grads were Hoosiers fans...

1. Illini grads would be 9.5% of all college grads in Cook County, IL.
2. Hoosier grads would be 30.7% of all college grads in Marion County, IN ... and that's before adding Purdue!!

Considering that Chicago will just simply never have this "local" feel that smaller cities will, there will never be a perception that Illinois is a clear-cut "home team." However, once one realizes that, I think we can appreciate that we actually DO get pretty good support from Chicago, all things considered. The Sun-Times or someone always does a poll asking what college sports team Chicagoans cheer for, and here is one I found from 2023, specifically for football:

38.1% Illinois
20.4% Notre Dame
8.4% Northwestern
33.1% Other

Fewer than 10% of college grads to well over 35% of fans ain't half bad, lol.

 

[Piotyr]

One interesting (to me) thing that I noticed when looking at all the teams in the conference this year: playing Iowa is going to be weird, because their new coach has them playing at the slowest pace of any team in the conference, and one of the ten slowest paces in college basketball right now.

Sharp contrast to the frantic Fran ball.

 

[lstewart53x3]

One interesting (to me) thing that I noticed when looking at all the teams in the conference this year: playing Iowa is going to be weird, because their new coach has them playing at the slowest pace of any team in the conference, and one of the ten slowest paces in college basketball right now.

Sharp contrast to the frantic Fran ball.

Keep the random stats coming

 

[BrownTown]

Eh, as someone who has lived in the city for over six years and is a non-alum fan (so maybe an interesting perspective), I actually don't agree with this. I mean, first of all, we need to acknowledge that we simply cannot compare our "traction" to Michigan/MSU in Detroit, let alone Iowa with Des Moines ... we will NEVER get that type of support out of Chicagoland simply due to how different it is from those places. Chicago is way too big to funnel students "mostly" to Illinois, and alums of out-of-state schools are not pouring into metros like Milwaukee every single year. Our support in Chicago should be compared to Georgia in Atlanta or Rutgers/Syracuse in New York; even UCLA/USC in Los Angeles or Cal/Stanford in San Francisco are SO close (or literally in the city) that you're going to a bump there that a more classic state school should not expect. And when you look at Illini support in Chicago vs., say, Rutgers support in NYC ... we are much, much better. While casual fans who didn't go to a specific school mostly just focus on pro sports, there is at least SOME aspect of these folks jumping on an Illini bandwagon BECAUSE they're a "local school" in a way that NYC residents simply wouldn't do. 2005 is an obvious example, but I remember random cab drivers and doormen seeing my Illini sweatshirt when we were closing in on a #1 seed in 2021 and saying stuff like, "You think we can go all the way??"

I honestly think the biggest issue this year is the day of the week ... this game has almost always been on a Saturday, and even objectively bad Illini teams have drawn 16k+ (i.e., more than our home arena's capacity).

I'm from "Graduating class of 18, no stop light, WIVC country". So I'm hardly one to understand Chicago and their rooting interests.

I have heard that guys like Joker, Luka Doncic, Giannis (insert Balkan NBA Superstar) love Chicago and have quite a following there due to the heavy Balkan immigrant presence.

Was wondering if we have seen any uptick in Chicago based on our recent recruiting? I don't know really how to look that up besides making assumptions based on TV ratings (not the greatest predictor of course) part of that would just be the recent success.

 

[RollChief]

Keep the random stats coming

Here's a fun one for you: If we beat Bama on Wednesday, it will be only the second time that Brad Underwood has taken an Illinois team to 5-0. The only other time he did it was... (drum roll)... 2017-2018.

Below is a list of the 5-0 starts, the coach, and the average KenPom ranking of opponents through 5 games. For reference, the average KenPom ranking of our first 5 opponents this year is 138.

2001 - Bill Self - Avg. Opp KP: 87
2002 - Bill Self - Avg. Opp KP: 207
2004 - Bruce Weber - Avg. Opp KP: 145
2005 - Bruce Weber - Avg. Opp KP: 206
2006 - Bruce Weber - Avg. Opp KP: 239
2008 - Bruce Weber - Avg. Opp KP: 173
2011 - Bruce Weber - Avg. Opp KP: 202
2012 - John Groce - Avg. Opp KP: 233
2013 - John Groce - Avg. Opp KP: 254
2014 - John Groce - Avg. Opp KP: 245
2017 - Brad Underwood - Avg Opp KP: 237

 

[BrownTown]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1990492077936066901

 

[PepeSilvia]

One interesting (to me) thing that I noticed when looking at all the teams in the conference this year: playing Iowa is going to be weird, because their new coach has them playing at the slowest pace of any team in the conference, and one of the ten slowest paces in college basketball right now.

Sharp contrast to the frantic Fran ball.

I honestly think Iowa hired the better of the former Drake coaches.

Also, Stirtz can play. I got laughed at all off-season when I said I thought he would be the best point guard in the big 10 this year. He will be a pro imo.

 

[PepeSilvia]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1990492077936066901

I don't want to get ahead of myself and I by no mean this in a negative fashion but I could also see scenario where every guy generating draft buzz returns to college another year outside of Kylan.

I'm assuming the other 5 are Tomi, Big Z, Stojakovic, Wagler, and Mirkovic.

Tomi: skilled 7 footer that can shoot but isn't exactly super mobile or strong. Danny Wolf was handling the ball as a 7 footer and went 27th and is in the G league. Kalkbrenner and Reynaud went in the 2nd. Garza was also a big that could shoot and went late in the 2nd(I think Tomi is more mobile). Tomi seems like a 2nd Rd pick(maybe late 1st) where returning to college is more lucrative and he could play with his brother one more year.

Big Z: The worse twin imo but I think some NBA teams might actually favor him over his brother because he's more fluid and a better rim protector. However he's also not nearly strong enough to guard inside in the NBA imo. Still a mobile 7 footer that can shoot could go in the 2nd.

Stojakovic: 6'7 wings are in high demand and he has an nba pedigree. However he has not shot the ball from 3 consistently well(I think he's capable). I think hes probably a 2nd Rd pick maybe a late 1st but he could return for huge NIL and jump into the 1st if he shoots 40ish% from 3.

Wagler: probably has the best chance to go high in the draft if a team falls in love with the skillset and physical projection. Still he isn't a major offensive focus with the talent around him and he needs to get stronger. Both Christie brothers were 2nd round picks, Wagler could potentially turn himself in a lottery pick after a strong sophomore year.

Mirkovic. A strong but not super explosive 6'8 power forward. Size and movement wise he's more of a traditional power forward but he has some playmaking ability and is confident in his ability to stretch the floor with set jumpers. If he was 6'11 he'd be a top 10 pick and maybe someone falls in love but 6'8 power forwards that aren't ridiculous athletes don't tend to go very high.

If you somehow managed to return those 5 and Petrovic you would be the preseason number 1 team next year.

 

[Combo]

I don't want to get ahead of myself and I by no mean this in a negative fashion but I could also see scenario where every guy generating draft buzz returns to college another year outside of Kylan.

I'm assuming the other 5 are Tomi, Big Z, Stojakovic, Wagler, and Mirkovic.

Tomi: skilled 7 footer that can shoot but isn't exactly super mobile or strong. Danny Wolf was handling the ball as a 7 footer and went 27th and is in the G league. Kalkbrenner and Reynaud went in the 2nd. Garza was also a big that could shoot and went late in the 2nd(I think Tomi is more mobile). Tomi seems like a 2nd Rd pick(maybe late 1st) where returning to college is more lucrative and he could play with his brother one more year.

Big Z: The worse twin imo but I think some NBA teams might actually favor him over his brother because he's more fluid and a better rim protector. However he's also not nearly strong enough to guard inside in the NBA imo. Still a mobile 7 footer that can shoot could go in the 2nd.

Stojakovic: 6'7 wings are in high demand and he has an nba pedigree. However he has not shot the ball from 3 consistently well(I think he's capable). I think hes probably a 2nd Rd pick maybe a late 1st but he could return for huge NIL and jump into the 1st if he shoots 40ish% from 3.

Wagler: probably has the best chance to go high in the draft if a team falls in love with the skillset and physical projection. Still he isn't a major offensive focus with the talent around him and he needs to get stronger. Both Christie brothers were 2nd round picks, Wagler could potentially turn himself in a lottery pick after a strong sophomore year.

Mirkovic. A strong but not super explosive 6'8 power forward. Size and movement wise he's more of a traditional power forward but he has some playmaking ability and is confident in his ability to stretch the floor with set jumpers. If he was 6'11 he'd be a top 10 pick and maybe someone falls in love but 6'8 power forwards that aren't ridiculous athletes don't tend to go very high.

If you somehow managed to return those 5 and Petrovic you would be the preseason number 1 team next year.

But where they return to is the key. Everyone will be getting offers from other teams.

Also, it's way too early to say we'd be preseason #1 if all those guys come back.

 

[BrownTown]

I don't want to get ahead of myself and I by no mean this in a negative fashion but I could also see scenario where every guy generating draft buzz returns to college another year outside of Kylan.

I'm assuming the other 5 are Tomi, Big Z, Stojakovic, Wagler, and Mirkovic.

Tomi: skilled 7 footer that can shoot but isn't exactly super mobile or strong. Danny Wolf was handling the ball as a 7 footer and went 27th and is in the G league. Kalkbrenner and Reynaud went in the 2nd. Garza was also a big that could shoot and went late in the 2nd(I think Tomi is more mobile). Tomi seems like a 2nd Rd pick(maybe late 1st) where returning to college is more lucrative and he could play with his brother one more year.

Big Z: The worse twin imo but I think some NBA teams might actually favor him over his brother because he's more fluid and a better rim protector. However he's also not nearly strong enough to guard inside in the NBA imo. Still a mobile 7 footer that can shoot could go in the 2nd.

Stojakovic: 6'7 wings are in high demand and he has an nba pedigree. However he has not shot the ball from 3 consistently well(I think he's capable). I think hes probably a 2nd Rd pick maybe a late 1st but he could return for huge NIL and jump into the 1st if he shoots 40ish% from 3.

Wagler: probably has the best chance to go high in the draft if a team falls in love with the skillset and physical projection. Still he isn't a major offensive focus with the talent around him and he needs to get stronger. Both Christie brothers were 2nd round picks, Wagler could potentially turn himself in a lottery pick after a strong sophomore year.

Mirkovic. A strong but not super explosive 6'8 power forward. Size and movement wise he's more of a traditional power forward but he has some playmaking ability and is confident in his ability to stretch the floor with set jumpers. If he was 6'11 he'd be a top 10 pick and maybe someone falls in love but 6'8 power forwards that aren't ridiculous athletes don't tend to go very high.

If you somehow managed to return those 5 and Petrovic you would be the preseason number 1 team next year.

Great breakdown and I tend to agree with you. I thought it was noteworthy that a random NBA centric X account was noticing Illinois' roster for having multiple guys who are drawing interest at the next level.

 

[skyIdub]

If Tomi comes back healthy he’s gone.

 

[Cravingschampaign]

Greg Waddell is very high on Illinois

 

[wpr]

How IL has become "Europe's Team"

Pretty interesting TSN story. Here's the first snippent.

If you come from the fruitful Bob Huggins coaching tree, as did successful Illinois veteran Brad Underwood, you know precisely what it means when the words “get opposite” begin echoing through a gymnasium.

If you began your basketball career in the European club system, and English is not necessarily your preferred language, this phrase may be as vexing as any item of grammar-challenged slang repeated in the locker room.

Huggins, for whom Underwood got his high-major coaching start as an assistant at Kansas State, long ago figured out the majority of rebounds traveled away from where the shot was launched. So getting “opposite” to where the ball was most likely to bounce offered the best chance of retrieving it.

This was not something explained in those terms to big man David Mirkovic when he was playing last season for SC Derby in Montenegro, or to point guard Mihailo Petrovic at Mega Superbet in Serbia.

“One of the big things we stress at Illinois is offensive rebounding. It’s a way to improve efficiency really easily,” Fighting Illini power forward Ben Humrichous told The Sporting News. “Coach Underwood’s philosophy is to get opposite of where the shot is. He screams ‘opposite, opposite, opposite.’

"There was one day it wasn’t clicking, and we go to the locker room and I ask Mihailo and David, ‘Have you ever heard of the word ‘opposite?’ David goes, ‘I’ve never heard of that word.’ And so we’re screaming ‘opposite’, and he goes, ‘I have no idea what he he was telling me, but everybody went to the other side, so I just followed them.’”

 

[wpr]

How IL has become "Europe's Team"

Pretty interesting TSN story. Here's the first snippet.

Thanks Dan for moving my post to this thread. It didn't occur to me to put it in here.

You do a good job of keeping everything tidy.

 

[OrangeKrush1981]

I figured that out in HS! It was about the only thing I figured out, then, but I now feel completely vindicated! Oh .. I was one of the smaller power forwards you'd have found in the state of Illinois, sort of a shooting guard-sized non-shooter, but I made up for that by never engaging in the afore-mentioned "shooting" activity. To my way of thinking, that kinda fancy stuff was for the non-rebounder guys.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

I know the actual NET Rankings might end up looking different, but here is our updated resume/schedule putting the KenPom Rankings into the NET's Quad system.

Quad 1: 1-1
at #4 Purdue
vs. #9 UConn (New York, NY)
vs. #12 Tennessee (Nashville, TN)
vs. #13 Michigan
W 81-77 vs. #15 Texas Tech
vs. #16 Wisconsin
L 86-90 vs. #18 Alabama (Chicago, IL)
at #20 USC
at #21 Michigan State
vs. #23 Indiana
at #28 UCLA
at #31 Iowa
vs. #33 Missouri (St. Louis, MO)
at #35 Ohio State
at #42 Nebraska
at #46 Northwestern
at #65 Maryland

Quad 2
vs. #42 Nebraska
vs. #46 Northwestern
vs. #50 Washington
vs. #55 Oregon
vs. #65 Maryland
vs. #91 Penn State (Philadelphia, PA)

Quad 3: 1-0
vs. #94 Minnesota
vs. #96 Rutgers
W 113-70 vs. #144 FGCU

Quad 4: 2-0
W 84-65 vs. #163 Colgate
vs. #164 Southern
vs. #185 UTRGV
vs. #247 LIU
W 113-55 vs. #301 Jackson State

So while it would have been really nice to beat 'Bama, there are SO many great opportunities left. Purdue is the only team we play for the rest of the season that is currently ranked above us (Illini are #7) ... obviously we just lost to a team ranked below us, lol, but you get the point. I believe the Committee still does look favorably upon neutral site wins (which would make sense, as that is where the NCAA Tournament is played), so it would be really nice to get two wins out of the UConn, Tennessee and Missouri games. Given that I think UConn will be a VERY tall test and my annual, unwavering confidence that it is our birthright to defeat Missouri before Christmas ... that makes the Tennessee game in Nashville seem especially huge to me!

 

[Curbelo Fanboy]

It's just a very very large city that attracts graduates from schools all over the country you're just not going to get a predominant group in a city that big.

You don't have season ticket holders for this game and there really aren't that many tickets available though and the majority are in the far upper deck. It's only Monday afternoon and I'd bet a lot of tickets tend to get sold a day or two in advance especially since those tickets tend to drop in price closer to tip off.

Sidenote: the 8 pm tip on a weeknight isn't a great time for bringing in the fans from the suburbs. 7 or 7:30 are just better tip times for central time.

Not to mention CU is a solid 2 to 3 hours from the Chicago area (depending on if one is in the northern vs southern suburbs). Detroit as an example is 1/2 hour from Ann Arbor. Makes it much easier for larger portions of the metro Detroit population to attend games and feel more "plugged" into the program.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Not to mention CU is a solid 2 to 3 hours from the Chicago area (depending on if one is in the northern vs southern suburbs). Detroit as an example is 1/2 hour from Ann Arbor. Makes it much easier for larger portions of the metro Detroit population to attend games and feel more "plugged" into the program.

This is just kind of a semi-related tangent, but I have found it fascinating seeing Illini contingents in different locations. We have been to multiple Illini games in Iowa City, St. Louis and Chicago/Evanston. It has been my very clear perception that the vast majority of those fans are NOT traveling from Champaign or even Central Illinois, and they are rather from that region and taking advantage of seeing the Illini close to home. Just chatting with Illini fans who've come to games in Iowa City, nearly all of them were from the Quad Cities, Western Illinois in general or actual transplants in Iowa. Similarly, we noticed a way higher number of fans at Braggin' Rights were from Southern Illinois (due to a slight accent) compared to games we've been to in Champaign (and obviously a ton were just from the Metro East or St. Louis). And, lastly, I would bet that a solid 80%+ of fans at the UC last night actually live in Chicagoland and even more specifically the city, based on my anecdotal evidence; whereas for the games in Evanston, I think a lot more suburbanites attend.

It's just kind of funny to see how the crowds are a bit different, too. I said this in the 'Bama game thread, but the evidence is too clear to ignore for me that Illini fans AWAY from Champaign tend to be much rowdier and louder in general. The fans in Champaign are obviously loyal, passionate and the literal lifeblood of our fan base ... but they just tend to be more reserved from what I have seen. The atmosphere at the UC last night and at Braggin' Rights was an absolute festive zoo by comparison.

 

[Curbelo Fanboy]

This is just kind of a semi-related tangent, but I have found it fascinating seeing Illini contingents in different locations. We have been to multiple Illini games in Iowa City, St. Louis and Chicago/Evanston. It has been my very clear perception that the vast majority of those fans are NOT traveling from Champaign or even Central Illinois, and they are rather from that region and taking advantage of seeing the Illini close to home. Just chatting with Illini fans who've come to games in Iowa City, nearly all of them were from the Quad Cities, Western Illinois in general or actual transplants in Iowa. Similarly, we noticed a way higher number of fans at Braggin' Rights were from Southern Illinois (due to a slight accent) compared to games we've been to in Champaign (and obviously a ton were just from the Metro East or St. Louis). And, lastly, I would bet that a solid 80%+ of fans at the UC last night actually live in Chicagoland and even more specifically the city, based on my anecdotal evidence; whereas for the games in Evanston, I think a lot more suburbanites attend.

It's just kind of funny to see how the crowds are a bit different, too. I said this in the 'Bama game thread, but the evidence is too clear to ignore for me that Illini fans AWAY from Champaign tend to be much rowdier and louder in general. The fans in Champaign are obviously loyal, passionate and the literal lifeblood of our fan base ... but they just tend to be more reserved from what I have seen. The atmosphere at the UC last night and at Braggin' Rights was an absolute festive zoo by comparison.

As has been discussed at other times, the State Farm Center just doesn't "pop" like it used to. Part of that was our decade in the wilderness & part of it is some of how the building was changed during the remodel. There was a time 20 plus years ago where it was a virtual hellhole for the opposition.

One of my complaints in recent years is we just don't defend the homecourt like we did in our glory days. Even as the program has returned to top 25/top10 status at times, we still seem to dump 2 or 3 games a year at home. In the Self/Weber (early years) era, we only lost like 3 home games in 4 years. It just didn't happen.

 

[Illinialldayeveryday]

As has been discussed at other times, the State Farm Center just doesn't "pop" like it used to. Part of that was our decade in the wilderness & part of it is some of how the building was changed during the remodel. There was a time 20 plus years ago where it was a virtual hellhole for the opposition.

One of my complaints in recent years is we just don't defend the homecourt like we did in our glory days. Even as the program has returned to top 25/top10 status at times, we still seem to dump 2 or 3 games a year at home. In the Self/Weber (early years) era, we only lost like 3 home games in 4 years. It just didn't happen.

While I agree I think thats pretty common among most teams. Besides Mackey is there really a place where its a guaranteed loss? Even Sparty drops home games.

 

[Curbelo Fanboy]

While I agree I think thats pretty common among most teams. Besides Mackey is there really a place where its a guaranteed loss? Even Sparty drops home games.

I know there is corelation between the level of the program & the overall home court performance. I'd put Duke & UCONN (last night excluded) in that batch as well.

It just seemed from like 2000 to 2006 or so, the Hall was a house of horrors for all who entered in something other than orange & blue. Some of that is team related but we seem to drop more home games than in the past great eras. In that early 00's time frame all our home losses were to the upper echelon of the league. Nowadays we drop home games to decent teams as well as the upper echelon.

Some of that is self inflicted as the building was made somewhat less intimidating in the remodel. Also, at times I have doubts about Brad's in game coaching & I think that has been reflected in the 3 or 4 really mysterious losses we take seemingly every year. The kind of things that leave us as a 6 seed instead of a 4 or a 4 instead of a 2 in March. Not like we are awful at home but way more beatable there than used to be.

 

[DeeIL89]

This team hasn't peak yet cause they haven't been at full strength. Yet, five games into the regular season the team has played good basketball with already a win over ranked Texas Tech and losing by 4 against Alabama where we had a shot at winning the game. Plenty of more opportunities to come. Issues like free throws and defensive coverages are fixable and the team will grow. Get healthy and stay healthy.

 

[PepeSilvia]

As has been discussed at other times, the State Farm Center just doesn't "pop" like it used to. Part of that was our decade in the wilderness & part of it is some of how the building was changed during the remodel. There was a time 20 plus years ago where it was a virtual hellhole for the opposition.

One of my complaints in recent years is we just don't defend the homecourt like we did in our glory days. Even as the program has returned to top 25/top10 status at times, we still seem to dump 2 or 3 games a year at home. In the Self/Weber (early years) era, we only lost like 3 home games in 4 years. It just didn't happen.

Its been a bit since the last time I made it down to a game in Champaign but I was at the game vs Iowa 2022 when they won the big10 and it was every bit as wild as when I saw them there in 05.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

I know there is corelation between the level of the program & the overall home court performance. I'd put Duke & UCONN (last night excluded) in that batch as well.

It just seemed from like 2000 to 2006 or so, the Hall was a house of horrors for all who entered in something other than orange & blue. Some of that is team related but we seem to drop more home games than in the past great eras. In that early 00's time frame all our home losses were to the upper echelon of the league. Nowadays we drop home games to decent teams as well as the upper echelon.

Some of that is self inflicted as the building was made somewhat less intimidating in the remodel. Also, at times I have doubts about Brad's in game coaching & I think that has been reflected in the 3 or 4 really mysterious losses we take seemingly every year. The kind of things that leave us as a 6 seed instead of a 4 or a 4 instead of a 2 in March. Not like we are awful at home but way more beatable there than used to be.

I agree that SFC just seems nowhere near as intimidating as the early and mid-2000s, but I am curious what about the renovation hurt. I mean, we obviously have fewer fans in the building, and that isn't going to help! I also would be sympathetic to the argument that the suites contributed to a more "sterile" vibe. However, it is worth noting that the pre-renovation Assembly Hall had some truly ugly wasted space around the court, and the renovation actually helped to bring fans closer to the court on all sides:

Whatever its faults, I really like how the renovation brought the A Section seats as close to the court as possible on all sides. I do kind of miss the Krush being RIGHT on the court, but they are still as close as the vast majority of student sections. I do wish we could have found a way to make the Krush seats that you see on TV go all the way up to the suites and not have that section of navy seats behind them ... they need a few more rows.