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Today I am going to take a break from writing about my favorite 30 Illinois men's basketball players of my 30-year fandom, which has been a lot of fun strolling down memory lane, and share a couple of quick thoughts about an interview with Brad Underwood that the Illini Inquirer podcast dropped yesterday.
For a quick review, here are #s 30-11 of my list of favorite Illini basketball players from the 1996-97 season to today, with the top 10 being revealed starting this weekend:
For a quick review, here are #s 30-11 of my list of favorite Illini basketball players from the 1996-97 season to today, with the top 10 being revealed starting this weekend:
- #30 Morez Johnson Jr.
- #29 Marcus Arnold.
- #28 Matthew Mayer.
- #27 Kevin Turner.
- #26 Mike Davis.
- #25 Trent Frazier.
- #24 D.J. Richardson.
- #23 Tyler Griffey.
- #22 Will Riley.
- #21 Dain Dainja.
- #20 Jack Ingram.
- #19 Marcus Domask.
- #18 Tomislav Ivisic.
- #17 Robert Archibald.
- #16 Brandon Paul.
- #15 Frankie Williams.
- #14 Marcus Griffin.
- #13 Sergio McClain.
- #12 Alfonso Plummer.
- #11 Lucas Johnson.
As for the Illini Inquirer interview, Underwood gave the podcast a good 40 minutes of his time, sharing thoughts about last year's Final Four Run and this offseason so far. I highly suggest you watch/listen to it, which I did while sitting in a downtown Chicago rush-hour traffic yesterday. Below are my five things that Underwood said that stood out to me in relation to next season.
1. Underwood kept mentioning the likely adoption of the "Five for Five" rule, which makes me think he has plans to try and retain several of the Illini's current seniors after next season: Tomislav Ivisic, Zvonimir Ivisic, Jake Davis and Andrej Stojakovic. Could you imagine two of those four players returning after next season?
2. Underwood described Providence transfer Stefaan Vaaks as the best offensive player in the transfer portal.
3. Underwood called incoming five-star freshman Quentin Coleman "an ultimate winner," referencing the guard's +/- in recent games with Team USA.
4. Underwood compared incoming freshman Lucas Morillo to Marcus Domask in terms of having an inside/outside game, which got me excited to think about.
5. Underwood talked about the need for Stojakovic to improve his decision making with the ball in his hands. As amazing as Stojakovic was during the month of March, he was a black hole at times last season, getting the ball, putting his head down and failing to look for open teammates, though this worked out quite well for the Illini during the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
In addition to these five things that immediately stood out, Underwood shared some insight about when he knew freshman Keaton Wagler was going to be really good, a funny story about David Mirkovic leaving him speechless against Northwestern, his thoughts about Jason Jakstys being the fourth big on this team, and the nerves he experienced prior to the Elite Eight game against Iowa.
2. Underwood described Providence transfer Stefaan Vaaks as the best offensive player in the transfer portal.
3. Underwood called incoming five-star freshman Quentin Coleman "an ultimate winner," referencing the guard's +/- in recent games with Team USA.
4. Underwood compared incoming freshman Lucas Morillo to Marcus Domask in terms of having an inside/outside game, which got me excited to think about.
5. Underwood talked about the need for Stojakovic to improve his decision making with the ball in his hands. As amazing as Stojakovic was during the month of March, he was a black hole at times last season, getting the ball, putting his head down and failing to look for open teammates, though this worked out quite well for the Illini during the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
In addition to these five things that immediately stood out, Underwood shared some insight about when he knew freshman Keaton Wagler was going to be really good, a funny story about David Mirkovic leaving him speechless against Northwestern, his thoughts about Jason Jakstys being the fourth big on this team, and the nerves he experienced prior to the Elite Eight game against Iowa.
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