Agreed, the 3-pointers are the cherry on the sundae. I want to see Ivisic do more of what we saw during Iowa. If the standard offense gets stale or has stalled out, be more willing to immediately go to Ivisic down low and let him work for a shot or make the smart pass out for an open look (I realize he does the latter often, the former seemed a rarer beast this past year).
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
25c Little Kings, was there most Thursdays, played darts for buckets. Used to go to Cochrane's with $5 and my buddy and I would usually go home with money left over....lol
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Agree. Also, let's recall he got here late. I remember all the times BU bemoaned the fact that he didn't have time to make Andrej learn how to defend and work hard. Well, he'll have that this year. If he improves his 3pt shot so that it's approaching 30% and becomes close to a lock down percentage combined with all the things he already does well - that sounds like All American potential to me.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I remember that. Thank goodness I rarely partook of those.
I imbibed once. Spring '85, IIRC. Once. I learned that evening.
As I type the memory of that cloying, syrupy taste, liquid velvet concealing the sledgehammer beneath, surfaces.
I need the GIF of Bart Simpson shivering as Aunt Selma demands that he trim her corns.
At this point, he's very low risk, high proven ability, but I still think it's better to have a lot of retention comp to keep the base down. Others:
- Orlando Antigua: $950,000, up from $925,000 last season
- Geoff Alexander: $515,000, up from $406,000 last season
- Tyler Underwood: $465,000, up from $121,000 last season
- Camryn Crocker: $335,000, up from $306,000 last season
- Zach Hamer: $270,000, up from $200,000 last season
Are we cooked? This doesn’t seem logical from NCAA, which I guess is to be expected
A little more on this:
So, Andrej last season averaged 0.312 points per possession (second on the team; Keaton was 0.322).
Illinois averaged 65.7 possessions per 40 minutes and Andrej played 26.3 minutes per game.
How we mathematically get to his season average of 13.5 points per game:
0.312 x 65.7 =20.498 points per 40
(20.498 / 40) x 26.3 =13.477 points per game
However, I think it’s reasonable to think that both our pace and Andrej’s minutes will increase from this year to next.
Our poss per 40 of 65.7 ranked in the 300s this past season. Just as a guess, let’s say it increases to 68.0 next season (which would rank around 200 nationally).
Now, let’s say Andrej’s minutes increase to 32.0 per game.
Taking the exact ppp rate he had last year (0.312), here’s his projected point per game in that circumstance:
0.312 x 68.0 =21.216
(21.216 / 40) x 32 =
16.973 (would be shown as 17.0 on all the stats sites since they round to tenth)
Really think he’s the sleeper B10 POY candidate no one’s talking about.
I think All American is a lot more likely than big ten player of the year. Jeremy Fears is a very good player, and will put up big numbers.
We’ve had six 17ppg scorers the last 6 seasons. Andrej hitting that mark wouldn’t surprise me at all.
This would be my best guess at our scoring (keep in mind it's pre decimals):
Andrej - 17
Mirk - 14
Vaaks - 13
Tomi - 12
Coleman - 10
Z - 7
Jake - 5
Morillo - 4
#9thMan (my bet would be Zens) - 2
Andrej - 17
Mirk - 14
Vaaks - 13
Tomi - 12
Coleman - 10
Z - 7
Jake - 5
Morillo - 4
#9thMan (my bet would be Zens) - 2
With Wednesday being the deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft, any concern that Andrej has not made his decision known publicly?
I believe it was 3 for $1
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I don't think the timing is particularly relevant but in terms of the substance of the decision...I just wish my negative spidey senses would shut up about this.
Wow, what a bump for Tyler!
Really? Nobody has any feedback on this?
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
I think we’re going to be alright here.
— Goodman tweeted those interviews he did with 10 NBA execs. All 10 said Andrej should return to college.
— Jeremy Werner is very confident Andrej will return and that usually comes from sources inside the building.
— We haven’t been linked to any Andrej replacements. If we start recruiting slashing wings in the next 48 hours, then I’ll be worried.
Man… QC, Vaaks, Andrej is a great 1-3. We are lucky
I’m saying this as objectively as I can without the orange-colored glasses, but if you look at this years transfer portal and teams with openings, it’d be tough to find a better fit than Vaaks in the Illini offense. It’s a picture-perfect marriage.
I agree. Offensively, he might be the perfect PG for what we run. Defensively is what worries me.