Illinois basketball: The 2026 offseason wish list

Illinois basketball had an incredible 2025-2026 year. They went 28-9 and made their first Final Four since 2005. The team made countless memories throughout the entire season and truly cemented Illinois as one of the top brands in all of college basketball. However, they once again ran into a well-oiled UCONN team that thoroughly outclassed them. On top of that, the Illini would have been very unlikely to beat the Michigan Wolverines in the National Championship game as they simply look unbeatable.

Illinois had a great season. However, it’s time to go back to the drawing board to not only sustain success, but to build off it.

Retain David Mirkovic

David Mirkovic proved himself to be a future star of the Big Ten. While Keaton Wagler gets a lot of (deserved) attention for his impressive freshman campaign, Mirkovic had a stellar campaign as well. The Serbian forward averaged 13.3 points per game, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.6 assists while shooting 48% from the field and 37.5% from three. Though he is not an above-the-rim athlete or a stellar rim protector, Mirkovic can do just about anything on the court. If he can build on his ball-handling skills and passing ability, while also honing his offensive skills, Mirkovic should be one of the best players on this team.

Not to mention, David is an incredible personality and has become somewhat of a fan favorite in Champaign. David will certainly return to college basketball this upcoming season, and it seems likely that he plans on staying in the Orange and Blue.

Get an athletic guard/forward that can apply rim pressure (Retain Andrej Stojakovic)

Though the Illini made the Final Four, UCONN exposed a pretty obvious weakness for this Illinois basketball team. Lack of athleticism. Though the Illini had shooting and skill at all five positions, their lack of athleticism made matters difficult. First off, it prevented them from effectively crashing the glass vs the athletic, high-motor UCONN players. Because the Illini lacked athleticism and could not crash the glass all that well, their slow pace made getting easy baskets difficult. This was made clear as the Illini only had 3 assists all night vs UCONN and had to rely on a lot of isolation.

The second reason that the lack of athleticism led to a loss vs UCONN was on the defensive side. How many times did we see Jake Davis, Ben Humrichous, and David Mirkovic trailing far behind a UCONN player coming off a curl or stagger screen? Illinois needs quickness and athleticism if they want to compete with the likes of UCONN. Though Andrej Stojakovic can certainly provide this, the Illini need one more athletic perimeter piece. Even if they were to retain Andrej Stojakovic, look for Illinois basketball to hunt after a wing in the transfer portal.

Veteran ball-handler

The reason that Keaton Wagler was so successful was that he did not have to handle the rock at all times. Kylan Boswell took a huge load off of Keaton Wagler, which helped Wagler find some buckets off the ball. This worked extremely well for Illinois compared to having Kasparas Jakucionis create every single play for the Illini in 2025. One limitation of Boswell was mostly at the end of the season. Boclogstruggled to shoot the ball and simply lacked the explosiveness to get by his man. This ultimately clogged lanes a lot of the time vs. good teams.

Both Wagler and Boswell are gone from this team next year, hence, Illinois basketball must bring in a Veteran ball-handler. The ball is likely going to be in the hands of star freshmen Quentin Coleman and Lucas Morillo. Illinois has to help its freshmen out and provide a veteran guard that can play both on and off the ball. Otherwise, Illinois will be relying on true freshmen to run the offense, which can be successful, but poses a high risk.

Ultimately, there should be a bit of change on this roster, but a chance for retention. The best teams have continuity and development, and there is a huge opportunity for some of the Illini’s best players.

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