Latest Injury May Compromise Illinois Basketball's Guard Depth in Short Term

As Illinois basketball was making final preparations for Monday's 2025-26 season opener against Jackson State in Champaign (7:30 p.m. CT, BTN), the last thing coach Brad Underwood and the 17th-ranked Illini wanted or needed was any more surprises.

After an offseason full of them – mostly related to injuries, but also including Mihailo Petrovic's eligibility status and Tomislav Ivisic's tonsils removal – the Illini had another surprise sprung on them Sunday: Brandon Lee rolled his ankle in practice, which led to him showing up for Monday's game in a walking boot and landing on the inactive list in the Big Ten's availability report.

One very big surprise here: Brandon Lee is out, wearing a walking boot and reportedly rolled his ankle in Sunday's practice. pic.twitter.com/CMD848fjOz
— Jason Langendorf (@JasonLangendorf) November 4, 2025

What the injury means for Brandon Lee

We can't be certain just yet how severe the injury is, but a walking boot is never a great sign. Even if Lee somehow winds up missing only a few days, that's a few days too many. As a freshman attempting to learn Underwood's system, fit in among new (and many well-established) teammates and carve out a role for himself, any time he spends on the shelf due to injury is a lost opportunity.

And with Petrovic out Monday – and now, definitively, also wing Andrej Stojakovic – would have been certain to receive solid minutes off the bench against the Tigers. Given the number of players nursing injuries at this stage (especially in the backcourt), they will likely take things slowly, avoid rushing Lee back and try to minimize the risk of re-aggravating the injury or causing further damage.

The time has come. pic.twitter.com/KKDg3rs4qO
— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) November 4, 2025

What Brandon Lee's injury means for the Illini

The backcourt cupboard isn't bare, but it's suddenly running awfully low. Foul trouble or – heaven forbid – another injury could put the Illini in the position of playing an undersize freshman point guard big minutes or conscripting forward Jake Davis into 2-guard duty.

As it is, freshman Blake Fagbemi, working behind temporary starting point guard Keaton Wagler, will be throw into the fire immediately. And former student manager and walk-on AJ Redd could earn a career-high number of minutes working behind Kylan Boswell.

The Illini should find a way to slog through the short-term depth issues, even if they persist another week. But the Tigers are a guard-heavy team that could create some matchup problems and potentially make things interesting against Illinois. And even if the Illini slide by Jackson State and Florida Gulf Coast over the next week, they will want to be as close to full strength as possible when they host No. 10 Texas Tech on Nov. 11 in Champaign.