Bingo ... Exactly why Brad made the comments he did the other day ...
Illini Basketball 2025-2026
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Bingo ... Exactly why Brad made the comments he did the other day ...
Anything with LaTulip is a must listen ... Guy just flat out knows ball ...
By some accounts Golden is worse?
Florida Built A Black Box And Put The Todd Golden Case Inside It | Defector
Todd Golden smiled as the orange and blue confetti fell around him. He had accomplished what no Florida Gators men’s basketball coach had in nearly two decades—a national championship—bringing a title home to a university and a fan base desperate for a win. (The last national championship for...
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If only he could hit an open 3 like damonte..
madillini4
Ozamataz Buckshank
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Can’t deny that, but still satisfying to see Sampson come up short.By some accounts Golden is worse?
Florida Built A Black Box And Put The Todd Golden Case Inside It | Defector
Todd Golden smiled as the orange and blue confetti fell around him. He had accomplished what no Florida Gators men’s basketball coach had in nearly two decades—a national championship—bringing a title home to a university and a fan base desperate for a win. (The last national championship for...
Kind of a slow offseason in terms of news, but the vibes seem to be shifting in a positive direction of late. Clips from Petrovic look promising, and if MLT thinks Wagler is a one and done type of talent, that backs up the rumblings from the summer. Mike seems to always be spot on with his analysis of the team.. maybe Brad should hire him for some type of director of basketball analysis and vibes role 
.
Also, not sure if it’s been discussed or posted but Evan Miya has us at #10 preseason. With the #6 roster in college basketball based on talent. Bartorvíc has us preseason top 10, and I’ll assume kenpom will have us 10~15ish.
Got some good news on Ty.. and I’m starting to really buy Kylan and Tomi as the leaders of this team.
Can’t wait for the season to start!!!
.Also, not sure if it’s been discussed or posted but Evan Miya has us at #10 preseason. With the #6 roster in college basketball based on talent. Bartorvíc has us preseason top 10, and I’ll assume kenpom will have us 10~15ish.
Got some good news on Ty.. and I’m starting to really buy Kylan and Tomi as the leaders of this team.
Can’t wait for the season to start!!!
I agree! I like what I am hearing!
He does not yet know where big Z fits in the mix yet which I find interesting! Big Z in my brain is anything from a solid back up center to a potential break out year guy.
When it comes to Tomi, Ben , and big Z… I have to wonder how much physical change could mean! Fletched!
Wagler is now becoming an interesting player that was not a factor a few months ago. Lee was talked about a while back… where in the mix is he?
Can’t wait to see and find out!
Z's job this year is be the best backup 5 man in the country. while quality spot minutes alongside Tomi.
I 100% trust his judgement in basketball and 100% question it in facial hair decisions.
Since we’re pretty slow on news, here are a few Illini 2025-2026 predictions I’ve been thinking about:
Curious how others would rank these.
- Tomi named an All-American (1st–3rd team)
- Kylan named First-Team All-B1G
- Keaton Wagler averages over 10 PPG
- Petrovic averages over 6 assists per game
- Team 3PT% finishes above 34%
Curious how others would rank these.
It's interesting that you ranked as #1 most likely the thing that has never happened under BU at Illinois. He's never had a player average over 6 assists per game. Very unlikely.
I think Tomi as All-American or Kylan as 1st Team All-Big are possible but unlikely. Wagler averaging over 10 PPG is also possible, but even less likely than the two prior. In a typical season only 2 or 3 players average double digits. Last year it was 5, but that's pretty atypical. We've had Freshmen do it, but that has typically been very highly ranked recruits on younger teams. Do we really think Wagler as a top-3 scorer on this roster is realistic?
So the only one that has a decent chance of happening is actually shooting over 34% from 3. In BU's tenure that's happened about half the time. If BH and Kylan regress closer to career averages before transferring here, it would be pretty easy to see that happening.
So my ranking is 5, big gap, 2, 1, 4, 3.
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
I think Tomi could be one of the three best fives in the country. I'm also high on Kylan but there's just so much competition in the B1G. So, I'd say:
5
1
3
4
2
I didn't realize that BU hasn't had someone post 6 APG in a season! I suppose my question would be is there someone who would have been capable? KJ posted 4.7 with 3.7 turnovers, I feel like with another year in college he could've gotten there. I'm not sure if BU has had someone as pure and developed of a PG as Petrovic. He was doing 7.3 APG over 27.5 minutes, so 6 per game in the NCAA seemed feasible to me. This would put him in the top 20 in CBB in assists, maybe this is overly optimistic.
Yeah these two may be a bit pie in the sky, maybe should have had Tomi as All-B1G. I think that is definitely feasible. Kylan maybe makes more sense as All-B1G defense
Maybe? He's definitely got a good 3-point shot which can drive up total PPG and he can slash it seems like. Can he replace 80% of the scoring that Will Riley gave? It certainly seems like they're given similar pre-season characteristics (smooth, cerebral, etc.). If there's any conversation about being one-and-done then 10 PPG would have to be bare minimum right?
No argument here I'm still simply dumbfounded that the average was 31.3 last year.
What’s the issue?
Underwood era we’re 3-2 in these games.
These games? I mean UConn at MSG.
I assumed you meant scheduling tough games at MSG as "these games". Maybe I misread this, and you alluding to more of playing UCONN again - which would be my fault.
I guess the true answer is 2-2 - the Maryland game was a top 15 opponent, but not really one we scheduled. But I like this stuff, and I think it's just smart scheduling in the quad system era.
It's more a joke on the fact an Illini basketball/Chicago Bears football could make for a depressing day after Thanksgiving. UConn basketball hasn't been the same without Donovan Clingan so maybe we'll have a good matchup.
Least Illinois football can beat NW the day after and get the bad taste out of our mouth should the worst case scenario happen.
Has petrovic not been impressive?
Just for reference, averaging 6 assists would put him among the best single seasons for assists ever at Illinois. This is the list he'd be joining:
Demetri McCamey
Deron Williams
Tony Wysinger (why don't I know this guy? Before my time but still... I'm pretty well versed in my Illini history but dont know a thing about him besides he was apparently a prolific passer his senior year.)
Bruce Douglass
Dee Brown
Think those are the only guys to average 6 assists in a season.
If MP can join that list I think it's going to be a very good year.
Dee's high water mark was 5.8 assists/game.
I find it interesting that none of Demetri, Tony, Bruce, or Dee managed to stick in the NBA. Dee came the closest playing ~10m/game in ~60 games across 4 years.
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