The Illini were already a ranked team heading into the 2025-2026 season. But the start of Illinois’ season wasn’t looking the greatest. Illinois had multiple starters injured and going into their game vs Texas Tech, who going in was ranked higher than the Illini and had one of the best guard-forward duos in the country in Christian Anderson and JT Toppin. But against all those odds, The Illini are 5-1 and are ranked top 10 going into a couple of mid-major games before their huge game against. Here’s how this undermanned team has started undefeated.
The main piece to their puzzle is transfer wing/guard Andrej Stojakavic. His name was in the Naismith Preseason Player of the Year watch list. He sat out the first game of the season against Jackson State with a knee injury that he has had for the last 2 months. He came back in the Illini’s second game against FGCU on a minutes restriction. It was showing that Stojakovic was going to slowly build back into being the Illini’s best player. But Stojakovic looked back in 100% form much sooner than everyone thought. In his second game back against Texas Tech, Stojakovic showed out. Still only playing 26 minutes, he had 23 points on 11-16 shooting. He had a really efficient day from the field and also played great defensively. He got the game saving block in crunch time to seal the win for the Illini. A statement win for a player who needed a good game and a team that needed a big win.
Another thing that helps the Illini out is all the European talent they have across the roster. Of course, Stojakovic is one of them, but they have 4-5 other European players that make an impact on this team. With these players already playing pro leagues in their respective countries, it gives them more physicality and now the team doesn’t have to spend as much time developing talent and making them gain weight because the players already have. Players like David Mirkovic, Tomislav Ivisic and Zvonimir Ivisic have already made their impacts on the court. Andrej Stojakovic’s time has been limited and Mihalo Petrovic hasn’t even played yet due to injury. All these European guys who have had experience at the pro level go well along with some of the players who have already played a year or 2 with the Illini like Kylan Boswell, Jake Davis and Ben Humrichous. With all these pieces that the Illini have plus new additions in Keaton Wagner and Ty Rodgers coming back off redshirt, the Illini are in prime position to be one of the top teams in college basketball.
The Illini are 5-1 with 3 more non conference games until Big Ten games start. 1 of those games should be an easy game against a mid major, but their last 2 games are against No. 3 UConn and No.20 Tennessee. If the Illini win out in their non-conference, they have a pretty good chance of being ranked top 3 in the country going into BIG Ten play. The Illini have high hopes, and with more players coming back and bringing more depth, the Illini have a chance to make a big run this year come March Madness.
