Another Illinois basketball season begins on Sunday with a preseason scrimmage against Illinois State. One guy who almost certainly won’t feature is Andrej Stojakovic, a former McDonald’s All-American and son of three-time NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic. He is reportedly injured right now, and it’s doubtful that reports will emerge between now and the weekend that he will be medically cleared to play.
Nevertheless, Stojakovic will be that “guy who takes the last shot” this season for the Illini like Kasparas Jakucionis was for the orange and blue last season. The offense will still run through Tomislav Ivisic, as it should, but Stojakovic will assume that alpha role, like KJ had last season.
Andrej averaged 17.9 points per game last season at Cal, leading the team and ranking sixth in the league. Most likely, the 6-7 wing from Carmichael, California will be the Illini leading scorer next season.
He comes to the Illinois basketball program as a junior, after having a huge sophomore season in Berkley. He began his college career at Cal’s arch-rival, Stanford, in 2023-24. Let’s look at who should join him in the starting lineup, as well as who the backups could be.
Make no mistake about it, Kylan Boswell and Tomislav Ivisic are your second and third names written onto the team sheet. Brad Underwood will not drop any of this trio from the first team.
Of course, the Illinois basketball team that we see on Sunday will look nothing like what you see below. The Illini will not play their A-team, even if they were somehow actually available, in this one.
Underwood said as much at Big Ten Media Day when he talked about treating preseason exhibitions in a manner that is far different from the games that actually count.
Potential 2025-26 Illinois Basketball Depth Chart
The 1- Point Guard Mihailo Petrovic / Kylan Boswell / Ty Rodgers
The 2- Shooting Guard/Wing Kylan Boswell / Ty Rodgers / Keaton Wagler / Brandon Lee
The 3- Small Forward/Wing Andrej Stojakovic / Keaton Wagler/ Jake Davis / Ben Humrichous
The 4- Power Forward Ben Humrichous/ David Mirkovic / Zvonimir Ivisic
The 5- Center Tomislav Ivisic / Zvonimir Ivisic
You also have some incoming freshmen, and some end of the bench guys who we just don’t know yet where they might fit. Or even how they fit. That list includes: Jason Jakstys, Blake Fagbemi and AJ Reed. Ty Rodgers is your Swiss Army Knife, as he can guard positions 1-4, so he’ll get major minutes somewhere.
Davis kind of slots in as your eighth or ninth man while Humrichous was a surprise choice as a last minute fill-in for Tomi at Media Day. Due to his NCAA waiver situation, we wondered if he’d even come back this year.
He had a very rough debut season in Champaign, no doubt about it, but Underwood truly believes in him.
Choosing him for Media Day says a lot, as it conveys how much he’s expected to be involved in the team this season. Although he doesn’t quite fit into the overall theme of this squad, which is of course…“Illinois Basketball: The Adriatic Sea’s/Zagreb’s/Sarajevo’s Big Ten Team.”
The Balkan Illini 5
Mihailo Petrovic 🇷🇸
Andrej Stojakovic 🇷🇸/ 🇬🇷
David Mirkovic 🇲🇪
Zvonimir Ivisic 🇭🇷
Tomislav Ivisic 🇭🇷 pic.twitter.com/h9GTxEyzb3— Chuck Naso (@ChuckNaso) April 28, 2025
We still don’t know what’s going on with Mihailo Petrovic’s eligibility, but we do that he’ll be a huge part of what this Illinois basketball will be about. Petrovic is a big deal though, and having him bring the ball up and setting the offense is going to be a massive difference maker.
He should be worth the money.
We also know that Boswell can run the point, no problem at all, but he helps the team much better by playing off the ball.
#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/AKlzzFrvRt
— Brad Underwood (@CoachUnderwood) April 28, 2025
Overall, seeing this Illinois basketball team ranked #17 in the preseason AP poll seems fair and accurate.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter