New season, new team, same expectations for Illinois
“We have to stay hungry,” said Brad Underwood on Big Ten Network.
Illinois is gearing up for another season with heavy expectations. After reaching its first Final Four in over 20 years, Illinois is ready for another shot. This year, Underwood and his Fighting Illini are gunning for the whole thing.
After losing Kylan Boswell and Keaton Wagler to the NBA Draft, Illinois retained David Mirkovic and Andrej Stojakovic. The Illini also brought in Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks to strengthen the backcourt.
With the strong retention and big transfer addition, as well as a five-star freshman in Quentin Coleman, Illinois looks ready to run it back. It’s a heavy burden to carry, but Underwood is ready to take it on.
“We live with the expectation; we want that,” Underwood said. “We need to deal with that, the good, the bad, and accept that’s where we’re at.”
Illinois is certainly raking in the preseason accolades. Both Mirkovic and Stojakovic were named to the preseason All-Big Ten team. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello has Illinois at No. 3 in his preseason top 25 rankings, and CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish also has the Illini at No. 3.
Preseason All-Big Ten
David Mirkovic
Andrej Stojakovic pic.twitter.com/fTHLp8y8xo— Illinois Men’s Basketball (@IlliniMBB) October 5, 2026
The roster certainly seems up for the challenge, with Vaaks and Coleman holding down the backcourt, and Mirkovic, Stojakovic and Tomislav Ivisic in the frontcourt. The Illini also have veterans Jake Davis and Zvonimir Ivisic coming off the bench, adding to an already experienced team.
However, while the expectations might be the same, the team is not. There are some familiar faces, but there are some that are missing as well.
“(We) understand what we did last year was a great thing, but Keaton’s not walking through the door,” Underwood said. “This is a new team. Ben Humricous is not walking through the door; Kylan’s not walking through the door.”
Losing some of the best players from last season hurts, but Underwood wants his team looking forward. He said one of the ways they do that is by working every day and letting their processes take over. He wants the Illini to acknowledge last year, but to keep pushing to get better.
The head coach also said that Illinois needs to remember it lost nine games last season, and that it was 0-4 in overtime last season. He wants the Illini to remember how and why they lost those games, and what they have to do to be better. Understanding what went wrong helps Illinois keep moving forward.
“Pushing those buttons and pushing these guys to figure out what those processes are that allow us to become better,” Underwood said.
With less than a month until the season kicks off, Illinois seems ready to take on those high expectations. Underwood wants the Illini to stay hungry, but he also wants them to understand who they are.
“We also have to understand that we’re going to be hunted,” Underwood said. “Let’s carry a little swagger with us about that.”
Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.