Is It Finally Time for Illinois Basketball to Start Mihailo Petrovic?

The exquisite cross-court dimes, the full-speed spin-outs, the silky pull-up threes and defensive brain farts are almost precisely the mixed bag of goodies (and baddies) that were to be expected from Mihailo Petrovic at this stage of his college career.

Petrovic may be a gifted 22-year-old with professional experience, but he is also a first-year college player coming off a couple of nagging lower-body injuries and attempting to adjust to a new game and a new life thousands of miles and an ocean away from his Prokuplje, Serbia, home. Perfection, whether coming out of the starting gate or otherwise, was never going to be an option.

But Petrovic has provided an undeniable offensive spark for Illinois (6-2), which has clearly needed one at times this season – especially against good teams with the defensive tools and acumen to answer back. The Illini are currently an impressive collection of talent, but they aren't yet optimizing all that individual ability as an operational whole. They need a maestro to bring it all together. Is it time to start finding out whether Petrovic is that guy?

Why Illinois should start Mihailo Petrovic at point guard

Petrovic, who is averaging just 13.8 minutes across four games and who basically just stretched his legs in his first two outings, has already proven himself to be a difference-maker in transition and as a shot creator in the halfcourt – especially in pick-and-roll actions. The Illini have their share of shooters, scorers and playmakers, but none of them has the dynamic skills – and, in particular, the speed – of Petrovic.

🔶 12 PTS
🔶 4 AST
🔶 4-5 FG

Mihailo Petrovic made the most of his 16 minutes in No. 13 @IlliniMBB's win over UTRGV pic.twitter.com/Bwk9Iq8bo3
— Illinois on BTN (@IllinoisOnBTN) November 25, 2025

Although his size (6-foot-2, 180 pounds) causes him occasional trouble on offense, Petrovic is far more often the one creating the problems for opponents on that side of the ball. He appears to be a capable and confident shooter – it's still early – but his ball skills, vision and timing set him apart. His ability to find seams in a defense and set up a diagonal or weak-side pass for a teammate's open look is the stuff you just can't teach. It also makes a team infinitely harder to guard than it would be taking turns playing iso ball or chucking the ball around the horn in search of the least-bad three-point look that can be stumbled into. Stop us if we aren't hinting nearly hard enough.

Yes, we're talking (again) about the current Illinois offense, which features excellent individual talent and very little creativity to prevent the likes of Andrej Stojakovic, Kylan Boswell, David Mirkovic and others from exerting maximum effort to conjure a minimally effective shot against a loaded-up defense. Petrovic is far and away Illinois' top triggerman in pick-and-roll – the only action currently in Brad Underwood's playbook that can consistently break down a defense – and his speed can score the Illini a few cheap buckets on nights (such as all of them lately) when the perimeter shots aren't falling.

Why Illinois shouldn't start Mihailo Petrovic at point guard

For all Petrovic's offensive pyrotechnics, he is equally flammable in defensive situations. That size we mentioned is a genuine impediment – one that will make him a target for mismatches until the day he decides to hang up his kicks. And issues such as a miscommunication between Petrovic and Ben Humrichous in pick-and-roll on one defensive possession against UConn have been costly and downright embarrassing.

Brad Underwood wants to see Mihailo Petrovic grow in communication and on defense, but knows he brings all sorts of value on offense.

"He can make every pass. He sees things that a lot of people don't. That's the advantage for him, just his pure understanding of the game."… pic.twitter.com/xKr4YK9y7i
— Glenn Kinley (@glenn_kinley) November 25, 2025

You could also argue that freshman Keaton Wagler – Petrovic's replacement (or perhaps temporary fill-in) – is the better option, or a superior fit, or at least has earned leeway as the team's starter until he plays himself out of the role. Even adjusting for minutes, Wagler has been a more effective scorer and ball protector while proving himself to be one of the Illini's best rebounders, period.

Player	MPG	PPG	FG%	3PTs	3FG%	RPG	APG	TPG
Mihailo Petrovic	13.8	5.3	44.4	2	50.0	1.8	2.8	1.8
Keaton Wagler	28.9	13.5	42.9	10	33.3	5.3	2.0	1.3

But a quick examination of Wagler's John Hollinger Game Scores reveals massive variation between his output against the Jackson States and Long Islands of the world and his work against Texas Tech, Alabama and UConn. Look, no one expects an unheralded 18-year-old to dominate top-15 competition in November, but it's important to compare apples to apples in this case. The numbers divide between Wagler and Petrovic isn't nearly as wide as it may appear to be.

Speaking of, although Wagler is putting his 6-foot-6 frame to solid use to create some havoc on D (he has averaged a combined 1.1 steals and blocks), he hasn't played head-and-shoulders over Petrovic on that end. Wagler's 102.8 defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) is only marginally better than Petrovic's 105.4. (For comparison's sake, defensive stopper Boswell has a 103.0 defensive rating.)

Mihailo Petrovic first points as an #Illini, and the place went nuts.

He promptly pointed to the bench - wonder if he told them that was coming. pic.twitter.com/QJS4WxMLSf
— Glenn Kinley (@glenn_kinley) November 20, 2025

The Illinois on SI verdict: Should Mihailo Petrovic be starting?

The short answer: No – or, at least, not yet. With Tennessee up next, Petrovic is going to get knocked around in the Rick Barnes blender, and Wagler deserves one more crack at a top opponent to show whether he's ready to apply some of the hard lessons he should have be learning these past few weeks.

But Underwood needs to be ready to turn the keys over to Petrovic at a moment's notice, whether that mean's scratching his name into the lineup at tip-off or calling him in from the bullpen when the Illini offense bogs down. Already, Petrovic has made it clear he's the best choice to synthesize the talents of this Illinois group, and if the offense shoots more blanks against the Volunteers, it will make sense to get the Illini marching to the beat of Petrovic's drum starting with Ohio State next Tuesday – well before Purdue, Michigan State and the Big Ten's other heavy hitters land on the schedule.

#Illini guard Mihailo Petrovic has been playing in the pick and roll since he was young, a skill he learned from his dad.

"Point guards from Europe, this is in the blood to play pick and roll." pic.twitter.com/TGvO8YNwTC
— Tristan Thomas (@TristanThomasTV) November 25, 2025