Illinois men's basketball preview Get to know the 2026-27 Illini
- Story byThe News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
- Illinois men's basketball preview Get to know the 2026-27 Illini
Nov. 6—➜ Mirkovic burst on the scene during the 2025-26 season with a big personality and the game to match as the frontcourt counterpoint to one-and-done guard . The 6-foot-9 Montenegrin earned Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors after averaging 13.3 points on 48/37/76 shooting to go with a team-high 8.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
➜ How Mirkovic affects Illinois this season is still to be determined. The budding star broke his left foot on the final day of the Illini's summer workouts after a dominant two-month stretch in Champaign. That injury, plus an emergency appendectomy on the eve of the season, has created uncertainty on when the preseason All-American will get back on the court. But when he does, productivity and efficiency will likely again be a staple of his game.
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➜ Stojakovic's first season in Champaign was a success. The 6-foot-7 guard might not have had the same level of counting stats as he did a year prior at California — particularly from a points-per-game standpoint — but he turned into a more complete two-way player and was instrumental off the bench during the Illini's NCAA tournament run.
➜ A flirtation with the 2026 NBA draft ended when Stojakovic opted to return to Illinois for his senior season. It's the first time in his college career the former McDonald's All-American will play for the same team in consecutive seasons. That matters. Stojakovic has already shown a higher level of comfort and confidence as his game continues to evolve.
➜ Fagbemi's role at Illinois during his freshman season was clear the moment he flipped from Division II Truman State after helping lead Benet Academy to a Class 4A state championship. The 6-foot guard played sparingly in year one with the Illini, appearing in 11 games and finishing with one steal, two points, four assists and 11 rebounds in 40 total minutes.
➜ The upside of Illinois' new up-tempo offense is the fact will likely need to go deeper on his bench than he has in the past several seasons. The door is open for Fagbemi to snag more minutes here and there — particularly against mid-major nonconference opponents — because he has the trust of the coaching staff to make the right plays.
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➜ Ivisic had a tonsillectomy last October, which was followed by an early November knee injury. Both were setbacks at the beginning of his second season in Champaign. Couple that missed time with finding a rhythm next to , and the 2025-26 season came in fits and starts for the Croatian big man, who still put up 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
➜ Early returns from Illinois' new offense points to more corner three-pointers for the 7-foot-1 center. That's where he was at his most efficient last season despite the majority of his three-point attempts (almost half) coming above the break. Ivisic shooting 44 percent from the corners, though, is the likely reason the Illini are trying to create more of those shots.
➜ Davis' role expanded significantly during the 2025-26 compared to his first season at Illinois. The 6-foot-6 forward went from playing just 9.4 minutes per game as a sophomore to starting 22 of 37 games as a junior. Davis doubled as a go-to shooter that knocked down 40.6 percent of his three-pointers and a steadfast player on the court that made few mistakes.
➜ More of the same as last season would have been the answer if not for the shoulder injury Davis suffered in Monday's opener against Fairleigh Dickinson. The McCordsville, Ind., native is sidelined indefinitely after shoulder surgery, leaving a hole in the Illinois rotation. The Illini can make up Davis' shooting, but replacing his veteran presence will be the challenge.
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➜ Jakstys' Illinois debut last season was both delayed (he redshirted in 2024-25) and impressive. Nine rebounds in 12 minutes in the season opener against Jackson State was attention grabbing mostly in how active the 6-foot-10 center was on the boards. Thoracic outlet surgery in January to treat a blood-clot issue, though, cut his season short.
➜ Nothing has changed about the way Jakstys plays. The former Yorkville standout still goes hard to the glass and fills his role on the court to a T. calls Jakstys "a connector" offensively, and he's always looking to either move the ball or move himself. A slightly less crowded frontcourt at the moment could get him more playing time.
➜ Ivisic's first season at Illinois wasn't all that dissimilar to his one-year stints at Kentucky and Arkansas. There were moments the 7-foot-2 big man looked like a human highlight reel, including his block at one end, dunk at the other sequence in the NCAA tournament against VCU. His shooting woes at the end of the season were the other side of the coin.
➜ How Ivisic can combine his two primary skills will dictate how much he affects Illinois this season. His ability to protect the rim never really wavered through the 2025-26 season. His shooting did, as he went just 9 of 48 (19 percent) from three-point range in his final 20 games. At his best doing both, he's a unique weapon for the Illini.
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➜ Williams closed out his high school career with arguably one of the best single seasons in Kankakee basketball history. The 6-foot-5 guard led the Kays to 29 wins and a Southland Conference title while becoming the program's single-game, single-season and career scoring leader averaging 26.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.0 blocks.
➜ Landing at Illinois wasn't a guarantee for the in-state standout. Williams was on the Illini radar early, fell off after some academic struggles and then was available in June after getting sorted in the classroom. All to Illinois' gain, with coach certainly willing to put the athletic guard on the court given his buy-in defensively.
➜ Coleman flipped his commitment to Illinois on the eve of the Final Four. Wake Forest's loss was clearly the Illini's gain, but it was an opportunity to bring the O'Fallon native on board that didn't exist when he initially committed to the Demon Deacons in the fall of 2025. A monster senior season at Principia (Mo.) ultimately led the five-star guard to Champaign.
➜ Illinois didn't push hard for Coleman last November because it wasn't clear then that would be one-and-done before heading to the NBA. The situation for Coleman is different. The 6-foot-4 guard is already projected as a potential first-round pick in the 2027 NBA draft and has some lottery buzz given his offensive prowess and high-energy approach to the game.
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➜ Zens' senior season at Wisconsin Lutheran played out like most of his high school career with the Vikings. Between his sophomore and senior years, the 6-foot-7 forward helped Wisconsin Lutheran go 88-2 and win three consecutive state championships. Zens was named the 2026 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball after averaging 23.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
➜ The four pillars Illinois has based its recent roster-building efforts on received four checked boxes with Zens, who has the positional size, shooting, basketball IQ and character the Illini staff wants. All are crucial given the way Illinois intends to play this season, and Zens is already showing off what a 6-7 shooter can do against opposing defenses.
➜ Morillo was an old school stat sheet stuffer last season for The Newman School in Massachusetts. He led the Cardinals to their first National Prep Championship last season by averaging 17.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.8 steals while putting up a 56/40/71 shooting slash. All that came on the heels of starring for the Dominican Republic at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup.
➜ and present a roadblock to playing time for Morillo. The 6-foot-7 guard will still get run off the bench this season, but not necessarily at the expense of the two guys with more experience ahead of him. That he possesses a versatile skill set will help — especially if he can continue to gain strength on what's a slim 210-pound frame.
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➜ Davis proved to be one of the most versatile big men in the Class of 2026 during his senior season at Waukee (Iowa) Northwest. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged nearly a double-double with 13.9 points and 9.9 rebounds — both an improvement from his junior year — but also had 3.8 assists and 3.4 blocks per game to double as a playmaker and shot eraser.
➜ The injuries to and could create a bigger opportunity for the younger Davis at least early in the season. It's a big ask, but he has the skill set to fit Illinois' five-out offense. While Landon Davis shot just 28 percent from three-point range during his senior season, he knocked down 40 percent of his threes on the Adidas 3SSB circuit the summer prior.
➜ Brown was a four-year starter at Rolla (Mo.) and closed out his high school career as the Bulldogs' career record-holder in points (2,523), assists (605) and steals (348). He literally did it all during his senior season, averaging 24.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 3.2 steals to earn his third Missouri Basketball Coaches Association All-State honor.
➜ Everything at Ubben Basketball Complex is a competition. The summer trend was Brown's teams never lost, and the 6-foot-4 guard was regularly at the top of individual leaderboards for the various tracked statistics. There's a reason he's in the starting lineup and showing Illinois might have landed another under-the-radar standout out of the Midwest.
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➜ McCoy played in three games last season at Arizona State after getting on the court for six games as a freshman during the 2024-25 season for the Sun Devils. The walk-on guard wound up in Tempe, Ariz., — where former Morgan Park coach was on staff for — thanks to his Mac Irvin Fire days, but left Arizona State after Hurley was fired.
➜ A familial connection helped McCoy land at Illinois. The Chicago native and former Lindblom Academy standout is cousins with former Illini All-American . The Illinois staff knew what it was getting in the 6-foot-1 guard, who has some flash to his game but will mostly work through a developmental role in practice.
➜ Vaaks' arrived at Providence and immediately started launching three-pointers. The 6-foot-7 guard ultimately led the Big East, among qualifying players, in three-point attempts (260), three-point makes (91) and three-point percentage (35 percent). Averaging 15.8 points, 3.2 assists and 2.5 rebounds got him on the Big East All-Freshman Team.
➜ It's much too early to call Vaaks the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year favorite, but if the 21-year-old Estonian keeps coming off the bench, he just might win the honor. The Illini have had two players — o and — take home that award in the last six years, and Vaaks' role will be big enough to be in the running.
