Illini Basketball 2026-2027

[Combo]

Working on more, but a few things:

1) Quentin Coleman does the "little things." Rebounding has stood out. He will play a major role this season.

2) Mentioned this last week but Stefan Vaaks was the early standout before national team duty. He will be back in a couple of weeks on campus. The size and shooting are extremely real.

3) Tomislav Ivisic is carrying himself in a different way this year. Have heard the work ethic is at a different level so far.

4) David Mirkovic will be the best player on the team. Improvements have been made, have heard he looks like a possible contender for National Player of the year.

5) Andrej is going to be Andrej again. I expect a very similar role to last year but with more consistent play. Will guard the other teams best g/w.

6) They are very excited about this freshman class. Have heard they have impressed at different points. A couple need to put some weight on which is a work in progress.

Some tough decisions are going to have to be made to round out the rotation. Great problem to have though.

So we're winning every game 100-35! May need to add some NBA teams to the schedule.

 

[21ChampaignSt]

Each year, we go in underrating Jake’s role.

Agree. Jake was part of our best five man lineup last year.

The thing is, it's not about what Jake does, necessarily, it's about what having him on the floor allows everyone else to do. I would be so bold as to argue that every single player is better when they're on the floor with Jake. He gives everyone else space, makes himself easy to find for kick outs, never looks for his own shot, just takes them when they're open, rarely turns it over.

Now, that doesn't mean he's "better" than some of the guys he's in front of. Might not even be one of the top 8 or 9 picks if you were playing three on three or something - but he plays his role as well as any one.

Also, his hair.

 

[RandyfromTuscola]

Working on more, but a few things:

1) Quentin Coleman does the "little things." Rebounding has stood out. He will play a major role this season.

2) Mentioned this last week but Stefan Vaaks was the early standout before national team duty. He will be back in a couple of weeks on campus. The size and shooting are extremely real.

3) Tomislav Ivisic is carrying himself in a different way this year. Have heard the work ethic is at a different level so far.

4) David Mirkovic will be the best player on the team. Improvements have been made, have heard he looks like a possible contender for National Player of the year.

5) Andrej is going to be Andrej again. I expect a very similar role to last year but with more consistent play. Will guard the other teams best g/w.

6) They are very excited about this freshman class. Have heard they have impressed at different points. A couple need to put some weight on which is a work in progress.

Some tough decisions are going to have to be made to round out the rotation. Great problem to have though.

This is awesome. Thanks!

Any update on a premiere non-conference home game this year? These other games are great, but missing out on North Carolina, UConn, and Duke this year at home kind of stinks. I understand these are part of other agreements and a big non-conference game is better than none, but where is the love for the State Farm Center. Texas Tech home/home was nice, but that is not a premiere program that draws national attention.

Date	Opponent	Location	Info
Mon, Nov 2	Fairleigh Dickinson	State Farm Center	Link
Tue, Nov 10	at Texas Tech	United Supermarkets Arena (Lubbock, TX)	Link
Tue, Nov 17	at Duke	Cameron Indoor Stadium (Durham, NC)	Link
Fri, Dec 4	UConn	United Center (Chicago, IL)	Link
	Missouri	Enterprise Center (St. Louis, MO)
Sat, Jan 30	North Carolina	Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN)	Link

 

[21ChampaignSt]

This is awesome. Thanks!

Any update on a premiere non-conference home game this year? These other games are great, but missing out on North Carolina, UConn, and Duke this year at home kind of stinks. I understand these are part of other agreements and a big non-conference game is better than none, but where is the love for the State Farm Center. Texas Tech home/home was nice, but that is not a premiere program that draws national attention.

Date	Opponent	Location	Info
Mon, Nov 2	Fairleigh Dickinson	State Farm Center	Link
Tue, Nov 10	at Texas Tech	United Supermarkets Arena (Lubbock, TX)	Link
Tue, Nov 17	at Duke	Cameron Indoor Stadium (Durham, NC)	Link
Fri, Dec 4	UConn	United Center (Chicago, IL)	Link
	Missouri	Enterprise Center (St. Louis, MO)
Sat, Jan 30	North Carolina	Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN)	Link

No wonder season ticket prices jumped again. Nothing but buy games this year.

 

[Det_Illini_fan]

This is awesome. Thanks!

Any update on a premiere non-conference home game this year? These other games are great, but missing out on North Carolina, UConn, and Duke this year at home kind of stinks. I understand these are part of other agreements and a big non-conference game is better than none, but where is the love for the State Farm Center. Texas Tech home/home was nice, but that is not a premiere program that draws national attention.

Date	Opponent	Location	Info
Mon, Nov 2	Fairleigh Dickinson	State Farm Center	Link
Tue, Nov 10	at Texas Tech	United Supermarkets Arena (Lubbock, TX)	Link
Tue, Nov 17	at Duke	Cameron Indoor Stadium (Durham, NC)	Link
Fri, Dec 4	UConn	United Center (Chicago, IL)	Link
	Missouri	Enterprise Center (St. Louis, MO)
Sat, Jan 30	North Carolina	Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN)	Link

We could wipe the slate clean on a couple dark days with wins in November and Early-December. Lord, beating Duke and UConn would be so cathartic. UConn more than Duke, since their fans suck so much, but man would I love a win against both.

 

[Illini4Christ]

Working on more, but a few things:

1) Quentin Coleman does the "little things." Rebounding has stood out. He will play a major role this season.

2) Mentioned this last week but Stefan Vaaks was the early standout before national team duty. He will be back in a couple of weeks on campus. The size and shooting are extremely real.

3) Tomislav Ivisic is carrying himself in a different way this year. Have heard the work ethic is at a different level so far.

4) David Mirkovic will be the best player on the team. Improvements have been made, have heard he looks like a possible contender for National Player of the year.

5) Andrej is going to be Andrej again. I expect a very similar role to last year but with more consistent play. Will guard the other teams best g/w.

6) They are very excited about this freshman class. Have heard they have impressed at different points. A couple need to put some weight on which is a work in progress.

Some tough decisions are going to have to be made to round out the rotation. Great problem to have though.

Thank you for your service to the Illini Familly. I noticed that you have given us the starting five and they sound like they can be national champions.

Keep filling our belly with the great information that you supply, but you know that an Illini fan never has a filled belly.

ILL

 

[Emerson Bigguns]

Anyone who watched the U18 FIBA America Cup is not surprised by QC's rebounding prowess. Kid crashes hard and has a bit of a knack for finding the ball.

I've been team Mirk since day 1. He was awesome last year, and yet when you re-watch the games, there was so much potential for him to be even more if he could slow down just a touch. He may not lead the team in scoring, but he is going to stuff the stat sheet every night. He has the skill set to be a CBB version of Jokic, not saying he will be that type of player at the next level, but is a guy who has a chance to lead the team in scoring, rebounding, and/or assists every single night. Very real possibility he is in the running for B1G POY, with some modest and achievable improvements.

Glad to hear Tomi is stepping up. He has flashed so many times, but has been plagued by inconsistency due to illness and injury. This is his last, best chance to show NBA scouts what he can do. He has enough of everything (size, shooting, vision, passing) to have a decent career at the next level, he's just got to put it on tape consistently.

I see a lot of waffles and beet juice in the immediate future of the freshmen...

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

If you were to rank next year’s players, what would that look like? Reading the tea leaves maybe something like:

Mirk
Vaaks
Andrej
Tomi
Coleman
Z
Jake
Morillo
Other Freshman

I think Vaaks leads the team in minutes. Our assist leader is literally always our minutes leader.