The 2025-26 basketball season gets underway Monday night as No. 17 Illinois will play its first regular-season game at State Farm Center against Jackson State. Although Illinois is still without a couple of key players, the lineup is more complete than in the exhibition against Illinois State. This allows head coach Brad Underwood’s team to continue building team chemistry.
“I like our chemistry,” Underwood said. “I think we’re smart. I think we can pass. That has a tendency to lead to some pretty positive things, so we can keep growing.”
Return of Ivišić, possibly Stojaković
Junior center Tomislav Ivišić and wing Andrej Stojaković watched from the sidelines as Illinois dominated Illinois State in an exhibition game on Oct. 19. Now, Underwood confirmed Ivišić will play against Jackson State, while Stojaković’s availability will be a game-time decision.
After getting his tonsils removed Oct. 8, Ivišić didn’t take part in any physical activity for 16 days. This affected his conditioning when he returned for Illinois’ scrimmage with No. 3 Florida Oct. 25. For the scrimmage, Ivišić was put on a minutes restriction.
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Ivišić’s return to the lineup will benefit the Illini in terms of rebounding and physicality near the basket. Florida out-rebounded Illinois in the scrimmage, so, as Ivišić improves his conditioning, his increased playing time will help Illinois be more competitive on the glass.
Stojaković didn’t play in the Illini’s scrimmage with the Gators. He was still dealing with the knee injury he suffered as official team practices started. Alongside Ivišić, he is still improving his conditioning.
“When you got a bad wheel and you can’t go and physically condition, it takes a little bit to get that back,” Underwood said. “He’s pushing through that. Both he and Tomi are pretty tough.”
With Stojaković, Underwood and his staff are focused on him finding quality shots as well as improving defensively. His ability to get downhill and finish will also be an asset to the Illini offense if he returns on Monday.
Having Stojaković back in the mix along with Ivišić will be important as the Illini looks to improve their full team chemistry and figure out how all of their pieces will work together. The team hasn’t truly had everyone healthy at the same time, so this is a step in the right direction and crucial before facing top non-conference opponents, starting with No. 10 Texas Tech on Nov. 11.
Confident freshmen
Freshman guards Brandon Lee, Keaton Wagler and forward David Mirković are starting to build confidence. Adjusting to the physical, fast-paced style of play in college basketball isn’t easy, but the Illini freshmen are on the right track.
“Very appreciative of how well the young guys have been taking a good job of listening and giving their all every day,” said senior guard Kylan Boswell.
Sophomore guard Mihailo Petrović and redshirt junior guard/forward Ty Rodgers will not play in the season opener. Petrović aggravated his hamstring injury in the Florida scrimmage, and Rodgers is still indefinitely sidelined from a serious offseason knee injury. This gives the freshman guards a chance for more minutes in Monday’s matchup.
The increased minutes allow both Lee and Wagler to have the ball in their hands more and get experience early. Against the Redbirds, Lee had 17 points and Wagler had 9 in their Illini debuts.
Mirković was also one of the standout players for Illinois in the Illinois State exhibition. With 19 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, Mirković contributed everywhere. His ability to push the ball on the fast break in a guard-like position was also impressive.
“Confidence is definitely the main aspect of how you perform in basketball,” Boswell said. “(The freshmen) came here with extreme amounts of it. They do a great job of listening to us, a great job of taking in all the criticism from the coaching staff and from us, and just applying it to themselves.”
Shutting down Jackson State’s perimeter play
Illinois’ guards will be put to the test Monday with Jackson State’s perimeter play. In its exhibition with Southern Miss, Jackson State had three players in double figures. Senior guard Daeshun Ruffin was the team’s leading scorer with 25 points, sophomore guard Dorian McMillian had 23 and redshirt junior guard Jayme Mitchell Jr. finished with 12.
“(Jackson State’s) tempo was not real quick last year,” Underwood said. “They played faster this year. It’s been around getting fouled.”
Starting the season playing against high-scoring guards will be a good defensive challenge. The key for the Illini to limit the scorers will be to move their feet and defend without fouling unnecessarily. That should be a good test for the Illinois freshmen, who made some typical mistakes that freshmen do on the defensive end during the Illinois State scrimmage.
Boswell is ready for the challenge of defending these smaller guards. As one of the elite defenders on this roster and in the conference, this game is a great opportunity for the veteran to see where he’s at defensively.
“For me, guarding smaller guards is something I’m trying to work on continuously,” Boswell said. “A lot of guards that are coming up that I have to guard are going to be that type of player. Elite downhill, playmaker, as well as can shoot the ball.”
Using their size
In almost every position, the Illini will have a size advantage in Monday’s matchup. For the bigger guards and forwards, this is a chance to improve their physicality in the paint before facing comparable competition size-wise.
Against Illinois State, graduate student forward Ben Humrichous showed off his improved physicality. This led to him scoring nine points in various ways. Jackson State’s smaller overall size gives Humrichous another game to back down his defenders and score in the paint.
Jackson State’s smaller lineup also benefits Illinois’ guards when they try to be aggressive and grab rebounds. Rebounding is a point of emphasis for Underwood in making the Illini successful, no matter what position a player plays.
“Florida challenged us in that area (rebounding),” Underwood said. “We’ve still got some things that we don’t know yet, that our opponent is going to throw at us that we don’t know. That’s the value of getting started.”
