Brady Pettigrew is already looking the part of the next big guard Illinois basketball wants to call its own.
The Illini have spent the last decade climbing back into national relevance, and a big reason for that rise has been the program’s ability to land high-end guards. Names like Ayo Dosunmu, Terrence Shannon Jr, and Keaton Wagler helped shape that run, and Pettigrew is starting to look like the next one in line.
A newly minted five-star guard and the No. 1 player in Illinois, Pettigrew is drawing interest from nearly every major program. That kind of attention is no surprise after the summer he just put together.
His team is headed to the Peach Jam after finishing 10-3, and Brad Beal Elite opens against the Georgia Stars on Tuesday, July 14, at 9:30 a.m. CT/10:30 a.m.
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Pettigrew was the engine behind that run. Across the three sessions, he averaged at least 21.6 points per game in each one. He closed the regular season in Las Vegas with a five-game stretch that produced 26.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
What makes Pettigrew so intriguing for Illinois is how naturally his game fits what Brad Underwood likes. He’s not just a big-name recruit from the state; he checks a lot of boxes the Illini have valued in their best guards.
There’s a little bit of Kylan Boswell, Keaton Wagler, and Andrej Stojakovic in him. Pettigrew can get the ball on the three-point arc and go straight downhill to the rim, which brings Stojakovic to mind.
His physical, attack-the-basket style has some Boswell in it, too. Add in Wagler’s perimeter feel - knowing when to shoot and when to create for others - and you start to see why Pettigrew stands out.
His EYBL three-point percentage sits at 26%, but that number doesn’t tell the whole story. Pettigrew is a talented perimeter shooter, and the bigger takeaway is how well he reads the game. Illinois already got him on campus for an unofficial visit in the past few months, and he remains a top priority when the class of 2028 comes around.
For now, Pettigrew is still early in his career, but he’s already flashing the kind of game that makes you think Illinois may be watching its next great guard unfold right in front of it.
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For Underwood, that means a deliberate reset in tone and mindset as the Illini prepare for a new Big Ten grind. He has made it clear the next team needs its own mannerisms, characteristics and style, and the summer work is designed to build the kind of culture that will matter when the season tightens and the response has to come from within. [Read more 🡒]