Run it Back

Brad Underwood’s pitch to his Illinois roster after the Final Four run was three words. Run it back.

This week, most of them said yes.

Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic, plus Jake Davis, are coming back. Of course, David Mirkovic made it official, too. Lastly, Andrej Stojakovic is returning to the Illini for his senior season. That’s five returning players who all started at one point during the course of last year on a team that got to the Final Four. Aside from out-of-eligibility student-athletes like Ben Humrichous and Kylan Boswell, the only real departure is Keaton Wagler, who’s a projected top-ten pick, and even he said that decision was “a very tough” one. You don’t hold on to a top-ten pick. Nobody does.

But look at what Illinois is holding.

Those five players alone accounted for 56.2% of the Illini’s minutes last season, 56.6% of the Illini’s points last season and 58.7% of the Illini’s rebounding last season. This is a team that knows where the seats are in its own locker room.

Isaac Trotter said on Twitter, “Illinois becomes just the third team in the portal era to make a Final Four and bring back at least five rotation players.”

They added one transfer as of this writing: Providence transfer guard Stefan Vaaks, an elite shooter and playmaker. He’s the Wagler replacement. The incoming freshmen are all ready to contribute, with one being a top 35 player in the country (Quentin Coleman) and another (Zavier Zens) being Wisconsin’s 2026 Mr. Basketball. Speaking of Wisky, I’d like Wisconsin guard John Blackwell to join from the transfer portal to make this squad the preseason favorite to win it all.

I’m not booking any tickets for the Final Four in Detroit quite yet, but this upcoming year could be amazing.