#TheRetention has officially kicked off.
Wednesday morning, the freshman forward went live on Twitch to deliver the news the Illini faithful had been nervously waiting for: that he’s gonna be back for at least one more year in Orange and Blue.
For Illinois fans, Mirkovic’s return immediately provides a sense of optimism surrounding next season. It also raises the question of whether Mirk’s return will rub off on the rest of the potential returners, and incentivize coming back for guys like the Ivisic
twins, Andrej Stojakovic and Jake Davis.
It took just one game — the season-opening exhibition matchup against ISU — for the Montenegrin to begin drawing eyes from Illini fans, where he posted a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double.
And throughout the season, his stats spoke for themselves.
Weirdly enough, Mirkovic posted the same exact stat line in the official season opener versus Jackson State. Then posted another double-double in the next game against FGCU. And against Colgate? The freshman finished with 27 points and 21 rebounds.
That’s when Illinois knew they found a gem.
Game after game, Mirkovic improved. Not only did he learn from some of his early-season freshman mistakes, but he bought into the culture rapidly fast and learned what it meant to be an Illini.
And he wasn’t one to back down, no matter the stakes.
That became apparent during a post-game interview after the win over Purdue at Mackey Arena, where Mirkovic stated that if he didn’t play and Illinois had lost, he probably would’ve done some hurtful things to himself.
But that was just the beginning. David continuously reminded Illini fans how much this team meant to him, and how badly he wanted to win.
Mirkovic played a major factor in Illinois’ Final Four run, kicking off the tournament on a high note by exploding for 29 points and 17 rebounds in the first-round win over Penn. Over the course of the next four tournament games, he racked up 36 points and 32 rebounds.
David’s sophomore season is primed to be an even bigger one.
