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As April comes to an end, the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team is in good shape, with next season's roster pretty much set, though it would be nice to add a backup big or guard with some experience.
Contrast this offseason with the past two, when Illinois still had a lot of work to do, and the Illini are in a comfortable spot, much deserved after a Final Four run. Illini fans will be feeling even better if/when Andrej Stojakovic pulls his name out of the NBA Draft and returns for his senior season, with 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on May 27th the deadline to do so.
While sophomore forward David Mirkovic is going to be away for a bit this summer to play FIBA basketball with Montenegro, Illinois is going to have the luxury of having most of its team in Champaign together during June, July and August. This luxury was not afforded the past two seasons as the Illini waited on international recruits to get NCAA clearance.
According to X posts by Luke Lowry, two of Illinois' incoming freshman, Zavier Zens and Landon Davis (both pictured above), will be on campus beginning June 10th, which is exciting to hear. The sooner Illinois gets all five freshman on campus, the better.
While the Illinois coaching staff did a great job of retaining its core players from last year's Final Four team, Brad Underwood and company have to be chomping at the bit to have a mostly full team on campus for summer workouts, conditioning and pickup games. This Illinois team had tremendous chemistry last season, and playing even more throughout the summer should help build that camaraderie and cohesion as the Illini look to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
Speaking of the NCAA Tournament, news came out yesterday that the tournament will be expanding to 76 teams starting in 2027. Apparently, the top 52 teams will be slotted into the field, with the remaining 24 teams having to play in what's being called the Opening Round. In other words, the First Four is dead, though Dayton will still be a host site, as well as another location to be determined. There would be 12 games in the Opening Round, with three games taking place at both sites each day, with games played in the early afternoon, early evening and at night.
Here's how I think it is going to work.
However this works with auto-bid teams from smaller conferences and undeserving at-large bids from power conferences, expansion is clearly going to dilute the field.
While 68 teams was the ideal number, the NCAA is likely doing this for appeasement of power conferences wanting more of its teams in the field, and for monetary reasons, come hell or high water what tourney purists think. Apparently, the NCAA is strapped for cash, especially with all of the lawsuits it has faced in regards to eligibility, and there is no bigger cash grab than the men's tournament.
With that in mind, the NCAA appears closer to adopting the "Five for Five" rule this summer, with a twist, however. While incoming freshman would have five seasons to play five years, the NCAA is suggesting that it will not grandfather in seniors who have just completed their fourth season of college basketball. Last weekend I wrote how the "Five for Five" could grandfather in someone like the Illini's Kylan Boswell, who just finished his fourth season of college basketball and would seemingly be out of eligibility. According to the NCAA, that is not going to happen, though I remain skeptical, as all it will take is the threat of a few lawsuits for the NCAA to change its mind.
Last but not least, with the transfer portal closed and having less player movement on a daily basis, it remains to be seen where former Illini Ty Rodgers, Brandon Lee, Mihailo Petrovic and Toni Bilic end up. I am especially interested with Rodgers and Lee, both guys I would have loved for Illinois to retain, though I understand why they decided to move on to other programs.
Contrast this offseason with the past two, when Illinois still had a lot of work to do, and the Illini are in a comfortable spot, much deserved after a Final Four run. Illini fans will be feeling even better if/when Andrej Stojakovic pulls his name out of the NBA Draft and returns for his senior season, with 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on May 27th the deadline to do so.
While sophomore forward David Mirkovic is going to be away for a bit this summer to play FIBA basketball with Montenegro, Illinois is going to have the luxury of having most of its team in Champaign together during June, July and August. This luxury was not afforded the past two seasons as the Illini waited on international recruits to get NCAA clearance.
According to X posts by Luke Lowry, two of Illinois' incoming freshman, Zavier Zens and Landon Davis (both pictured above), will be on campus beginning June 10th, which is exciting to hear. The sooner Illinois gets all five freshman on campus, the better.
While the Illinois coaching staff did a great job of retaining its core players from last year's Final Four team, Brad Underwood and company have to be chomping at the bit to have a mostly full team on campus for summer workouts, conditioning and pickup games. This Illinois team had tremendous chemistry last season, and playing even more throughout the summer should help build that camaraderie and cohesion as the Illini look to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
Speaking of the NCAA Tournament, news came out yesterday that the tournament will be expanding to 76 teams starting in 2027. Apparently, the top 52 teams will be slotted into the field, with the remaining 24 teams having to play in what's being called the Opening Round. In other words, the First Four is dead, though Dayton will still be a host site, as well as another location to be determined. There would be 12 games in the Opening Round, with three games taking place at both sites each day, with games played in the early afternoon, early evening and at night.
Here's how I think it is going to work.
- Every 16th seed would come out of the Opening Round game (8 teams playing for 4 spots).
- Two 15th seeds would come out of the Opening Round (4 teams playing for 2 spots).
- At least two other undetermined seeds (11s, 12s, or 13s) would come out of the Opening Round (4 teams playing for 2 spots).
- The last eight teams to miss the tournament, using last year as an example, would play in the Opening Round (8 teams battling for 4 spots).
However this works with auto-bid teams from smaller conferences and undeserving at-large bids from power conferences, expansion is clearly going to dilute the field.
While 68 teams was the ideal number, the NCAA is likely doing this for appeasement of power conferences wanting more of its teams in the field, and for monetary reasons, come hell or high water what tourney purists think. Apparently, the NCAA is strapped for cash, especially with all of the lawsuits it has faced in regards to eligibility, and there is no bigger cash grab than the men's tournament.
With that in mind, the NCAA appears closer to adopting the "Five for Five" rule this summer, with a twist, however. While incoming freshman would have five seasons to play five years, the NCAA is suggesting that it will not grandfather in seniors who have just completed their fourth season of college basketball. Last weekend I wrote how the "Five for Five" could grandfather in someone like the Illini's Kylan Boswell, who just finished his fourth season of college basketball and would seemingly be out of eligibility. According to the NCAA, that is not going to happen, though I remain skeptical, as all it will take is the threat of a few lawsuits for the NCAA to change its mind.
Last but not least, with the transfer portal closed and having less player movement on a daily basis, it remains to be seen where former Illini Ty Rodgers, Brandon Lee, Mihailo Petrovic and Toni Bilic end up. I am especially interested with Rodgers and Lee, both guys I would have loved for Illinois to retain, though I understand why they decided to move on to other programs.
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