The buzz continues to grow around Illinois basketball. Initially, the offseason felt like it was slipping away from coach Brad Underwood and his coaching staff as they lost players and were slow to add incomings. Outlets left them out of preseason rankings as it was looking like they would struggle.
However, the tune has changed in recent weeks. The Fighting Illini have picked up the pace and have stacked their roster with talent, and Underwood dipped his toes into the international market. Illinois is finally catching the attention of college basketball experts across the country. Illinois saw its ranking climb on preseason lists on nearly every platform, including ESPN.
CBB Analyst Thinks Illinois Has the Most Complete Roster in the Big Ten
While ESPN’s Jeff Borzello listed the Illini at No. 17 in the country and No. 5 in the Big Ten, Mike Latulip believes Underwood’s roster is the most complete.
“I think if there’s one thing Brad Underwood can do and has proven he can do, it’s that (rebuild a program with a new identity), and how many coaches, how many programs have we seen kind left in the dust for their inability to do that,” Latulip said.
“There has been some roster overhaul from year to year, last year in particular,…you had to kind of mold the system over again, two years ago when Marcus Domask came in, it was hey! Let’s shift our offense to go into back downs and play out of it and just play in transition…he’s been able to change, to mold their scheme around the personnel as opposed to here is what I want to do, go find the players to do it. ”
Latulip emphasized the fact that Underwood retained productive players from the previous season.
“I think they nailed this off-season,” he said, referencing Underwood’s roster composition ahead of the new season.
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Illinois is expected to put out a starting lineup of Mihailo Petrovic and Kylan Boswell in the backcourt, with Andrej Stojakovic on the wing and the Ivisic twins (Zvonimir and Tomislav) rounding out the lineup in the frontcourt. Illinois currently has 14 players on its 2025–26 roster, including incoming freshman David Mirkovic, Brandon Lee, and Keaton Wagler.
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