Illini Basketball 2025-2026

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#776      
NarrowJ
Ohio State and Iowa will both be very good this year imo

Ohio State returns Thornton, Royal, Mobley and filled out nicely with center Christoph Tilly and forwards Brandon Noel (19ppg at Wright St) and Josh Ojianwuna (started for Baylor last year). They also have a nice freshman class coming in.

Iowa brings in basically the entire Drake team that went 30-3 last year and also adds Brendan Hausen (K-State), Johnson-Arigu (Miami FL) and Alvaro Folgueiras (14 & 9 at RMU).
 
#777      
NarrowJ
Since we're discussing B1G outlook, figured I'd post an updated version of this guy:

docs.google.com

B1G Roster Tracker

docs.google.com docs.google.com

Trying to figure out what I am missing with Oregon and UCLA only having 8 & 9 players, respectively (am I missing some guys or what?)
 
#779      
Brosky
HailtotheChief said:
I think he may at times but I tend to doubt he starts nearly aa much as he comes off the bench and splits time backing up the 4/5 more than he starts. He and Tomi should play nearly all minutes at the 5 spot around 28 for Tomi and 12 for Z. Z will should get a good bit at the 4 too. Z should still should play around the same amount of time whether he starts or not spliting time in those roles.
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Good points.
 
#780      
the juiceman cometh
NarrowJ said:
Ohio State and Iowa will both be very good this year imo

Ohio State returns Thornton, Royal, Mobley and filled out nicely with center Christoph Tilly and forwards Brandon Noel (19ppg at Wright St) and Josh Ojianwuna (started for Baylor last year). They also have a nice freshman class coming in.

Iowa brings in basically the entire Drake team that went 30-3 last year and also adds Brendan Hausen (K-State), Johnson-Arigu (Miami FL) and Alvaro Folgueiras (14 & 9 at RMU).
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That Drake team was good but that Drake team also did not have to play a Big Ten schedule. I'm skeptical it translates to a top third of the league team. Kenpom had Drake as the #52 team in the country. Also to be fair it is not the "entire" Drake team, as three of that team's starters are out of eligibility and are no longer in college ball.
 
#781      
NarrowJ
the juiceman cometh said:
That Drake team was good but that Drake team also did not have to play a Big Ten schedule. I'm skeptical it translates to a top third of the league team. Kenpom had Drake as the #52 team in the country. Also to be fair it is not the "entire" Drake team, as three of that team's starters are out of eligibility and are no longer in college ball.
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Agreed, wouldn't have them top 3 by any means. Especially with the strength of the other teams at the top - Purdue, Michigan, then I feel you have UCLA, Illinois, Ohio State. I'd have Iowa in that next tier with USC, Oregon, Washington, MSU and the like. Sadly, I think Indiana will also be pretty good.
 
#782      
the juiceman cometh
#783      
I-L-L 1318
NarrowJ said:
Agreed, wouldn't have them top 3 by any means. Especially with the strength of the other teams at the top - Purdue, Michigan, then I feel you have UCLA, Illinois, Ohio State. I'd have Iowa in that next tier with USC, Oregon, Washington, MSU and the like. Sadly, I think Indiana will also be pretty good.
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So many interesting teams this year. Washington’s roster could have them in the upper echelons even after being rough last year. Should be an exciting league!
 
#784      
Combo
SkyysNotFalling said:
Some people see Wisconsin as a top 15 team this year too, and a contender… I think, if anything, the B1G has a chance to reclaim their shot at the best conference in the sport this year.

ACC has 4 good teams.. and a whole lot of mediocrity at best, Big East should only be a 3-5 bid league, B12 is very top heavy and the bottom half of the league stinks, and the SEC will regress, I mean they have MIZZOU in the top half 🤮 so the conference will definitely take a step down.

Purdue, Michigan will compete for national title. UCLA, Illinois, Wisconsin have sweet 16 type rosters. Iowa, USC, MSU, Oregon, OSU should all have expectations of making the tournament. Outside of Minnesota & Rutgers I don’t see any truly stinky teams… Will be a dog fight, per usual.
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SEC still looks like the best conference. Followed by Big Ten.
 
#785      
NarrowJ
the juiceman cometh said:
Yeah, you're just missing some guys.

UCLA: https://uclabruins.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

Oregon: https://goducks.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
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Yes, absolutely was missing a few. I was relying on 247 to have their stuff updated and I see a lot of cases in which they just... don't... ha

UCLA was missing Brandon Williams, Eric Freeny and Markell Alston (who 247 does not list as being committed/signed for some reason). Oregon was missing Miles Stewart (247 also does not list as having xferred for some reason) and an unranked FR who I'm unsure is on scholarship or not.

(I am also not including walk-ons which explains some of the lower #s across the board, I suppose)
Updated List: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ubgZGQ3w2QkfsLjI5DNPE2FQvdf5qNlrZUTG7/pubhtml
 
#786      
IlliniFan42
NarrowJ said:
Yes, absolutely was missing a few. I was relying on 247 to have their stuff updated and I see a lot of cases in which they just... don't... ha

UCLA was missing Brandon Williams, Eric Freeny and Markell Alston (who 247 does not list as being committed/signed for some reason). Oregon was missing Miles Stewart (247 also does not list as having xferred for some reason) and an unranked FR who I'm unsure is on scholarship or not.

(I am also not including walk-ons which explains some of the lower #s across the board, I suppose)
Updated List: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ubgZGQ3w2QkfsLjI5DNPE2FQvdf5qNlrZUTG7/pubhtml
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If it helps at all- On3 does a better job at updating who's on the active roster, they just haven't removed any players for the upcoming season yet. 247 I've noticed keeps players on the active roster far past their graduation date. Both still have flaws when it comes to tracking new players, though.
 
#787      
IlliniFan42
NarrowJ said:
Yes, absolutely was missing a few. I was relying on 247 to have their stuff updated and I see a lot of cases in which they just... don't... ha

UCLA was missing Brandon Williams, Eric Freeny and Markell Alston (who 247 does not list as being committed/signed for some reason). Oregon was missing Miles Stewart (247 also does not list as having xferred for some reason) and an unranked FR who I'm unsure is on scholarship or not.

(I am also not including walk-ons which explains some of the lower #s across the board, I suppose)
Updated List: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ubgZGQ3w2QkfsLjI5DNPE2FQvdf5qNlrZUTG7/pubhtml
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Honestly when I think about it more, your best bet is Wikipedia and using the conference team list they have to easily click between every team. That has been the best source of info compared to all those tracker sites, especially when it comes to unranked recruits who they often leave off.

Although at this point some teams still don't have articles for the upcoming season. (Losers.)
 
#788      
HailtotheChief
NarrowJ said:
Agreed, wouldn't have them top 3 by any means. Especially with the strength of the other teams at the top - Purdue, Michigan, then I feel you have UCLA, Illinois, Ohio State. I'd have Iowa in that next tier with USC, Oregon, Washington, MSU and the like. Sadly, I think Indiana will also be pretty good.
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I know Michigan looks good on paper but do they have enough good shooters? I am not afraid of them. I think our squad of Kylan and the Son's of Vics will be able to scorer and cause them and many teams problems. It's also great to hear Wagler is balling out. I do like the new freshman guard I saw Michigan has coming in that played vs Mirk at the Nike Summit. Mihailo will stir the drink that is going to score in bunches.
 
#789      
JKR
the juiceman cometh said:
The tricky thing with this stuff for me is that there are also American players who start college late for various reasons and this doesn't impact their eligibility. So as a one-off with Tomi it was fine but as this gets more common I really feel like they're going to have to put forth some kind of framework or guidelines on how this all works.
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I don't think that age is the primary reason that our international players are being classified as non-freshmen. I think that it has more to do with them having played professionally.
 
#790      
steelmen72
NarrowJ said:
Ohio State and Iowa will both be very good this year imo

Ohio State returns Thornton, Royal, Mobley and filled out nicely with center Christoph Tilly and forwards Brandon Noel (19ppg at Wright St) and Josh Ojianwuna (started for Baylor last year). They also have a nice freshman class coming in.

Iowa brings in basically the entire Drake team that went 30-3 last year and also adds Brendan Hausen (K-State), Johnson-Arigu (Miami FL) and Alvaro Folgueiras (14 & 9 at RMU).
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Ohio State and Iowa at best are NIT teams at best. Ohio State has their big 3 but they had them last year with a better supporting cast. The transfers/recruits are role players. Their big 3 will have to be good every night. Plus their coaching is an issue. Every coach has won at Drake recently. Iowa doesn't have the size, speed or athletes to be good this year. It will take a few years with better players. This isn't the MVC!!!
 
#792      
Noblesville Illini
JKR said:
I don't think that age is the primary reason that our international players are being classified as non-freshmen. I think that it has more to do with them having played professionally.
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Agree completely or our punter last year wouldn’t have been able to suit up if that was the case…. :p
 
#793      
hoopsfan47
HailtotheChief said:
I know Michigan looks good on paper but do they have enough good shooters? I am not afraid of them. I think our squad of Kylan and the Son's of Vics will be able to scorer and cause them and many teams problems. It's also great to hear Wagler is balling out. I do like the new freshman guard I saw Michigan has coming in that played vs Mirk at the Nike Summit. Mihailo will stir the drink that is going to score in bunches."
HailtotheChief said:
I know Michigan looks good on paper but do they have enough good shooters? I am not afraid of them. I think our squad of Kylan and the Son's of Vics will be able to scorer and cause them and many teams problems. It's also great to hear Wagler is balling out. I do like the new freshman guard I saw Michigan has coming in that played vs Mirk at the Nike Summit. Mihailo will stir the drink that is going to score in bunches.
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"Kylan and the Sons of Vics" might be the funniest and most clever moniker I have seen in my 70 years as an Illini fan. Great get Chief!!! Love it. A reference to some random local kid and a bunch of Balkan tourists and we will take on all comers.
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#794      
NarrowJ
steelmen72 said:
Ohio State and Iowa at best are NIT teams at best. Ohio State has their big 3 but they had them last year with a better supporting cast. The transfers/recruits are role players. Their big 3 will have to be good every night. Plus their coaching is an issue. Every coach has won at Drake recently. Iowa doesn't have the size, speed or athletes to be good this year. It will take a few years with better players. This isn't the MVC!!!
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"At best" ?

NIT team would mean a record like 18-13ish and probably losing conf record. I certainly think the ceilings are higher than that, but again, my view is being shaped by just how bad the bottom half of these P5 confs are this year.
 
#795      
hoopsfan47
aveseaboy said:
we got our pg1! braden smith better be ready!
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Not wanting to be a Negative Nellie, but my pragmatic view after watching his highlight tape raises an obvious question. Can this kid guard anyone? That is certainly not what pops out. I would expect Braden Smith to be very much looking forward to going against the Illini unless Petro morphs into a much better defender quickly. Sure, I like his court vision and handle but shooting and defending are just as important, if not more so, in being a plus player in the B1G. And I am not saying he can't, just saying my eyes have not seen it...yet I hope they do at some point.
 
#796      
the juiceman cometh
JKR said:
I don't think that age is the primary reason that our international players are being classified as non-freshmen. I think that it has more to do with them having played professionally.
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But the argument that allows them to play at all is that they are just being paid travel expenses and whatnot and therefore are eligible. Because if they were paid professionally in the sense that they are making a living playing basketball then the rule was always that they would have exactly ZERO eligibility (see e.g. Enes Kanter). Historically, that is how eligibility has worked - all or nothing. So this thing about partial eligibility is new and there needs to be some kind of framework for it.
 
#797      
I-L-L 1318
hoopsfan47 said:
Not wanting to be a Negative Nellie, but my pragmatic view after watching his highlight tape raises an obvious question. Can this kid guard anyone? That is certainly not what pops out. I would expect Braden Smith to be very much looking forward to going against the Illini unless Petro morphs into a much better defender quickly. Sure, I like his court vision and handle but shooting and defending are just as important, if not more so, in being a plus player in the B1G. And I am not saying he can't, just saying my eyes have not seen it...yet I hope they do at some point.
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He seems to be quicker than the average Euro at least, may help translate.
 
#798      
HailtotheChief
the juiceman cometh said:
But the argument that allows them to play at all is that they are just being paid travel expenses and whatnot and therefore are eligible. Because if they were paid professionally in the sense that they are making a living playing basketball then the rule was always that they would have exactly ZERO eligibility (see e.g. Enes Kanter). Historically, that is how eligibility has worked - all or nothing. So this thing about partial eligibility is new and there needs to be some kind of framework for it.
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Maybe someone could do a cover of Nazareth "Hair of the Dog" and change the lyrics around a bit and have some fun with it incorporating Kylan some how. Now your messing with the Son of a Vic! ILL!
 
#799      
blackdog
the juiceman cometh said:
But the argument that allows them to play at all is that they are just being paid travel expenses and whatnot and therefore are eligible. Because if they were paid professionally in the sense that they are making a living playing basketball then the rule was always that they would have exactly ZERO eligibility (see e.g. Enes Kanter). Historically, that is how eligibility has worked - all or nothing. So this thing about partial eligibility is new and there needs to be some kind of framework for it.
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They do tend to have some type of academic work as well so that may be a contributing factor to the eligibility determination.
 
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