Sources: Andrej Stojakovic Will Return to Illinois

Illinois will now have five of its top eight scorers back in the fold next season from last year's Final Four team.

Andrej Stojakovic will return next season at Illinois. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Illinois guard Andrej Stojakovic will return to the Illini next season, sources told Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney on Friday.

The return of Stojakovic continues the offseason momentum for the Illini as the program tries to replicate its Final Four season. Even though Illinois is losing star freshman guard Keaton Wagler to the NBA, it is now returning five of its eight top scorers in the Ivisic twins, Jake Davis, David Mirkovic and now Stojakovic heading into next season.

Stojakovic has improved in each of his first three years of college basketball. While he took a slight step back in minutes from his time at Cal in 2024–’25 to ‘25–’26 at Illinois on a more talented team, the junior shot a career-high 50% from the field to go along with 4.5 rebounds per game. His three-point shooting remains a far cry from that of his former NBA star father Peja, but Stojakovic is another major offensive contributor back in the fold and will play a big role as a senior next season in Champaign.

Brad Underwood’s offseason roster work positions Illinois as one of the Big Ten’s top teams once again

The impact of Keaton Wagler on last season’s Final Four team is unquestioned, and his departure to the NBA will certainly be difficult to replace. 

But head coach Brad Underwood is certainly doing the best he can to throw talent at the open roster spot. Illinois earned a commitment from 6’7” European guard Stefan Vaaks, who averaged 15.8 points, 3.2 assists and 2.5 rebounds on 40.3% shooting from the floor overall and 35% from three in 31 games for Providence last season.

In addition, Illinois’ incoming recruiting class ranks 17th nationally per 247Sports. Four-star shooting guard Quentin Coleman is the latest addition, committing to the Illini earlier this month after initially pledging to Steve Forbes at Wake Forest. Fellow four-star shooting guard Lucas Morillo and three-stars in combo guard Ethan Brown and forward Landon Davis should also bolster depth.

And of course, that’s just the recruiting class for the Illini. Illinois now returns a majority of its rotation, with the Ivisic twins, Davis, Mirkovic and Stojakovic all coming back for another season of college basketball. The veteran core of the Final Four roster remains intact, with the exception of Wagler. However, with incoming talent coupled with the existing key pieces in the rotation, Illinois should be one of the top teams in the Big Ten once again next season.    

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