I would not put Brown at that level this year....but Williams and Zens will likely battle to give AS a rest now and then....or maybe not as Morillo might take that job. Who knows? In my mind, not a single person including the staff at the moment.
Illini Basketball 2026-2027
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For sure....these kids are all Illini. JJ has some credit under his belt and minutes available to him if he can play and the game has slowed for him a bit. No one seems to even know if he is healthy enough to play this season.
Z,Tomi and Jake Davis will be at a clinic for 7 to 17 year olds Sunday afternoon in Champaign
I'm gonna play devil's advocate here because I'm bored and actually agree with your Duke hesitation. similar could be said about Illinois and their torvik.
point 1.. not applicable since we retain
point 2.. freshman are good but unlikely to replace Keaton... this one could be applicable to Illinois
point 3 Illinois' ADJOE is 2 points above everyone (could happen but I do think Duke will be a defensive monster)
point 4 vaaks should be better than kylan on offense but the defense will be much worse but yet our defensive rating is actually better in his projection this year
bonus he has big z rated higher offense rating than vaaks with the same usage. that's odd
overall I think Illinois is right where they need to be at 4. I think Duke will be worse on offense but really good on defense
I honestly would not argue too much with any of Florida, Duke, Illinois ranked between 1 and 4 (or maybe even 5)
What's bothered me more is folks saying things like "Illinois being 1st is a hot take" or "Duke being 4th is a hot take" as if we can prognosticate to that degree of precision 5 months before a game is played.
Here is the breakdown from last season. Kylan (30) and Keaton (33.9) combined for 63.9 mpg. Who played the other 16 guard minutes?
Tomi (25.4) and Z (17.2) combined for 42.6.
Jake (19.6) and Andrej (26.3) 45.9.
Mirk (29.5) and Ben (22.5) 53.
Note That rotation consisted of 4 bigs, 2 wings, and 2 guards.
Next year projects to be 3 bigs, 2 wings, and 3 guards.
Realistically, Tomi and Z will take all the quality center minutes.again. They might play together a little more often. Can Mirk play more than 30 mpg? There should be 5 minutes or more for JJ or small ball with Zens?
Jake and Andrej return and should take all or most of the quality 3 minutes? Andrej starts and likely plays close to 30 if he is healthy.
I can't see Coleman and Vaacks matching almost 64 mpg. I am guessing 20 to 25 bench minutes will be available with Morillo getting most of them.
About Andrej. A buddy of mine has a daughter at the UofI. He said a lot of her friends and friend of friends are enamored with Andrej. Talk about his olive oil skin and flowing black hair. They just think he is da bomb diggity.
I believe he does have the best hair since Richard Keene.
I believe he does have the best hair since Richard Keene.
Until we beat UCONN, anything close goes to UCONN.
RichardKeenesCousin
Richard Keene's Cousin
Nobody has better hair than Richard. I wasn't as lucky.... I'm bald.
As long as only 5 guys play that depth is academic and belongs in the 9th man discussion. More chance to create dissension tha be an advantage. Results will be determined by first eight not 9 and 10.
Jake Davis and kylan had great hair last year...I type in bald
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
If we want to win a national title we are going to need improvement from Tomi's mustache this year.
getting rid of tomis beard sparked our final four run! I'm dying on this hill!
IMO, nobody was/is prettier than pre haircut Keaton.
Yep, as for flowing locks….your cousin is the best I’ve seen.
I can see Coleman and Vaacks doing pretty close to 64m between them. Can Andrej play SG for 5 minutes, giving Jake 5 more minutes at SF?
Sheesh, glad I do not subscribe to this defeatist 'we can never beat or be as good as UConn' attitude
Andrej on Instagram: "Just a regular day… with a few extra rewards mixed in. 💳☕🏀 Repping Illinois everywhere I go with the Illinois Venmo Debit Card. #VenmoPartner"
6,354 likes, 0 comments - andrejstojakovic on June 5, 2026: "Just a regular day… with a few extra rewards mixed in. 💳☕🏀 Repping Illinois everywhere I go with the Illinois Venmo Debit Card. #VenmoPartner".
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RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
I do consider UConn to Illinois what the Pistons were to the Jordan Bulls. That’s the mental hurdle we must get past to get to the next level.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
And in another comparison point, we'd better be out for blood in that game.
Meh
Its an awful lot of unnecessary & frankly 'sports curse/hex' irrational non-thinking, sample size is 3 whole games and been favored once
Dan is 4-10 vs McDermott... not sure even that sample size is very telling, is it?
EDIT: Bulls & Pistons were in same division, they played each other like 15x per season, NBA vs CBB, was 40 years ago, etcetera etcetera... I don't see a 'mental hurdle' we have to get past with UConn... if we lose to them again this year, that will suck, but I don't think it means we are cooked either though
Yes 100%
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I think that would be stretching it. I think they'll need a bit of help from Andrej, Lincoln, and/or Brown. Similary I think if we can't get 80 min out of our three Bigs, we'll go small ball for a bit (unless as I hope JJ is capable of helping there).
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