Brad Underwood’s Fighting Illini are in a basketball purgatory of their own creation.
At 23-7, the regular season has simultaneously been an unequivocal success and a head-scratching disappointment.
Now, Illinois heads to College Park to close the regular season against the Terrapins. They sit with a likely triple bye in the expanded Big Ten Tournament.
The Illini have outperformed expectations while leaving some potential success on the table. So, as we head to the end of the 2025-26 season, let’s
take a look at the stories that defined the regular season and could impact the squad’s ceiling or floor.
Keaton Wagler’s star turn
There is no need to dwell on this topic. It’s been well-documented that Wagler went from “long-term, solid piece” and “potential Jacob Grandison” to 2026 lottery pick.
Wagler’s turn as an on-ball playmaker completely changed the Illini dynamic. It changed senior Kylan Boswell’s role and gave Illinois more positional size from its impact scorer. The ascent stopped being surprising and is now a part of the program’s lore
David Mirkovic’s three-point shooting
Mirkovic looked like an excellent addition to the roster before he played a single game. His film shows a 6-foot-9 player with versatility, toughness, and playmaking. The biggest weaknesses in his game were his lateral quickness and three-point shooting.
Well, the shooting certainly impressed this season. Coming into Sunday, Mirkovic is shooting 38% from deep. That makes Illinois more difficult to guard, especially when Mirkovic is on the court with Jake Davis, Wagler, either Ivisic, or Ben Humrichous.
The perceived cornerstones disappointed
Mihailo Petrovic came to Champaign with elite prospect pedigree and expectations of stardom. He was a top European guard with the potential to run wild in Illinois’ wide-open offense. Wagler’s summer progress and foothold on the lead guard role pushed Petrovic down the depth chart. His erratic play kept him there.
Andrej Stojakovic transferred to Illinois with the “superstar downhill wing” tag. He was going to be the top scorer, the main bucket-getter, and the face of the program. When Underwood’s offseason comments focused on Andrej’s rebounding and defense, red flags went up.
Tomislav Ivisic returned to Illinois with all-conference hype and experience in the system. He returned to a roster on which he was projected to be a centerpiece (no pun intended). Injuries, conditioning, and consistency have all caused a disappointing return campaign for Tomislav, despite the goodwill and narrative positivity around the arrival of his twin. He has been invisible in some games and looked dominant in spurts. His poor three-point shooting down the stretch is a condition worth monitoring.
Late game buffoonery provides an ominous floor for the rest of March
The Illini have lost inexcusable games. Michigan State and Wisconsin cannot touch Illinois’ talent level. Jeremy Fears looked like Kemba Walker at Madison Square Garden against the Illini. Meanwhile, Keaton Wagler looked like Justin Harmon against Michigan State’s defense.
Blowing a big lead against Wisconsin at home is an indefensible collapse. The fact that this team is capable of that loss counterbalances the fact that the Purdue roadkill happened.
Losing at Pauley to a UCLA team after boatracing them in the first half is another unjustifiably horrendous loss. Xavier Booker scored twice as many points against Illinois as he did during his entire career in East Lansing.*
*That may be a slight exaggeration.
In the tournament, that kind of play can lead to another Loyola situation.
So what do you think?
Are you more optimistic about the 23-win season or concerned with the bad losses?
Can two freshmen lead the Illini to a deep tournament run?
