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* 4:04 p.m. Update: Illinois has just received a commitment from Zavier Zens, Mr. Basketball in the state of Wisconsin. Originally a Northern Iowa commit, Zens reopened his recruitment when longtime Panthers' Head Coach Ben Jacobson surprisingly took the Utah State opening after Jarrod Calhoun left for Cincinnati shortly after the Aggies were eliminated by Arizona during the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. A cousin of former Duke player and current Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel, Zens chose Illinois ahead of Wisconsin and Utah State. There will be more to write about this 2026 recruit in the coming days.
Consider "Operation Fighting Illini Retention" complete as forward Andrej Stojakovic has just announced that he will be returning to Illinois for his senior season.
With Stojakovic now in the fold, Illinois has retained five core pieces from last season's Final Four team, which was always the optimal outcome with freshman All-American Keaton Wagler clearly heading to the NBA.
Sophomore forward David Mirkovic got the ball rolling Wednesday afternoon while Tomi and Zvonimir Ivisic and Jake Davis continued the reunion tour later that night. After some sad but expected news with Ty Rodgers departing yesterday, Stojakovic brought back the positive vibes with today's major announcement
Give credit to the Illinois coaching staff for making retention of this core the top priority of the offseason. While the Illini have added intriguing Providence guard Stefan Vaaks, Head Coach Brad Underwood not only emphasized bringing back this fun, lovable and talented group of players but delivered big time.
Getting five meaningful players to return in this day and age when other programs are poaching talent and throwing exorbitant amounts of money at players could not have been easy, though Illinois has never been at a healthier place as a program and with its NIL. Also, this group of Illini players is quite unique, with a chemistry and likeability for each other that is hard to find. It says something about this group that they are choosing to run it back when they could have looked justifiably for bigger roles or paydays somewhere else.
The ultimate wildcard, Stojakovic always seemed like the hardest player to retain. He was apparently noncommittal during Wednesday night's Kickin' Cancer event. I thought Stojakovic might test the NBA Draft waters and ultimately return to college, with the hope that he would return to Illinois. This development is better than I could have anticipated.
I was listening to Jeremy Werner's excellent Illini Inquirer podcast yesterday when Isaac Trotter brought up a really important point. With bluebloods like Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and North Carolina having a lot of roster spots to fill, Illinois needed to lock up Stojakovic as quickly as possible before one of these desperate programs with unlimited resources made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
Less than 24 hours later, Andrej is officially back!
For Andrej, returning to Illinois is the best move for his career after playing his first two seasons at Stanford and Cal, respectively. While it took a while, specifically until March Madness, Andrej seemingly found a home this past season and became the best version of himself. While this year's NBA Draft is loaded, next year's is not as promising, thus Andrej could really improve his draft stock with a huge senior season.
What a difference a few months make. By the end of the regular season, it would have not been surprising to see Andrej leave. After the Final Four, it was imperative that Andrej return as Stojakovic really became an Illini favorite with his unbelievable play in March.
During the NCAA Tournament, Stojakovic elevated his game, providing instant offense off the bench, getting to the rim at will and hitting beautiful bankers and fadeaways while giving Illinois some breathing room against VCU and Houston in the second round and Sweet Sixteen, respectively. Defensively, Stojakovic became a lockdown defender, with his effort against Iowa's Bennett Stirtz in the second half of the Elite Eight victory especially crucial in securing the Illini's first Final Four since 2005.
Following an up-and-down season of injuries, Stojakovic's play during March really backed up the hype of his highly anticipated transfer from Cal. While Stojakovic had some big games early in the season, he struggled to find consistency in the Illinois starting lineup. On February 6th at Michigan State, he suffered an ankle injury that forced him to the bench.
While Stojakovic could have griped and complained about coming off the bench, he handled his new role with great maturity. In fact, Stojakovic seemed to find himself during the NCAA Tournament, coming into games with a Zen-like calm and getting to work immediately. Stojakovic especially settled down a nervous Illini team that got behind early against Iowa during the Elite Eight.
Now that Andrej is back, he must be starting next season. With Wagler gone, Illinois does not have another player besides Stojakovic who can get a bucket on his own when needed. There weren't too many teams, even handsy UCONN, that could stop Andrej from getting to the hole when he wanted. While Andrej is not the shooter his famous dad Peja was, Stojakovic's three-pointer was looking better during March. I am confident that Andrej will be better from deep in year two, though his bread is buttered when he is attacking downhill. As dangerous as he is offensively, Stojakovic can be the tone setter on defense with Kylan Boswell gone.
For the first time in his college career, Stojakovic will be with a program for a second season. That reality is tantalizing to think about, when considering what Terrence Shannon Jr. did during his second season with the Illini. Andrej has the potential to be a first-team Big Ten selection and more if all goes well.
Now with Andrej back, the Illini wait on Wisconsin guard John Blackwell, who seems to be a luxury at this point. If Illinois adds Blackwell, and he fits in with this team's chemistry, the Illini will look more dangerous on paper than last season, which is amazing considering Wagler is leaving as a lottery pick.
Whether or not the Illini get Blackwell, this team is in very, very good shape for next season as Stojakovic's return and expected greater role in the offense makes another deep run in March very possible.
Year Two of Andrej, Mirk, Tomi, Big Z and Jake being together cannot come fast enough!
With Stojakovic now in the fold, Illinois has retained five core pieces from last season's Final Four team, which was always the optimal outcome with freshman All-American Keaton Wagler clearly heading to the NBA.
Sophomore forward David Mirkovic got the ball rolling Wednesday afternoon while Tomi and Zvonimir Ivisic and Jake Davis continued the reunion tour later that night. After some sad but expected news with Ty Rodgers departing yesterday, Stojakovic brought back the positive vibes with today's major announcement
Give credit to the Illinois coaching staff for making retention of this core the top priority of the offseason. While the Illini have added intriguing Providence guard Stefan Vaaks, Head Coach Brad Underwood not only emphasized bringing back this fun, lovable and talented group of players but delivered big time.
Getting five meaningful players to return in this day and age when other programs are poaching talent and throwing exorbitant amounts of money at players could not have been easy, though Illinois has never been at a healthier place as a program and with its NIL. Also, this group of Illini players is quite unique, with a chemistry and likeability for each other that is hard to find. It says something about this group that they are choosing to run it back when they could have looked justifiably for bigger roles or paydays somewhere else.
The ultimate wildcard, Stojakovic always seemed like the hardest player to retain. He was apparently noncommittal during Wednesday night's Kickin' Cancer event. I thought Stojakovic might test the NBA Draft waters and ultimately return to college, with the hope that he would return to Illinois. This development is better than I could have anticipated.
I was listening to Jeremy Werner's excellent Illini Inquirer podcast yesterday when Isaac Trotter brought up a really important point. With bluebloods like Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and North Carolina having a lot of roster spots to fill, Illinois needed to lock up Stojakovic as quickly as possible before one of these desperate programs with unlimited resources made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
Less than 24 hours later, Andrej is officially back!
For Andrej, returning to Illinois is the best move for his career after playing his first two seasons at Stanford and Cal, respectively. While it took a while, specifically until March Madness, Andrej seemingly found a home this past season and became the best version of himself. While this year's NBA Draft is loaded, next year's is not as promising, thus Andrej could really improve his draft stock with a huge senior season.
What a difference a few months make. By the end of the regular season, it would have not been surprising to see Andrej leave. After the Final Four, it was imperative that Andrej return as Stojakovic really became an Illini favorite with his unbelievable play in March.
During the NCAA Tournament, Stojakovic elevated his game, providing instant offense off the bench, getting to the rim at will and hitting beautiful bankers and fadeaways while giving Illinois some breathing room against VCU and Houston in the second round and Sweet Sixteen, respectively. Defensively, Stojakovic became a lockdown defender, with his effort against Iowa's Bennett Stirtz in the second half of the Elite Eight victory especially crucial in securing the Illini's first Final Four since 2005.
Following an up-and-down season of injuries, Stojakovic's play during March really backed up the hype of his highly anticipated transfer from Cal. While Stojakovic had some big games early in the season, he struggled to find consistency in the Illinois starting lineup. On February 6th at Michigan State, he suffered an ankle injury that forced him to the bench.
While Stojakovic could have griped and complained about coming off the bench, he handled his new role with great maturity. In fact, Stojakovic seemed to find himself during the NCAA Tournament, coming into games with a Zen-like calm and getting to work immediately. Stojakovic especially settled down a nervous Illini team that got behind early against Iowa during the Elite Eight.
Now that Andrej is back, he must be starting next season. With Wagler gone, Illinois does not have another player besides Stojakovic who can get a bucket on his own when needed. There weren't too many teams, even handsy UCONN, that could stop Andrej from getting to the hole when he wanted. While Andrej is not the shooter his famous dad Peja was, Stojakovic's three-pointer was looking better during March. I am confident that Andrej will be better from deep in year two, though his bread is buttered when he is attacking downhill. As dangerous as he is offensively, Stojakovic can be the tone setter on defense with Kylan Boswell gone.
For the first time in his college career, Stojakovic will be with a program for a second season. That reality is tantalizing to think about, when considering what Terrence Shannon Jr. did during his second season with the Illini. Andrej has the potential to be a first-team Big Ten selection and more if all goes well.
Now with Andrej back, the Illini wait on Wisconsin guard John Blackwell, who seems to be a luxury at this point. If Illinois adds Blackwell, and he fits in with this team's chemistry, the Illini will look more dangerous on paper than last season, which is amazing considering Wagler is leaving as a lottery pick.
Whether or not the Illini get Blackwell, this team is in very, very good shape for next season as Stojakovic's return and expected greater role in the offense makes another deep run in March very possible.
Year Two of Andrej, Mirk, Tomi, Big Z and Jake being together cannot come fast enough!
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