2025–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
| 2025–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 19 |
| AP | No. 20 |
| Record | 9–3 (1–1 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
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| Associate head coach | Orlando Antigua (2nd, 6th overall season) |
| Assistant coaches |
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| Home arena | State Farm Center |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 13 Nebraska | 2 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 12 | – | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Michigan | 2 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 11 | – | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 Michigan State | 2 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 11 | – | 1 | .917 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Purdue | 2 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 11 | – | 1 | .917 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCLA | 2 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 10 | – | 3 | .769 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 24 USC | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 12 | – | 1 | .923 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 25 Iowa | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 10 | – | 2 | .833 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 10 | – | 3 | .769 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 20 Illinois | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 9 | – | 3 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 9 | – | 3 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 8 | – | 4 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 8 | – | 4 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 1 | – | 1 | .500 | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Penn State | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 8 | – | 4 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rutgers | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Big Ten tournament winner As of December 23, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2025–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represents the University of Illinois during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Illini, led by ninth-year head coach Brad Underwood, play their home games at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference.
Previous season
The Fighting Illini finished the 2024–25 season 12-8 in Big Ten play to finish in seventh place. They defeated Iowa before losing to Maryland in the Big Ten tournament. They then got assigned the #6 seed in the Midwest region in the NCAA tournament. They beat Xavier before losing to Kentucky in the second round.
Offseason
In May 2025, it was reported that the team would be hiring Camryn Crocker to replace Tim Anderson, who had left prior to the prior season and whose spot was temporarily filled by Kwa Jones.[1] On June 16, Coach Underwood informed the media that Ty Rodgers had sustained a serious knee injury during a pick-up game in his hometown that would require surgery.[2] Rodgers underwent a successful surgery the following month.[3]
On July 9, the team announced the hiring of Kevin Kruger as Assistant to the Head Coach.[4]
In September, it was reported that Andrej Stojakovic had been sidelined with a sprained knee.[5] The following month, Tomislav Ivisic underwent a tonsillectomy and Mihailo Petrovic sustained ankle and hamstring injuries, leading to both players missing the Illini's exhibition against Illinois State.[6][7]
Departures
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carey Booth | 0 | F | 6'10" | 215 | Sophomore | Englewood, CO | Transferred to Colorado State |
| Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn | 2 | G | 6'1" | 185 | Sophomore | Lafayette, IN | Transferred to UNLV |
| Will Riley | 7 | F | 6'8" | 195 | Freshman | Kitchener, Ontario | Declared for 2025 NBA draft; selected 21st overall by Utah Jazz, traded to Washington Wizards |
| Morez Johnson Jr. | 21 | F | 6'9" | 255 | Freshman | Riverdale, IL | Transferred to Michigan |
| Tre White | 22 | G | 6'7" | 210 | Junior | Dallas, TX | Transferred to Kansas |
| Keaton Kutcher | 24 | G | 6'2" | 195 | RS Junior | Mount Vernon, IA | Walk-on; graduated |
| Kasparas Jakučionis | 32 | G | 6'6" | 205 | Freshman | Vilnius, Lithuania | Declared for 2025 NBA draft; selected 20th overall by Miami Heat |
Incoming transfers
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrej Stojaković | 2 | G | 6'7" | 215 | Junior | Thessaloniki, Greece | California |
| Zvonimir Ivišić | 44 | C | 7'2" | 250 | Junior | Vodice, Croatia | Arkansas |
Source:[8]
2025 recruiting class
| Name | Hometown | School | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keaton Wagler G |
Shawnee, Kansas | Shawnee Mission Northwest | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 18, 2024 | |
| Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: On3: ESPN: | ||||||
| Brandon Lee G |
San Juan, Puerto Rico | The Patrick School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 25, 2024 | |
| Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: On3: ESPN: | ||||||
| David Mirković F |
Niksic, Montenegro | SC Derby | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 255 lb (116 kg) | Apr 7, 2025 | |
| Recruit ratings: 247Sports: | ||||||
| Mihailo Petrović G |
Prokuplje, Serbia | KK Mega Basket | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Apr 22, 2025 | |
| Recruit ratings: 247Sports: | ||||||
| Blake Fagbemi G |
Naperville, Illinois | Benet Academy | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | May 7, 2025 | |
| Recruit ratings: No ratings found | ||||||
| Overall recruit ranking: Rivals: 58 247Sports: 44 On3: 69 | ||||||
Sources: | ||||||
Roster
| 2025–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Mihailo Petrovic, despite being a freshman, was awarded three years of eligibility. Thus he is listed as a sophomore for eligibility purposes.[9]
Roster movement
- T. Ivisic, Rodgers, Petrovic, and Lee all missed the second, third, and fourth games of the season with injuries.[12][13][14]
- Lee and Rodgers missed the fifth game with injuries.[15]
- Rodgers missed the sixth through tenth games as he continued his injury recovery.[16]
- Jakstys missed the ninth and tenth games due to a concussion.[17]
- Toni Bilic will be joining the team for the spring semester.[18]
Schedule and results
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exhibition | |||||||||||
| October 19, 2025* 2:00 p.m., B1G+ |
No. 17 | Illinois State | W 92–65 | 19 – Mirkovic | 14 – Mirkovic | 6 – Tied | State Farm Center (15,180) Champaign, IL | ||||
| Regular season | |||||||||||
| November 3, 2025* 7:30 p.m., BTN |
No. 17 | Jackson State | W 113–55 | 1–0 |
21 – Tied | 14 – Mirkovic | 5 – Boswell | State Farm Center (14,511) Champaign, IL | |||
| November 7, 2025* 7:30 p.m., Peacock |
No. 17 | Florida Gulf Coast | W 113–70 | 2–0 |
31 – Boswell | 11 – Mirkovic | 3 – Tied | State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL | |||
| November 11, 2025* 7:30 p.m., FS1 |
No. 14 | No. 11 Texas Tech | W 81–77 | 3–0 |
23 – Stojakovic | 7 – Tied | 3 – Boswell | State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL | |||
| November 14, 2025* 7:30 p.m., B1G+ |
No. 14 | Colgate | W 84–65 | 4–0 |
27 – Mirkovic | 21 – Mirkovic | 4 – Boswell | State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL | |||
| November 19, 2025* 8:00 p.m., FS1 |
No. 8 | vs. No. 11 Alabama | L 86–90 | 4–1 |
26 – Stojakovic | 10 – Mirkovic | 7 – Boswell | United Center (17,775) Chicago, IL | |||
| November 22, 2025* 1:00 p.m., B1G+ |
No. 8 | LIU Illinois Showcase |
W 98–58 | 5–1 |
20 – Stojakovic | 8 – Mirkovic | 3 – Tied | State Farm Center (12,625) Champaign, IL | |||
| November 24, 2025* 7:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 13 | UT Rio Grande Valley Illinois Showcase |
W 87–73 | 6–1 |
24 – Stojakovic | 8 – Wagler | 5 – Mirkovic | State Farm Center (11,853) Champaign, IL | |||
| November 28, 2025* 11:30 a.m., FOX |
No. 13 | vs. No. 5 UConn SentinelOne Showdown |
L 61–74 | 6–2 |
25 – Boswell | 10 – T. Ivišić | 3 – Boswell | Madison Square Garden (16,154) New York City, NY | |||
| December 6, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN |
No. 14 | vs. No. 13 Tennessee Music City Madness |
W 75–62 | 7–2 |
16 – Tied | 8 – Wagler | 5 – Wagler | Bridgestone Arena (16,157) Nashville, TN | |||
| December 9, 2025 6:30 p.m., Peacock/NBCSN |
No. 13 | at Ohio State | W 88–80 | 8–2 (1–0) |
23 – Wagler | 9 – Mirkovic | 5 – Wagler | Value City Arena (9,974) Columbus, OH | |||
| December 13, 2025 3:00 p.m., Peacock/NBCSN |
No. 13 | No. 23 Nebraska | L 80–83 | 8–3 (1–1) |
20 – Boswell | 10 – Stojakovic | 10 – Wagler | State Farm Center (15,266) Champaign, IL | |||
| December 22, 2025* 7:00 p.m., FS1 |
No. 20 | vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights |
W 91–48 | 9–3 |
22 – Wagler | 11 – Z. Ivišić | 5 – Mirkovic | Enterprise Center (18,505) St. Louis, MO | |||
| December 29, 2025* 2:00 p.m., BTN |
Southern | State Farm Center Champaign, IL | |||||||||
| January 3, 2026 6:00 p.m., BTN |
vs. Penn State | Palestra Philadelphia, PA | |||||||||
| January 8, 2026 7:30 p.m., BTN |
Rutgers | State Farm Center Champaign, IL | |||||||||
| January 11, 2026 11:00 a.m./3:30 p.m., FOX |
at Iowa Rivalry |
Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA | |||||||||
| January 14, 2026 7:30 p.m., BTN |
at Northwestern Rivalry |
Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL | |||||||||
| January 17, 2026 11:00 a.m., BTN |
Minnesota | State Farm Center Champaign, IL | |||||||||
| January 21, 2026 6:00 p.m., BTN |
Maryland | State Farm Center Champaign, IL | |||||||||
| January 24, 2026 2:00 p.m., FOX |
at Purdue | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN | |||||||||
| January 29, 2026 8:00 p.m., FS1 |
Washington | State Farm Center Champaign, IL | |||||||||
| February 1, 2026 3:00 p.m., FS1 |
at Nebraska | Pinnacle Bank Arena Lincoln, NE | |||||||||
| February 4, 2026 8:00 p.m., BTN |
Northwestern Rivalry |
State Farm Center Champaign, IL | |||||||||
| February 7, 2026 7:00 p.m., FOX |
at Michigan State | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI | |||||||||
| February 10, 2026 7:00 p.m., Peacock |
Wisconsin | State Farm Center Champaign, IL | |||||||||
| February 15, 2026 12:00 p.m., CBS |
Indiana Rivalry |
State Farm Center Champaign, IL | |||||||||
| February 18, 2026 9:00 p.m., BTN |
at USC | Galen Center Los Angeles, CA | |||||||||
| February 21, 2026 7:00 p.m., FOX |
at UCLA | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA | |||||||||
| February 27, 2026 7:00 p.m., FOX |
Michigan | State Farm Center Champaign, IL | |||||||||
| March 3, 2026 8:00 p.m., Peacock |
Oregon | State Farm Center Champaign, IL | |||||||||
| March 8, 2026 2:00 p.m., FOX |
at Maryland | Xfinity Center College Park, MD | |||||||||
| Big Ten Tournament | |||||||||||
| March 10-15 2026 |
vs. | United Center Chicago, IL | |||||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time. | |||||||||||
Source:[19]
Rankings
| Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 17 | 14 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 18 | 20 | |||||||||||||
| Coaches | 14 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 19 | |||||||||||||
References
- ^ "Illini expected to hire Colgate assistant Camryn Crocker".
- ^ "Illini junior Ty Rodgers 'out indefinitely' with knee injury: 'There's no doubt it's tough for him'".
- ^ "Ty Rodgers Injury update from Illini basketball coach Brad Underwood". September 23, 2025.
- ^ "Underwood Adds Kruger to Fighting Illini Staff". July 9, 2025.
- ^ "News from Illini tip-off event: Stojakovic sidelined with knee sprain". September 3, 2025.
- ^ "Notebook: Ivisic tonsillectomy another hurdle to UI chemistry-building; Boswell's Greece trip with Stojakovic".
- ^ "Illinois basketball missing key starters for exhibition game against Illinois State". October 18, 2025.
- ^ "2025 Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball Transfers". ON3.com.
- ^ "Illini basketball gets good news regarding Serbian guard Mihailo Petrovic". October 27, 2025.
- ^ Cohn, Stephen (November 2, 2025). "Report: Two Illini ruled out for season opener". thechampaignroom.com. Retrieved November 29, 2025.
- ^ @srrichey (November 3, 2025). "Four out for the #Illini today against Jackson State" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Hall, Erik (November 7, 2025). "Illinois basketball announces Andrej Stojakovic, Tomislav Ivisic availability vs. FGCU". thetelegraph.com. The Telegraph (Alton, Illinois). Retrieved November 21, 2025.
- ^ Werner, Jeremy (November 10, 2025). "Notebook: Tomislav Ivisic out, Mihailo Petrovic to dress vs. Texas Tech; Underwood a fan of home-and-homes". 247Sports. Retrieved November 29, 2025.
- ^ Langendorf, Jason (November 14, 2025). "Injury Updates for Mihailo Petrovic, Brandon Lee Ahead of Illinois-Colgate". si.com. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
- ^ Hall, Erik (November 19, 2025). "Illinois announces Tomislav Ivisic, Mihailo Petrovic status vs. Alabama basketball". thetelegraph.com. The Telegraph (Alton, Illinois). Retrieved November 21, 2025.
- ^ Richey, Scott (December 4, 2025). "Good Morning, Illini Nation: A Ty Rodgers update". The News-Gazette. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
- ^ Hall, Erik (December 6, 2025). "Illinois center Jason Jakstys out vs. Tennessee Vols basketball with concussion". thetelegraph.com. The Telegraph (Alton, Illinois). Retrieved December 8, 2025.
- ^ "Report: Illini adding Croatian forward Toni Bilić to roster mid-season".
- ^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule".