6. Illinois Fighting Illini
Likely departures
- Keaton Wagler (17.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.2 apg)
- Kylan Boswell (12.3 ppg and 3.0 apg)
- Ben Humrichous (5.8 ppg and 3.9 rpg)
Likely returnees
- Andrej Stojakovic (13.5 ppg and 4.5 rpg)
- David Mirkovic (13.3 ppg and 8.0 rpg)
- Tomislav Ivisic (10.4 ppg and 5.6 rpg)
- Zvonmir Ivisic (6.4 ppg and 4.5 rpg)
- Jake Davis (5.4 ppg and 2.2 rpg)
Wagler going from a three-star prospect with little hype to a likely top-10 NBA Draft is one of the best stories we’ve seen from players out of high school. But replacing him will be very difficult, along with senior Boswell out of the backcourt. The team did land a couple of four-star guard prospects in Lucas Morillo, as well as Quentin Coleman, a top-40 overall player and recent de-commit out of Wake Forest.
Regardless of who Illinois gets in the backcourt, the strength will come in the frontcourt. Mirkovic showed flashes of being an All-American big man and should be the focal point of the offense next season. The Ivisic brothers give them size inside, while Stojakovic is one of the best wing scorers in all of college basketball.Â
So while the backcourt remains a question, the Illini's frontcourt will be one of the best in the country.