Illini Basketball 2026-2027

[Fly Illini Fly!]

Looks about right, but Texas at # 4? Are they that good?

They’re projected to have the #3 offense on Torvik.

Lots of bucket getters on their roster.

 

[Oranges]

New ESPN top 25:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/49491209/mens-ncaa-basketball-2026-27-way-too-early-top-25-rankings-biggest-nonconference-games

View attachment 51066

Would be nice to see Mizzou ranked when we trounce them this time around

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

Mirkovic being the highest usage player does not put our offense in the best position to succeed. That needs to be Vaaks.

He’s the most talented shooter, handler, and passer on the team.

My guess is him being gone for his national team has hurt his “offseason buzz” talk.

Our top 3 usage guys last year:

Keaton at 25.7
Andrej at 23.8
David at 23.3

Vaaks at Providence was at 23.4.

So, I don't think any of Vaaks / Stoj / Mirk will fall below the 23-24 range. But one of them is likely to emerge as "the guy," and be in the 25-26 range.

 

[PleaseMakeABowlGame]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

 

[Brosky]

Vaaks, Morillo, and Zens all listed at 6'7", and Vaaks appears to be the tallest (although Zens is in slides). Davis is listed at 6'9" and I'd say Vaaks is closer to that than 6'7". He's going to be a matchup problem - can't wait!!

We don't talk much about Landon Davis, but he looks all of 6-9, shoots well and can (seemingly) handle the ball. Is he a guy we're overlooing on this forum? And please, no comments about his D; we can't know anything about that yet.

 

[ugottabjoshinme]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

I don't think we've seen anybody be passed up by anyone yet. One of Lville's first practice updates this summer was that Morillo is better than expected

Illini Basketball 2026-2027

I mean it takes offensive production and then rates against the average team(the mean) from that season. To predict how each offense would produce over 100 possessions against the average opponent. It still doesn't work as a comparison across years. If talent consolidates at the top and the...

www.illinoisloyalty.com

 

[NarrowJ]

I don't think we've seen anybody be passed up by anyone yet. One of Lville's first practice updates this summer was that Morillo is better than expected

Illini Basketball 2026-2027

I mean it takes offensive production and then rates against the average team(the mean) from that season. To predict how each offense would produce over 100 possessions against the average opponent. It still doesn't work as a comparison across years. If talent consolidates at the top and the...

www.illinoisloyalty.com

Right, how would he be the #36 recruit (on3.com) if he’s both a bad athlete and a bad shooter?

I thought he shot 43% from 3 last year on 4 attempts per game? He shot poorly in a miniscule sample size of like 20 total attempts with FIBA (or something) and people have referenced that at times. People did this with Mirkovic last year with his small sample at Derby and he came here and shot the cover off of it.

He’s also never been graded as a “poor athlete” from any service as far as I can tell. It’s just not a strength, which is fine.

It sounds like Lincoln Williams was a steal.

 

[blackdog]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

The reason we are seeing Morillo get passed up is he has a back injury.....

I've never ignored someone before but the takes are so constant and wrong its almost impossible not to.

 

[PasadenaIllini]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

 

[Uihoop2023!]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

Different narrative if Morillo was on USC. I dont think its fair to say someone is a bad anything until we see them play..kid hasn't played a second of college ball and now as a top 50 rated kid is a bad athlete and a bad shooter...wow

 

[Illinilosch]

Would be nice to see Mizzou ranked when we trounce them this time around

We may truly beat Miznoz once again this year, but they will be no slouch at all. I'm predicting they will be much more improved this coming season.

But a good Miznoz team makes for a much more pleasant viewing experience for the Braggin' Rights Game. Lately, quite frankly...it's been kinda of a snooze fest!

 

[Battle89]

Suspect it will end up being a multi-headed monster (in a good way). Hoping for more of the above than the below....

Football, golf, baseball, boxing...darn it, no Three Stooges basketball gifs.

 

[Combo]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

I don't think he's a "bad" shooter, at least in that sense that Ty was. And while he's not a great run-jump athlete, he's not terrible either.

Neither is a yes or no aspect.

 

[Battle89]

Right, how would he be the #36 recruit (on3.com) if he’s both a bad athlete and a bad shooter?

I thought he shot 43% from 3 last year on 4 attempts per game? He shot poorly in a miniscule sample size of like 20 total attempts with FIBA (or something) and people have referenced that at times. People did this with Mirkovic last year with his small sample at Derby and he came here and shot the cover off of it.

He’s also never been graded as a “poor athlete” from any service as far as I can tell. It’s just not a strength, which is fine.

It sounds like Lincoln Williams was a steal.

100%. Don't know if it's my orange-colored glasses, but I am super high on Williams. Think he might be our breakout player this year.

 

[EmeraldCityIllini]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

 

[RichardKeenesCousin]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

 

[RollChief]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

Interesting, you must have some insider information that the rest of us don't. I don't think I've seen an unathletic bad shooter go 26 and 12 in a World Cup event (a year ago) so he must have regressed since then.

I would think that a guy who could average 20p/9r/4.3a in an event a year ago, equivalent to the one where QC flourished very recently, would be able to stand a chance at cracking our rotation now, but maybe we simply have too much depth.

 

[Illinirog70]

Don't sleep on Zens. He's our third mr. basketball in the past 6 years to enroll at the beloved and the past two have played really well. He's a very good shooter and, when whipped into shape will become a good front court for the Illini.

 

[IlliniChin14]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

 

[Illiniguy13]

Don't sleep on Zens. He's our third mr. basketball in the past 6 years to enroll at the beloved and the past two have played really well. He's a very good shooter and, when whipped into shape will become a good front court for the Illini.

There will always be guys at the end of the bench, and realistically we probably won't see much of Zens or Landon Davis this season. The same thing can probably be said about Brown. It's great to be excited about their potential, but the reality of modern hoops is there's a good likelihood guys like Zens, Davis, and Brown may not be Illini in couple years. It's actually ok to sleep on them, for now,

 

[OB positive]

We may truly beat Miznoz once again this year, but they will be no slouch at all. I'm predicting they will be much more improved this coming season.

But a good Miznoz team makes for a much more pleasant viewing experience for the Braggin' Rights Game. Lately, quite frankly...it's been kinda of a snooze fest!

I'll take a Snooze fest everytime as long as we're the one winning.

 

[ejam21]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

HUH?

Why would a guy who is a bad athlete and bad shooter be a composite top 50 recruit?

And why would we recruit him if htat is the case.

I have a hard time believing he is a BAD athlete and BAD shooter. I could maybe buy average (for HM) athete, and its probably too early to say bad shooter. Didnt he shoot like 40% from 3 in HS or EYBL?

 

[lstewart53x3]

The reason we're seeing Morillo get passed up by Williams, is because he's a bad athlete and a bad shooter.

You can't be BOTH and play at Illinois. There's numerous examples:

Kylan Boswell: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Ty Rodgers: complete non shooter, but a good athlete
Andrej: not a good shooter, but a good athlete
Keaton Wagler: not a good athlete, but a good shooter
Mirk: not a good athlete, but a good shooter

If you have both as your weakness, it's going to be very difficult to get minutes in our system.

Based on what Werner has said, Morillo is behind due to his back injury. Still possible he catches back up in time for the season.

But Williams provides better defense and athleticism, which this team lacks. So he might be the better overall 8th man fit for this team.

That should make you happy though, right? That would mean our 9th man is a top 50 recruit. We officially have depth!

 

[Det_Illini_fan]

Underrated GIF usage since he went to U of I

 

[RabidDawgClassic]

Football, golf, baseball, boxing...darn it, no Three Stooges basketball gifs.

Not basketball, but it works in a variety of situations.