Illini Basketball 2026-2027

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#1,651      
Combo
ILFaninFL said:
Think of when the rule was made. Teams had already committed to NIL for players, and suddenly the pool changes. Now, after teams have been working toward next season, this is dumped on them. At this point, what can Brad do? Bringing in someone of starter caliber will be disruptive in numerous ways. I get the win-at-all-costs mentality, but this will have ripple effects on team chemistry. I doubt very much that better teams will be interested in these guys this late in the process.
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I don't think it would make sense for us to add a star type player. Duke and a few others keep adding top talent, even at spots where they already have an obvious starter. I think there's too much potential to screw up chemistry. A few months ago, both Vaaks and Coleman were balking at committing to us if we took Blackwell.

I love the makeup of our likely starting five. IMO you've got guys that fit the roles perfect.
 
#1,652      
Uihoop2023!
Combo said:
I don't think it would make sense for us to add a star type player. Duke and a few others keep adding top talent, even at spots where they already have an obvious starter. I think there's too much potential to screw up chemistry. A few months ago, both Vaaks and Coleman were balking at committing to us if we took Blackwell.

I love the makeup of our likely starting five. IMO you've got guys that fit the roles perfect.
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Wouldn't mind a veteran forward to come off bench but I get the chemistry point.
 
#1,653      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
Wouldn't mind a veteran forward to come off bench but I get the chemistry point.
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Yes, depth is where we’re lacking when it comes to title contender status.

As far as the top of the roster, it’s very good, and likely needs no changes.

My guess is our roster is very likely set.
 
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#1,654      
jamarvelous31
ILFaninFL said:
Think of when the rule was made. Teams had already committed to NIL for players, and suddenly the pool changes. Now, after teams have been working toward next season, this is dumped on them. At this point, what can Brad do? Bringing in someone of starter caliber will be disruptive in numerous ways. I get the win-at-all-costs mentality, but this will have ripple effects on team chemistry. I doubt very much that better teams will be interested in these guys this late in the process.
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I'm so confused. What does this have to do with the viability & intent of an NCAA rule?

I think it helps everyone not IL since our roster is set.
 
#1,657      
PepeSilvia
EmeraldCityIllini said:
Keaton and Domask are super close offensively IMO (meant to be a huge compliment to Marcus). And TSJ the best college player of the group by far.

But i actually think i pick 2025-26 pretty easily. That 2024 group was down at 80th defensively. Last year's roster would just be too big and would require Guerrier and Coleman to hit a crazy amount of three's and i straight up don't think Ty could have played.

That said, I think 2024 was a masterclass of a coaching year by Brad. Talent wise, they really weren't final four worthy, But he spammed TSJ, and turned Domask into a superstar. For my money, they ended the year as the 3rd best team in the sport, which is kinda wild.
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I feel like the 2024 team actually matches up pretty well with the 2026 though and would create some serious matchup issues.

2026 doesn't have anyone that can guard Shannon or keep him out of transition. We saw the 2026 Illini have problems with explosive guards(Boyd, Dent, etc.). Shannon would absolutely dominate in this matchup.

Then Domask would also be a huge problem. 2026 has nobody to matchup with him. He would kill Boswell or Stojakovic in the post and would blow by Mirk or Ben.

The advantage the 2026 team has is having two 7 foot centers but they didn't really pound the ball inside enough and score in the paint where it would hurt 2024. Coleman would be fine guarding the twins and be able to draw them away from the basket on the other end.

I know the metrics weren't kind to the 2024 defense but I think they were better than the metrics suggest and were capable of stepping up on that end.Shannon was a good point of attack defender and had the size, length, and quickness to force Wagler into a lot of tough shots. Ty probably does a decent job on Stojakovic, and Guerrier was athletic enough and strong to be fine on Mirk. Would be very hard to hunt matchups for the 2026.

2026 is a deeper roster but the 2024 top 3 of Shannon, Domask, and Coleman is killer and I think they actually match up well. Plus if you told me to name the 4 best players in that matchup 3 of them are on 2024(Shannon, Wagler, Domask, and Coleman are the 4 best players across the two years).
 
#1,659      
Brosky
Welcome to the Illini Basketball thread :illinois:

Tickets Info


Reported Non-Conference Games

DateOpponentLocationInfo
Mon, Nov 2Fairleigh DickinsonState Farm CenterLink
Thu, Nov 5PennState Farm CenterLink
Tue, Nov 10at Texas TechUnited Supermarkets Arena (Lubbock, TX)Link
Fri, Nov 13Sam Houston StState Farm CenterLink
Tue, Nov 17at DukeCameron Indoor Stadium (Durham, NC)Link
Mon, Nov 23WinthropState Farm CenterLink
Fri, Dec 4UConnUnited Center (Chicago, IL)Link
Sun, Dec 20MissouriEnterprise Center (St. Louis, MO)Link
Tue, Dec 29SeattleState Farm CenterLink
Sat, Jan 30North CarolinaBridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN)Link


IL Big Ten Opponents
Home & Away: Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin
Home only: Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, UCLA, USC
Away only: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Rutgers, Washington


IL Returnees
David Mirkovic
Tomislav Ivisic
Zvonimir Ivisic
Jake Davis
Andrej Stojakovic
Jason Jakstys
Blake Fagbemi

IL Newcomers
Ethan Brown
Landon Davis
Lucas Morillo
Zavier Zens
Quentin Coleman
Stefan Vaaks
Lincoln Williams


Last year
Non-conference schedule was released on August 18th
Big Ten schedule was released on September 18th
Time & TV info was released on October 7th
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I foresee some games on Peacock. May have to take out a subscription for fb and bb. Peace. Brosky
 
#1,660      
HoopsterMan
EmeraldCityIllini said:
Keaton and Domask are super close offensively IMO (meant to be a huge compliment to Marcus). And TSJ the best college player of the group by far.

But i actually think i pick 2025-26 pretty easily. That 2024 group was down at 80th defensively. Last year's roster would just be too big and would require Guerrier and Coleman to hit a crazy amount of three's and i straight up don't think Ty could have played.

That said, I think 2024 was a masterclass of a coaching year by Brad. Talent wise, they really weren't final four worthy, But he spammed TSJ, and turned Domask into a superstar. For my money, they ended the year as the 3rd best team in the sport, which is kinda wild.
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AI says 24 by 5, but I think I'd lean 26 given Ivisic in the middle over Hawkins, who really didn't have a ton of paint presence.

24 could have made a run had it not been for that UConn team. Two losses to Purdue by 5-6, could have hung with them on a neutral floor as they had no one to deal with TS on the perimeter. Had they stuck us in Bama or NCSt's region, likely a F4 team. Sucks we had to run into them, but sucks even more for Purdue, who may have arguably had the second best team of the decade. I'm not sure there is an NC in the last 30 years that could have beaten that UConn team. They were slaughtering teams and it looked like they were toying with them. Bama shot 8-10 from 3 in the first half of the semi's and were down 4 at the half, not sure how that's even possible. I can't think of a team in the last 30 years that could match up with them as they had zero weaknesses. 2018 Nova, maybe, just not sure UConn doesn't just beat them up on the inside and reduce Nova's offense to middy's.
 
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#1,662      
EmeraldCityIllini
PepeSilvia said:
I feel like the 2024 team actually matches up pretty well with the 2026 though and would create some serious matchup issues.

2026 doesn't have anyone that can guard Shannon or keep him out of transition. We saw the 2026 Illini have problems with explosive guards(Boyd, Dent, etc.). Shannon would absolutely dominate in this matchup.

Then Domask would also be a huge problem. 2026 has nobody to matchup with him. He would kill Boswell or Stojakovic in the post and would blow by Mirk or Ben.

The advantage the 2026 team has is having two 7 foot centers but they didn't really pound the ball inside enough and score in the paint where it would hurt 2024. Coleman would be fine guarding the twins and be able to draw them away from the basket on the other end.

I know the metrics weren't kind to the 2024 defense but I think they were better than the metrics suggest and were capable of stepping up on that end.Shannon was a good point of attack defender and had the size, length, and quickness to force Wagler into a lot of tough shots. Ty probably does a decent job on Stojakovic, and Guerrier was athletic enough and strong to be fine on Mirk. Would be very hard to hunt matchups for the 2026.

2026 is a deeper roster but the 2024 top 3 of Shannon, Domask, and Coleman is killer and I think they actually match up well. Plus if you told me to name the 4 best players in that matchup 3 of them are on 2024(Shannon, Wagler, Domask, and Coleman are the 4 best players across the two years).
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All great and interesting points - and a fun question.

No doubt TSJ would have been a problem and gotten his. Domask could also slow down and match the slow pace. I agree the defense did seem better than 80th - but 80th is hard for me to ignore ha.

I do think while Domask would be awesome, last year’s size would have made it somewhat difficult for him to see and shoot over. And I actually think Andrej wouldn’t be a horrible option for TSJ (but TSJ would cook anyone).

You think you’d choose Coleman as the 4th best guy between those two teams? The way Mirk was playing in March, I think I’d actually lean him.
 
#1,663      
Fly Illini Fly!
EmeraldCityIllini said:
All great and interesting points - and a fun question.

No doubt TSJ would have been a problem and gotten his. Domask could also slow down and match the slow pace. I agree the defense did seem better than 80th - but 80th is hard for me to ignore ha.

I do think while Domask would be awesome, last year’s size would have made it somewhat difficult for him to see and shoot over. And I actually think Andrej wouldn’t be a horrible option for TSJ (but TSJ would cook anyone).

You think you’d choose Coleman as the 4th best guy between those two teams? The way Mirk was playing in March, I think I’d actually lean him.
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TSJ would’ve “gotten his” against anybody. He was unguardable the whole year (sans like two games ).
 
#1,664      
jamarvelous31
ILFaninFL said:
Think of when the rule was made. Teams had already committed to NIL for players, and suddenly the pool changes. Now, after teams have been working toward next season, this is dumped on them. At this point, what can Brad do? Bringing in someone of starter caliber will be disruptive in numerous ways. I get the win-at-all-costs mentality, but this will have ripple effects on team chemistry. I doubt very much that better teams will be interested in these guys this late in the process.
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The rule was in limbo for almost a year.

The NCAA chose when to announce it and regardless of when it was announced they would've had the same issue based on their illogical distinction.
 
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#1,665      
Ga65
PepeSilvia said:
I feel like the 2024 team actually matches up pretty well with the 2026 though and would create some serious matchup issues.

2026 doesn't have anyone that can guard Shannon or keep him out of transition. We saw the 2026 Illini have problems with explosive guards(Boyd, Dent, etc.). Shannon would absolutely dominate in this matchup.

Then Domask would also be a huge problem. 2026 has nobody to matchup with him. He would kill Boswell or Stojakovic in the post and would blow by Mirk or Ben.

The advantage the 2026 team has is having two 7 foot centers but they didn't really pound the ball inside enough and score in the paint where it would hurt 2024. Coleman would be fine guarding the twins and be able to draw them away from the basket on the other end.

I know the metrics weren't kind to the 2024 defense but I think they were better than the metrics suggest and were capable of stepping up on that end.Shannon was a good point of attack defender and had the size, length, and quickness to force Wagler into a lot of tough shots. Ty probably does a decent job on Stojakovic, and Guerrier was athletic enough and strong to be fine on Mirk. Would be very hard to hunt matchups for the 2026.

2026 is a deeper roster but the 2024 top 3 of Shannon, Domask, and Coleman is killer and I think they actually match up well. Plus if you told me to name the 4 best players in that matchup 3 of them are on 2024(Shannon, Wagler, Domask, and Coleman are the 4 best players across the two years).
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I agree with most except Tomi would kill Hawk in the post. Rim defense was that teams weakness.
 
#1,669      
EmeraldCityIllini
msphdillini said:
Q.C: Does #11 mean 1 and done!?
While we enjoyed Keaton's shows from December, we might see Q.C. show from day 1.
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Coleman is a long, athletic, dead eye shooter with some secondary playmaking and can defend multiple backcourt spots (based on scouting, obviously we have to see it)

He’s about as built in the lab as you can be for today’s NBA outside of being 3 inches taller
 
#1,673      
PepeSilvia
EmeraldCityIllini said:
You think you’d choose Coleman as the 4th best guy between those two teams? The way Mirk was playing in March, I think I’d actually lean him.
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I love Mirk but Coleman was just such a versatile player and shot the ball really well that year.

He could put the ball on the floor and do a lot facilitating just like Mirk but then was capable of switching 1-5 defensively(which that is really the problem that the 26 team has with 24, is that the 24 team effectively limita what the 24 team does by being able to switch every screen if they wanted).

I think Mirk ends up being a better player but I'm taking Senior year Coleman over freshman Mirk.
 
#1,674      
PepeSilvia
Ga65 said:
I agree with most except Tomi would kill Hawk in the post. Rim defense was that teams weakness.
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I definitely agree that Tomi would have the ability to score inside. However, he also has a penchant for sometimes being soft around the rim and the offense all didn't really feed him in the post and give him many opportunities to score in the post.

If you look at the elite 8 game against Iowa, it took until late in the 2nd half until they finally gave Tomi a few post touches(which turned that game around), and Iowa didn't have a big as good as Coleman(probably not even as good as Dainja).

Tomi just isn't really a banger like Clingan, who gave Coleman issues, and the 26 offense didn't really utilize low post touches. So while I agree that the size of the twins would be their best advantage against the 24 team I just think it would force them to a play a style that they weren't necessarily comfortable playing or had much experience doing so.
 
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