See also: The BasketBalkans. Does your last name end in -ic? If so, welcome to the Illinois Fighting Illinic!

Andrej Stojaković committed to Illinois Basketball yesterday. Seems like the team is pretty much set and its not even May yet. Although, I’m sure they have something in their back pocket for a backup guard or a Will Reilly return (which I highly doubt).

Apparently, the team on paper is considered the number three best offensive squad in the country. That will change by the time school starts and all the portal guys have found new homes. The shot-making on this roster looks better than last season, although that’s not saying much.

I have to credit Brad Underwood for putting together a team of really talented basketball players and navigating the NIL waters better than some of his contemporaries. I wanted the team to get more athletic and they have, but they will still play drop coverage defense and I worry about how even more athletic guards will carve it up. At the end of the day, Illinois should be electric on the offensive end with multiple returners and awesome additions from Europe. Defensively, I’ll just have to live with the team being just average. It’ll be interesting to see how this team adapts to the more physical Big Ten on both ends of the floor.

As it stands now, this team should be right there with Purdue and Michigan for the Big Ten championship and a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.

I’m looking forward to seeing this team play starting in October (I think). I haven’t seen a schedule yet, so I don’t know if Illinois is again setting up a non-conference schedule to challenge the team early. My guess is they will and I hope they rise to it.