Illinois Basketball had significant expectations going into the season with all of the talent heading to Champaign. From all the international talent, to even some home-grown talent. That has been the motto under Brad Underwood. Mix international talent with high-level transfers and high-level freshmen. Has it worked? Yes, most of the time, just look at the last few seasons. Illinois has competed for the Big Ten regular season title, and also reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005.
This season, while it has its ups and downs, hope is by no means completely gone. However, their loss to Nebraska, coupled with some concerns about some of the players, has to have Illinois fans a little worried.
Concerns Rising For Illinois Basketball
It must be hard to be an Illinois basketball fan sometimes. They talk a big talk, but don’t quite live up to that talk. That’s more in regard to the talk of fan bases like Michigan State and Purdue. Both teams have and continue to compete at the highest level. Not to mention, they both have the longest tenured coaches in the Big Ten.
Coach Underwood is a good coach. He has proven it with a regular-season Big Ten crown in 2022 and a Big Ten Tournament title in 2024 to boot. That was a year they finally reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005. That had they looking for more last season, and beyond. Even with the Hype, Illinois has failed to deliver banners beyond the Big Ten. This is only part of the concern with this program.
Experienced Versus Unexperienced
This year looked like the construction of the roster was going to be great on paper for Illinois Basketball. All the European talent, you might as well refer to Champaign as a Euroleague team at this rate. David Mirkovic made an immediate impact on the team from day one, but was pretty disappointing in a game of need this past weekend against Nebraska.
Keaton Wagler seems to be the best of the new players who didn’t come from Europe. In fact, he has put on a show in his two Big Ten games thus far. He had 23 on the road at Ohio State, and pitched in 19 in the three-point loss to the Cornhuskers. For a team that had plenty of experience returning, it’s been more about new faces thus far.
Lack Of True Floor Leaders
The Illini did best when they had a true floor leader. That seems to be what has been missing these last two years. Additionally, this doesn’t include players who carry a team by themselves. A floor leader is a point guard who can get his teammates in the right spot and can come up in the clutch.
Last season, they thought that was Kasparas Jakucionis, who also had Kylan Boswell alongside. Boswell is still there, but who’s the other player dishing the rock? Mihailo Petrovic was brought over from Serbia to be one of the ball handlers, and he’s been less than special. In fact, he’s only played in six games, and he’s only played 62 minutes. His Big Ten debut against Ohio State was well worth it; he played one minute and had a turnover.
21 points, 11 assists, and nine turnovers combined in those six games. Is Petrovic even a real part of this Illini team? He didn’t even play against Nebraska. They lost by three points. He could’ve made the difference.
Is It Time For Illini Fans To Change Their Expectations
Analysts had Illinois near the top of the Big Ten coming into 2025-26. The team is 8-3, 1-1 so far, and they are still on pace for a strong season. However, it’s time for fans of Illinois Basketball to change their expectations. It’s very clear that right now, the Big Ten runs through Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, and Purdue.
This could be jumping the gun, but not knowing what is going on with Petrovic, and the possibility of injuries, has to be concerning at this point.
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