Brad Underwood isn’t reaching for a calendar when it comes to David Mirkovic.
Illinois’ head coach made that clear Friday, saying there’s no reason to force the second-year forward back after the offseason foot injury that has kept him mostly out of basketball work since late summer. Mirkovic, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound piece who played at least four different spots in the Illini offense as a freshman, is out of the protective walking boot and was in basketball shoes at the team’s on-campus media day. But Underwood isn’t treating that as a sign to speed things up.
“At this point in time, we'll just take what the doctors tell us,” Underwood said to local media inside Ubben Basketball Complex. “There is no rush.
The one thing we want to make sure that we do is don't rush him back. We want to make sure he's healthy.
It's a long season.”
Mirkovic fractured his left foot near the end of summer workouts more than two months ago. Since then, most of his work has been in the pool and on an AlterG anti-gravity treadmill with athletic trainer Justin Games. He said Friday he’s also been cleared for about 20 minutes a day of light individual work on the court, without contact.
“I would say I’ve already come a long way in my recovery,” Mirkovic said on Friday. “I’ve suffered this injury about nine years ago. I didn’t step on anybody’s foot or anything like that but the minute it happened, I knew exactly what had happened and what I was in for in terms of rehab.”
A more specific timeline could come after Mirkovic’s doctor’s appointment early next week, which Underwood said may provide a clearer picture of when the 20-year-old Montenegrin can get back to full practice and then games for the upcoming 2026-27 season.
Even with the setback, Illinois still sees Mirkovic as a major problem for opponents once he’s back. Underwood said the goal is to use him as an immediate mismatch.
“Mirk will be a guy that our job is to create the mismatch right away no matter what that is," Underwood said. "He's a much improved ball handler.
We know what kind of shooter he is. A great facilitator that elevates others because when he draws two (defenders) to him he can make every pass.”
Mirkovic said the downtime has given him a chance to study the game and get a better feel for how this year’s Illinois team wants to operate on both ends of the floor. He’s also spent time watching from the sideline and thinking about the bigger role waiting for him in year two.
“We challenged him this summer to watch film of Larry Bird and look at some of the plays Larry Bird made and do some of those things. Obviously, it's not the most convenient thing to have anybody out with an injury, but if he's going to be out it's a great time to be out now.
He's in practice every day. He's dialing in with the film.
(His return) will just be a matter of conditioning.”
The Illini have some runway before the games start counting. Illinois opens exhibition play Oct. 17 at Cincinnati, then hosts Baylor on Friday, Oct. 23, the night before the football home game against Oregon. The final exhibition comes Oct. 28 at State Farm Center against the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Illinois opens the season Nov. 2 at home against Fairleigh Dickinson, then hosts Penn on Nov. 5 in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament first-round game, which Illinois won 105-70.
From Friday’s media day, the Illini have 40 days for Mirkovic to keep moving through rehab and get fully cleared before their first road test, a Nov. 10 trip to Lubbock, Texas, to face Texas Tech, a 2026 NCAA Tournament qualifier, in a return game from Illinois’ 81-77 win in Champaign.
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