Ex-Cal Star Andrej Stojakovic Makes His Choice: Illinois

Andrej Stojakovic, who blossomed in his one year at Cal before entering the transfer portal, will play basketball at Illinois next season, he announced on Monday.

One of the highest-rated players in the transfer portal, the 6-foot-7 sophomore wing chose the Illini over North Carolina and Stanford. The Sacramento-area native and son of former NBA star Peja Stojakovic played his freshman season at Stanford.

"I think the main reasons were pretty clear to my inner circle as a basketball fit," Stojakovic told ESPN. "Coach (Brad) Underwood has been very aggressive recruiting me from the start and constantly reiterating how much I'm wanted and needed as a basketball player there. They really believe I'm the missing piece to what they think is a national championship team.”

Stojakovic, who averaged 17.9 points and 4.7 rebounds for the Bears, will join his third team in his third conference, following one-year stints in the Pac-12 and ACC. At Illinois, he will test his skills against the Big Ten, regarded as one of the nation’s two best leagues, behind only the SEC.

"Being able to be one of those guards that can handle the ball, it helped me a lot this past year. The confidence coach (Mark) Madsen gave me, being able to be that ball-handler," Stojakovic said. "I'm confident I can go to a top-25 team and do the same.”

There was some talk a week ago that Stojakovic still was considering a return to Cal. But Illinois never let up in its aggressive pursuit of him.

Stojakovic finished his Cal season with a flourish. He scored 21 points in a four-overtime loss to Notre Dame in the regular-season finale, then had 29 points in an ACC tournament win over Virginia Tech before scoring a career-high 37 points in a five-point loss to Stanford.

Stojakovic had 13 games of at least 20 points, including three of 30 points or more.

At Illinois, as ESPN noted, Stojakovic joins fellow Serbians Mihailo Petrovic and David Mirkovic and Croatian brothers Zvonimir and . "I'm confident we can become one of the best offensive teams in the country, but it's going to take a lot defensively," Stojakovic said.

His official departure follows the exit of six other Golden Bears, topped by freshman guard Jeremiah Wilkinson, who averaged 15.1 points, including 19.5 over the final 14 games after moving into the starting lineup. Wilkinson will play at Georgia in his home state next season.

Forward Joshua Ola-Joseph, who averaged 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 24 games for Cal last season, has committed to Loyola-Chicago. Also gone from the 2024-25 roster are forward BJ Omot (transferring to Minnesota), guard Christian Tucker, forward Spencer Mahoney and forward Devin Curtis.

Madsen has added seven transfer players to the Bears’ roster this spring, including John Camden, a forward from Delaware, whose arrival Cal made official on Monday. Camden, who also spent one season at Memphis and two at Virginia Tech, averaged 16.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and shot 41.6 percent from 3-point range for the Blue Hens last season.

"John is a multi-dimensional player who will bring a tremendous level of toughness, experience and versatility to our roster," Madsen said of Camden, who previously had announced his intention to play at Cal.

"He plays with a competitive edge that aligns perfectly with our culture, and he'll make everyone around him better. John shoots the lights out from beyond the arc and will put the ball on the floor and attack.”

Others joining the Bears are Syracuse forward Chris Bell, Grand Canyon post player Sammie Yeanay, Virginia guard Dai Dai Ames, Michigan guard Justin Pippen, Campbell guard Nolan Dorsey and Loyola-Maryland forward Milos Ilic.

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