Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
#1      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
Welcome to the Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread :illinois:

2026 Recruiting
1) Ethan Brown (2026 G) committed on July 30th, 2025, signed on November 15th, 2025.
2) Landon Davis (2026 F) committed on August 6th, 2025, signed on November 12th, 2025.
3) Lucas Morillo (2026 G) committed on October 24th, 2025, signed on November 19th, 2025.
4) Quentin Coleman (2026 G) committed on April 3rd, 2026.

2027 Recruiting
1) Quinton Kitt (2027 F) committed on November 27th, 2025.
2) Mason Martin (2027 G) committed on January 16th, 2026.
 
#2      
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr?
Lets Go Hype GIF by Wisconsin Badgers
 
#5      
jrichisamazing
Am I the only one who is more excited to see which role players we get, rather than who our big money transfer will be?

This staff always seems to find someone under the radar who turns out to be great for us. Who is going to be the next Wagler, Mirk, Domask, or Feliz?
 
#9      
BBlock24
Do we know the main competition for Blackwell? I remember seeing something about Michigan (of course)
 
#10      
AssemblyHallForever
jrichisamazing said:
Am I the only one who is more excited to see which role players we get, rather than who our big money transfer will be?

This staff always seems to find someone under the radar who turns out to be great for us. Who is going to be the next Wagler, Mirk, Domask, or Feliz?
Click to expand...
With the recruits coming in, and who most likely will be staying, it will be interesting to see if we who we get. The priority is a pure point guard and a sharpshooting off guard. Quinton Coleman did not sit here to play 6th man. Dre wants his starting spot back so would Blackwell be in O&B next year? Who we target will determine who is staying and going, obviously. If we believe that the core will return, a guy like Sam Orme could be a nice role player. I am really hoping that this is finally the year we can lengthen our bench playing 10 guys. As of right now, we have Dre, Mirk, Davis and the Twins. Our bench could be Brown, Morillo, Bilic, Lee, Petro, and Jaxon. The only reason why we would pursue Blackwell is that Dre has portalled. We should know a lot more the next few days. It will be interesting to see where all this goes.
 
#11      
ChiefGritty
www.nytimes.com

2026 men’s college basketball too early Top 25: Where Duke, Michigan, UNC rank

Where does your team rank after season's end?
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

1. Illinois
Starters: Portal TBD, Jake Davis, Andrej Stojakovic, David Mirkovic, Tomislav Ivisic

Notable returners: Zvonimir Ivisic, Ty Rodgers, Brandon Lee, Jason Jakstys

Newcomers: Quentin Coleman (No. 34, 6-4 SG), Lucas Morillo (No. 58, 6-7 SG), Ethan Brown (No. 117 6-4 CG), Landon Davis (No. 150, 6-8 PF)

There’s not a lot of work to be done for the Illini. Go find a point guard, and that could be it, if everyone with eligibility, outside of Keaton Wagler (a projected lottery pick), returns. The Illini bench will be strengthened by the return of Ty Rodgers, a 6-6 wing who has missed the last two years and has the positional size coach Brad Underwood loves.

It’s possible Underwood has unearthed another way-better-than-expected freshman. Maybe not at Wagler’s level, but his recent history suggests we should probably expect a leap out of one of those freshmen. I’ve heard good things about Ethan Brown and the Illini just signed a four-star shooting guard in Quentin Coleman. The frontcourt will be awesome and get ready for David Mirkovic to become an All-America level player. He’s going to have the ball in his hands and is already one of the most unique scorers and creators in the country. This team is big, skilled and just missing a lead guard.
Click to expand...

Get a lead guard, retain everyone, NUMBER ONE.

John Blackwell is not a lead guard, and starts a cascade of fit and role issues elsewhere. And we want to retain EVERYONE, do not break the seal.
 
Last edited:
#13      
JBfor3
When will dominoes start falling? Not just our guys - but top guys across the portal?
 
#15      
RockfordIllini
ChiefGritty said:
www.nytimes.com

2026 men’s college basketball too early Top 25: Where Duke, Michigan, UNC rank

Where does your team rank after season's end?
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com



Get a lead guard, retain everyone, NUMBER ONE.

John Blackwell is not a lead guard, and starts a cascade of fit and role issues elsewhere. And we want to retain EVERYONE, do not break the seal.
Click to expand...
The other thing about Blackwell, and I forget where this was posted, but basically there is a glut of bigger, semi efficient guards who averaged 15+ ppg with defensive issues in the portal. Blackwell may be the best of the bunch, but if we want to go that route we can probably get someone who is 80% of the player at 50% of the price.

If he wants to come here and the price is right I say go for it. But I would also put him into the AJ Storr category of he’s not so irreplaceable you have to get into an insane bidding war to get him.
 
#16      
HailtotheChief
I am curious as to if Jason Jakstys can take a medical redshift for 25'26 due to his bloot clots issue? If so since not everyone can play extentsive minutes, if at all. He is still on the plan for when we signrd him. So. he could comeback and still be a 3rd year freshman right? If that is the case the plan to come and develop, get stronger, add mass, be a practice player, provide size in case of injury, and by the time your a junior you can be 6'10" , 255, an EDG and be at least solid depth piece for a small.investment. plus we could have another 3rd or 4th size option at the 4. I reslly dont know how much better he is but if he is content and on track to why we brought him for very little invested then having more time to get better and add mass can benefit him and our team down the road for very little costs.
 
#18      
NarrowJ
B1G updates:

Francois Wibaut (F, France) commits to Penn State
Roko Prkacin (F, Croatia) commits to Penn State

Josh Harris (F, Indiana) enters the portal
Jasai Miles (G, Indiana) enters the portal
Quentin Rhymes (G, Nebraska) enters the portal
Arrinten Page (C, Northwestern) enters the portal
Jordan Clayton (G, Northwestern) enters the portal
Gabe Cupps (G, Ohio State) enters the portal
Devon Pryor (F, Oregon) enters the portal
J.J. Frakes (G, Oregon) enters the portal
Mason Blackwood (F, Penn State) enters the portal
Eli Rice (G, Penn State) enters the portal
Dorian Jones (G, Rutgers) enters the portal
Christian Nitu (F, Washington) enters the portal
John Blackwell (G, Wisconsin) enters the portal

docs.google.com

B1G Roster Tracker

docs.google.com docs.google.com
 
#19      
Emerson Bigguns
ChiefGritty said:
www.nytimes.com

2026 men’s college basketball too early Top 25: Where Duke, Michigan, UNC rank

Where does your team rank after season's end?
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com



Get a lead guard, retain everyone, NUMBER ONE.

John Blackwell is not a lead guard, and starts a cascade of fit and role issues elsewhere. And we want to retain EVERYONE, do not break the seal.
Click to expand...
I see no reason Blackwell couldn't play the Wagler role on offense. We know first hand how difficult he is to guard when he gets downhill. He is the type of closer we need, with his ability to draw fouls. We didn't have a "true PG" this season, and were wildly efficient anyway. I'd argue that brining in a ball dominant guard would upset roles more than a guy like Blackwell.

Mirkovich has already proven to be able to handle his share of the offense initiation, and he's just going to get better.
 
#21      
HailtotheChief
Id love to find a Euro like Georgi B that can shoot a lil bit to back up Mirk. We need a some size , length and strength in that spot. As Georgi used to say, that would be awesome!
 
#22      
NarrowJ
Emerson Bigguns said:
I see no reason Blackwell couldn't play the Wagler role on offense. We know first hand how difficult he is to guard when he gets downhill. He is the type of closer we need, with his ability to draw fouls. We didn't have a "true PG" this season, and were wildly efficient anyway. I'd argue that brining in a ball dominant guard would upset roles more than a guy like Blackwell.

Mirkovich has already proven to be able to handle his share of the offense initiation, and he's just going to get better.
Click to expand...

He's more similar to Stojakovic than Wagler as a scoring first shooting guard/wing. He cannot play lead guard for a competent high-major offense. Mirkovic can take some heat off of our ballhandlers, but he isn't going to be our primary. We need a big time lead guard. Blackwell isn't that.

Editing just to say that if they can bring him in and he and Andrej can work in some TSJ/Domask type of way, then it might be fine.
 
Last edited:
#25      
Joel Goodson
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back