Brad Underwood Implies Illinois' Andrej Stojakovic Could Miss More Time

In Illinois’ loss to Michigan State on Feb. 7, wing Andrej Stojakovic appeared to roll his ankle, but any long-term concerns were quickly whisked away as he then proceeded to play 35 minutes against the Spartans – and 35 really effective minutes, at that.

Stojakovic never seemed to miss a beat or lose a step as he attacked the rim as usual, while also knocking down a few of his go-to midrange jumpers en route to 17 points (8-for-14 shooting). He also added seven rebounds and shadowed Spartans point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. for the entire contest – an extremely demanding task.

Heading into the Wisconsin game, there wasn’t even the semblance of a worry in Champaign regarding the status of Stojakovic, as all injury-related attention remained solely on guard Kylan Boswell (whose eagerly awaited return came Sunday against Indiana). But in Tuesday's pregame availability report, there was Stojakovic's name listed with an unexpected status: questionable.

Illinois' Andrej Stojakovic battling high-ankle sprain

Ultimately, Illinois elected to hold Stojakovic out from the game, as head coach Brad Underwood explained in the postgame that his 6-foot-7 wing had suffered a high-ankle sprain against Michigan State.

But given that Stojakovic was considered questionable, and was spoken about as a game-time decision, for the Wisconsin game, the general consensus was that he would return for a midday battle with Indiana on Sunday.

In the pregame press conference before the Hoosiers matchup, though, Underwood gave the media a vague update on Stojakovic:

“Andrej has been dealing with a high-ankle sprain,” Underwood said Saturday. “A decent amount of pain and soreness. So we’ll see what his status is.”

Brad Underwood updates Andrej Stojakovic's status after Indiana

Even with the heads-up from Underwood, it was something of a surprise Sunday when Stojakovic stayed stuck to the bench yet again. In the aftermath of the eventual Illinois victory, Underwood offered another update:

“He’s working at the process of coming back from that,” Underwood said of Stojakovic's sprain. “You get to a certain point where you’ve got to be able to do it in practice and have that healthy. And, like I said, my biggest concern is the health of us long term. And if that means he needs to stay at home from L.A. and that trip, and live in the hyperbaric [chamber] and get treatment, then we’ll do that. We’re not just going to throw him out there with missing 10 days, 12 days, 13 days without practice.”

The now-annual West Coast road trip begins for Illinois on Wednesday at USC, followed by UCLA on Saturday. After playing demanding minutes despite the sprain and being listed as questionable for the next games, Stojakovic might be expected to be back soon – but Underwood seems to be implying otherwise.

Then again, Underwood tends to be cagey about any injury news regarding his players, meaning it’s still possible that Stojakovic will join his teammates on the road trip and perhaps back in action as soon as Wednesday. Either way, it’s clear that the Illini will be cautious about Stojakovic’s injury as the regular season winds down and the postseason inches closer, with the Big Ten Tournament now less than a month away.