2025–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

2025–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
2025–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Head coach	Brad Underwood (9th season);
Associate head coach	Orlando Antigua (6th overall, 2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Camryn Crocker (1st season); Geoff Alexander (5th season); Zach Hamer (3rd season); Tyler Underwood (3rd season);
Home arena	State Farm Center
	Seasons ← 2024–25 2026–27 →

2025–26 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Illinois	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Indiana	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Iowa	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Maryland	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Michigan	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Michigan State	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Minnesota	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Nebraska	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Northwestern	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Ohio State	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Oregon	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Penn State	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Purdue	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Rutgers	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
UCLA	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
USC	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Washington	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Wisconsin	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–

† 2026 Big Ten tournament winner As of March 28, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team will represent the University of Illinois during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Illini will be led by ninth-year head coach Brad Underwood. The Illini 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]

On July 9, 2025, the team announced the hiring of Kevin Kruger as Assistant to the Head Coach.^[3]

Departures

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Tre White	G/F	6'7"	205	Junior	Dallas, Texas	Transferred to Kansas
Carey Booth	F	6'10"	203	Sophomore	Englewood, Colorado	Transferred to Colorado State
Keaton Kutcher	G	6'2"	195	Redshirt Junior	Mount Vernon, Iowa	Graduated; rejoined team as assistant strength coach^[4]
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn	G	6'1"	185	Sophomore	Lafayette, Indiana	Transferred to UNLV
Morez Johnson Jr.	F	6'9"	255	Freshman	Riverdale, Illinois	Transferred to Michigan
Kasparas Jakučionis	G	6'6"	205	Freshman	Vilnius, Lithuania	Drafted with 20th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat
Will Riley	F	6'8"	195	Freshman	Kitchener, Ontario	Drafted with 21st pick of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz and traded to the Washington Wizards in a draft-night trade

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Zvonimir Ivišić	TBD	C	7'2"	245	Junior	Vodice, Croatia	Arkansas
Andrej Stojaković	TBD	G	6'7"	205	Junior	Carmichael, CA	California

Source:^[5]

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Keaton Wagler G	Shawnee, KS	Shawnee Mission Northwest	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sep 18, 2024
Keaton Wagler G	Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: On3:
Brandon Lee G	Hillsdale, NJ	The Patrick School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sep 25, 2024
Brandon Lee G	Recruit ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: On3: ESPN:
David Mirkovic F	Niksic, Montenegro	SC Derby	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Apr 7, 2025
David Mirkovic F	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Mihailo Petrovic G	Prokuplje, Serbia	Mega Superbet	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Apr 22, 2025
Mihailo Petrovic G	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Blake Fagbemi G	Naperville, IL	Benet Academy	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	May 7, 2025
Blake Fagbemi G	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Overall recruit ranking: Rivals: 58 247Sports: 45 On3: 67
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2025 Illinois Commits". Rivals. "ESPN- Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN. "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals. "2025–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team". 247Sports. "2025–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team". On3.

Roster

2024–25 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	David Mirkovic	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Fr	SC Derby	Niksic, Montenegro
F	3	Ben Humrichous	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	GS	Evansville	Tipton, Indiana
G	4	Kylan Boswell	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Arizona	Champaign, Illinois
G	5	AJ Redd (W)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	St. Ignatius	Chicago, Illinois
C	13	Tomislav Ivišić	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Jr	SC Derby	Vodice, Croatia
F	15	Jake Davis	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Mercer	McCordsville, Indiana
G/F	20	Ty Rodgers	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Jr	Thornton Township	Saginaw, Michigan
F	31	Jason Jakstys	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Fr	Yorkville High School	Yorkville, Illinois
C		Zvonimir Ivišić	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Jr	Arkansas	Vodice, Croatia
G		Brandon Lee	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	The Patrick School	Hillsdale, NJ
G		Keaton Wagler	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Shawnee Mission Northwest	Shawnee, KS
G		Mihalio Petrovic	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Mega Superbet	Belgrade, Serbia
G		Andrej Stojaković	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	California	Carmichael, CA
G		Blake Fagbemi	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	Benet Academy	Naperville, IL

Head coach

Brad Underwood (Kansas State)

Assistant coach(es)

Orlando Antigua (Pittsburgh)
Geoff Alexander (Western Illinois)
Zach Hamer (Vanderbilt University)
Tyler Underwood (Illinois)
Camryn Crocker (Penn)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Note: Mihalio Petrovic lost two years of eligibility due to playing professionally in Europe, thus he is a junior for NCAA purposes.

Roster movement

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 11, 2025*	Texas Tech	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
November 19, 2025*	vs. Alabama	United Center Chicago, IL
November 22, 2025*	LIU	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
November 28, 2025*	vs. UConn	Madison Square Garden New York City, NY
December 6, 2025*	vs. Tennessee Music City Madness	Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN
December 22, 2025*	vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights	Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO
TBD	Indiana Rivalry	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
TBD	at Iowa Rivalry	Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA
TBD	Maryland	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
TBD	at Maryland	Xfinity Center College Park, MD
TBD	Michigan	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
TBD	at Michigan State	Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
TBD	Minnesota	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
TBD	Nebraska	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
TBD	at Nebraska	Pinnacle Bank Arena Lincoln, NE
TBD	at Northwestern Rivalry	Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL
TBD	Northwestern Rivalry	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
TBD	at Ohio State	Value City Arena Columbus, OH
TBD	Oregon	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
TBD	at Penn State	Bryce Jordan Center University Park, PA
TBD	at Purdue	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
TBD	Rutgers	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
TBD	at UCLA	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
TBD	at USC	Galen Center Los Angeles, CA
TBD	Washington	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
TBD	Wisconsin	State Farm Center Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source:^[6]

Rankings

Ranking movements
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP
Coaches

References

[1] "Illini expected to hire Colgate assistant Camryn Crocker".

[2] "Illini junior Ty Rodgers 'out indefinitely' with knee injury: 'There's no doubt it's tough for him'".

[3] "Underwood Adds Kruger to Fighting Illini Staff".

[4] "Exclusive: Illini Asst. Coach Keaton Kutcher Discusses His Cousin Ashton Kutcher, More". June 20, 2025.

[5] "2025 Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball Transfers". ON3.com.

[6] "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)
Rivalries	Indiana Iowa Missouri Northwestern
Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics