Don’t forget, Brad sees him every day at practice. If he was having good practices he would get into games. Clearly he must not be impressing there either. Likely both sides move on after the season
Illini Basketball 2025-2026
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ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I mean I know this is a tired hobby horse at this point, but it's like the Podz thing right? Brad's job is to win games at Illinois, and so you can't say he handled that situation "wrong" because he has continued to bring in great players and win.
But obviously there's some alternate universe in which we got a great season out of Podz before the NBA came calling and you're just left puzzling over why the mix of a player with those gifts and a coach who loves to deploy those gifts never quite came together.
Petro may just end up one of those weird "what ifs". I hope there's still time.
But obviously there's some alternate universe in which we got a great season out of Podz before the NBA came calling and you're just left puzzling over why the mix of a player with those gifts and a coach who loves to deploy those gifts never quite came together.
Petro may just end up one of those weird "what ifs". I hope there's still time.
With that pretty face he can probably get some real NIL money.
With those numbers Keaton is the best Illini true freshman ever.
Deon is close, but was a redshirt due to prop 48, as was Nick Anderson. Kiwane Garris just behind Keaton at 16/3.5/3.8. I don't believe Kiwane was prop 48. Crazy that Mirk's scoring and rebounding are similar to Kofi's, but Kofi didn't have 3 assists.
In the days were freshman couldn't play varsity there are some first year guys that arguably have better numbers--Nick Witherspoon, Dave Sholtz and Dave Downey--all had more scoring double digit rebounds.
Having them both is nuts. Mirk would be getting more attention if not for Keaton. Let's hope we can build a team around him for next year.
Illinicpa14
- Chicago
It’s a great spot to be that I equally am excited for both this year and that they can be really good next year too with a complete roster overhaul.
And I think it's significant that Wagler is the leader of a team, that by most accounts, is a true Final Four contender. He's not just the de facto best player on a team that has no choice but to hand the keys to a freshman.
Also he and Mirk are on track to be the first Illini duo to be on the All Freshman team since Dee Brown and.... (you guessed it!) James Augustine in 2003.
Pass. We can get a better guard somewhere else. Hes making 7 figures, getting coached up, and will go back to Europe happy. Don’t lose any sleep over him. His style isn’t suitable for high level big ten ball. That’s just how it is.
Very big Wagler fan here but he is not the leader of this team! I think some of his success can be attributed to the encouragement and unselfishness of the leader of the team.
Sorry, I meant statistical leader. Agree, Boswell is the leader in the other sense. Unless you ask BU. Then it's Jake Davis.
My recollection is Parrish was the most prominent reporter with access that immediately declared TSJ as deplorable and then refused to acknowledge he was wrong.
There were other national folks, but my recollection was they werent as bad.
According to Borzello, Keaton isn't ILs 'primarily' ball handler?
www.espn.com
Men's college basketball 2025-26 midseason freshman grades
The 56 standouts, surprises and more of a historic freshman class, starting with Cameron Boozer and AJ Dybantsa.
A bit of a what I’d call, “stats update.”
Firstly, there’s 4 guys in the big ten averaging above 2.0 blocks per game:
To truly grasp how insane Zvonimir’s been, here’s his minutes per game in comparison to those guys:
(note: although I cropped it out, Jacobson at Purdue is pretty good too at 2.0 BLK in 15 minutes. Z does still has a higher per 40 ratio)
Points per game leaders (still absurd to see Keaton up here):
In my opinion, our scoring distribution compares very similarly to the 2024 UConn squad:
And we do, as of today, have a higher scoring output.
Lastly, rebounds — Mirkovic has so good here. Exactly what this team needed. And crazy that Keaton’s probably been the even bigger surprise:
Lastly, assists and turnovers.
Two guys with negative ratios: Tomi and Andrej. Would like to see both improve as the year progresses, especially Stoj. 15/27 is just not super efficient.
Kylan with an assist to turnover of 2.64. Keaton assist to turnover, 2.42. Both super impressive — Keaton just being a freshman and how much he has the ball, but Kylan as well. Our guards do not turn the ball over, which is such a revelation from a year ago.
Firstly, there’s 4 guys in the big ten averaging above 2.0 blocks per game:
To truly grasp how insane Zvonimir’s been, here’s his minutes per game in comparison to those guys:
(note: although I cropped it out, Jacobson at Purdue is pretty good too at 2.0 BLK in 15 minutes. Z does still has a higher per 40 ratio)
Points per game leaders (still absurd to see Keaton up here):
In my opinion, our scoring distribution compares very similarly to the 2024 UConn squad:
Lastly, rebounds — Mirkovic has so good here. Exactly what this team needed. And crazy that Keaton’s probably been the even bigger surprise:
Lastly, assists and turnovers.
Two guys with negative ratios: Tomi and Andrej. Would like to see both improve as the year progresses, especially Stoj. 15/27 is just not super efficient.
Kylan with an assist to turnover of 2.64. Keaton assist to turnover, 2.42. Both super impressive — Keaton just being a freshman and how much he has the ball, but Kylan as well. Our guards do not turn the ball over, which is such a revelation from a year ago.
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Retro62
- North Bethesda, Maryland
KenPom has 11 BIG teams in the top 50, with USC being 51. That includes #1, #4, and #5. The SEC also has 11 in the top 50, but their highest ranked is Florida at #10. The BXII only has 8, but that includes #2, #3, and #8. It will be interesting to see how it changes as the season progresses.
Would also like to point out 3pt shooting: Wagler has by far the highest volume of 3pt attempts on the team, 87 (which is 13 ahead of second place Boswell). He is shooting 41.4% (second on the team) in those 87 attempts.
Jake Davis leads the team in 3pt% at 42.0% on the season (50 attempts). He’s just such a winner. We talk him out of the rotation in the offseason, but he finds a way to be impactful and find a roster spot. It’s literally the ideal limited minutes guys.
Overall, we’re shooting 34.9% as a team. Up from 31.1% last season.
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Yes Parrish proved he is despicable scum
Florida is going to be higher before this year is out. Their guards are starting to come around. Boogie is playing better in the system.
Bigtex
- DFW
my preseason prediction / requirement for 25-26 Illinois team
Team 35%
At least 2 individuals shooting above 40% with the hope that 3 individuals shoot +40% (Tomi, Ben, and Davis) Keaton wasn't on the radar
At this point it seems sure to be losing both Keaton and Kylan next year so both the PG’s are gone. Question if Petrovic is replacement. Brad hasn’t made major mistakes in recruiting transfers so wonder if he just needed time to adjust in summer. That made me wonder if Keaton’s progress would have been considerably different if he was available all summer and offense was set up for him rather than Keaton. Keaton certainly had more opportunity to show his capabilities when Petrovic wasn’t available.
So do we recruit an experienced large PG ala KJ and Keaton, do we modify our offense to use Petrovic or do we recruit best available and then set offense. Brad’s best asset as a coach has been his adapting to the players he has. (Possible exceptions of Podz and Morez). Obviously Petrovic doesn’t fit our present offense. Is it because he doesn’t have ability or just taking time to adapt when not much time to work with him. Coaches should know at this point.
So do we recruit an experienced large PG ala KJ and Keaton, do we modify our offense to use Petrovic or do we recruit best available and then set offense. Brad’s best asset as a coach has been his adapting to the players he has. (Possible exceptions of Podz and Morez). Obviously Petrovic doesn’t fit our present offense. Is it because he doesn’t have ability or just taking time to adapt when not much time to work with him. Coaches should know at this point.
It wasn't just that - Parrish refused to put TSJ in any of his articles even covering a game where TSJ was the leading scorer in some kind of silent protest
Illinicpa14
- Chicago
Big ten issue is the bottom teams are so bad this year. We have quad 4 games when home against the bottom tier. Just cannot drop any of those.
Yes, I was somewhat surprised that Brad did an interview with him earlier in the year, at the beginning of October, if I recall correctly. It was on YouTube, and I posted a comment that he still needed to apologize to TSJ. No response from Parrish. I wrote, "I, too, am still waiting for your apology to Terrence Shannon Jr. A man whom you were totally wrong about. Totally. He has more character in his little finger than you do.” I got 19 likes. Oh, and I wasn’t the only one, so I am guessing Parrish has gotten the message, but he is apparently too much of a butthead to do the right thing.
Fan Since '70
- OBS, Florida
Wagler is not the leader. That would be Boswell and then Davis (Brad said that). Wagler is the go to guy/scorer. Glad to see Tomislav step up his coring too of late. Illini have multiple scoring threats and are very deep and well balanced with almost anyone capable of going off inluding: Wagler, T Ivisic, Stojakovic, Boswell, Mirkovic, Davis, V Ivisic and Humrichous. The team appears connected and unselfish. Their ceiling is high and still unreached, though attainable, hopefully in finals of NCAA.
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