Illinois is heading into 2026-27 with a very different offensive blueprint, but Brad Underwood isn’t sounding the alarm one bit.
That makes sense, because the 2025-26 version of the Illini attack was absurdly good. For much of the back half of the season, Illinois sat atop KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rankings, and at one point it was tracking as the best offense the metric had ever seen. Purdue eventually nudged past it, but the Illini spent most of that stretch looking like a machine.
The biggest reason was Keaton Wagler, and the second was balance.
Wagler is gone now, taken with the No. 5 pick in last month’s NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, and Illinois is not pretending that loss is minor. Underwood made clear on Tuesday that Wagler was a special piece, especially in ball screens, and that the offense had to be built around what he could do.
“I think that we can be really good again,” Underwood told the assembled media on Tuesday, pointing to the continued growth of his son and Illini offensive coordinator Tyler Underwood. “I think Tyler does a masterful job. He spent a ton of time with NBA people here in the offseason.
“I think he understands we had a unique one in Keaton in ball screens. His decision-making was exquisite. I think it may look different, but I expect the same type of output.”
That’s the key line here: different look, same production.
Illinois has plenty to work with beyond Wagler anyway. Last season, five Illini averaged double figures, and three of those players are back.
Then there’s the offseason talent injection, led by star transfer Stefan Vaaks and five-star freshman Quentin Coleman. This isn’t a one-man operation.
Underwood also expects the pace to pick up.
“I think we’ll be faster,” Underwood said. “We’ll play faster.
I think all those things are there. I think we’ve got an extremely skilled team.
But until we get all the pieces together, it’ll be constant adjustments, as there was up and through the UConn game last year.”
That would mark a notable shift. Illinois was one of the top-10 offenses in the country last season, but it was also the second-slowest team in adjusted tempo.
Purdue was slower. The deliberate pace fit Wagler, and Illinois leaned into that reality.
It was a change from the three seasons before that, when the Illini were consistently inside the top 75 in adjusted tempo. Last season, they were No.
- Underwood adapted to the roster in front of him, and it paid off.
Now, with Wagler out and speedier pieces like Coleman and Vaaks in the mix, Illinois appears ready to move back toward the style it has used more often. Coleman brings athleticism and skill that can push the tempo. Vaaks comes from a Providence team that ranked No. 18 nationally in pace last season.
So yes, the offense may look different. That much is obvious. But Underwood’s point is just as clear: if the pieces fit, the results should still be there.
In Other News...
Brad Underwood Is Betting Everything On Illinois Taking The Next Step
Brad Underwood has spent the offseason treating Illinois run to the Final Four as a step, not a finish line. After getting that far last spring, the Illini now look built for another serious push, with Andrej Stojakovi back in Champaign and David Mirkovic among the key returners giving the roster a different kind of continuity heading into next season.
The challenge, of course, is whether Illinois can turn that optimism into the kind of leap Underwood is openly chasing. The Illini are already being viewed as a Big Ten favorite and carry some of the better national championship odds in the country, which means expectations will be attached from the start. The next answer will come not from the hype, but from how quickly this group settles into the pressure that comes with it. [Read more 🡒]
David Mirkovi Looks Like Hes Chasing A Much Bigger Illinois Role
Brad Underwood has kept most of Illinois basketball roster intact while adding transfers after losing leading scorer Keaton Wagler to the NBA, and the biggest internal development may be the rise of freshman forward David Mirkovi. He is back for his sophomore season, has spent the offseason working out heavily and now looks positioned to become one of the more important pieces on a roster trying to replace a major scoring hole without starting from scratch.
For Illinois, the appeal is obvious: Mirkovi gives the staff a returning frontcourt option who already knows the system and appears ready for a larger load. With Andrej Stojakovi still working his way back from knee surgery, the Illini are leaning on continuity where they can find it, and Mirkovis willingness to stay in Champaign and keep building his game has only sharpened the sense that his role next season could be much bigger than what he showed as a freshman. [Read more 🡒]
Brad Underwood Thinks This Illini Team Is Finally Getting Tougher
Brad Underwood spent part of the offseason talking less about scheme and more about the kind of body blow Illinois needs to bring every night. The Illini coach praised strength coach Adam Fletcher for the physical work done in the weight room, and he singled out David Mirkovic as one of the players who has kept making strides in that area. For a team trying to raise its floor going into the new season, that kind of development matters as much as any new wrinkle on the board.
Underwoods bigger point was about edge. He wants more aggressiveness and tenacity on defense, with steals, blocks and general disruption coming from the entire roster instead of being left to one player or one position. Illinois had enough individual rim protection last season to survive in stretches, but the next step is making that toughness part of the group identity, not a nightly exception. [Read more 🡒]