Brad Underwood may be heading into a season he can’t manage the old way.
For years, Illinois’ coach has leaned on a compact seven- or eight-man rotation. This group, though, is giving him more options than that approach usually allows. After three exhibition games and the regular-season opener, the Illini’s newcomers have already started sorting themselves into the mix, and Underwood is still figuring out who fits where.
The biggest wrinkle is that David Mirkovic remains sidelined, which keeps the rotation from being fully settled. Even so, Underwood has used the exhibitions to test combinations and learn which lineups he trusts most. That process has already produced a few clear answers.
Five-star freshman Quentin Coleman and returners Andrej Stojakovic, Tomislav Ivisic and Jake Davis started three of Illinois’ first four games. The exception came against UIC, when Stojakovic was out and three-star freshman Lincoln Williams got the nod instead.
The most eye-opening development has been Ethan Brown. The three-star freshman has started all four games, and that wasn’t something many around the program likely expected.
He seems to have earned Underwood’s trust through steady work, and the early returns have backed that up. In those four starts, Brown has put up 46 points, 16 assists, 21 rebounds and five steals.
Coleman, by comparison, has posted 57 points, 23 assists, 31 rebounds and six steals.
Brown’s role becomes even more interesting once Mirkovic is ready to return. Right now, it’s not clear which starting spot Mirkovic will take.
Brown and Davis have had similar usage outside of the FDU season opener, when Davis left after five minutes because of an injury. Against Cincinnati, they each played 24 minutes.
Davis then logged 13 more minutes than Brown against Baylor, before Brown played 10 more minutes than Davis against UIC.
That leaves one of them likely sliding into a sixth- or seventh-man role.
Then there’s Stefan Vaaks, who has made his own case in a different way. The Providence transfer exploded for 20 points and five 3-pointers against FDU, and while many fans probably expected him to be in the starting five right away, he’s still producing like a major piece. He hasn’t played more than 21 minutes in any of the four games, but he has scored 67 points overall, which leads the team with Stojakovic missing a game.
The obvious question is why he’s not starting. Based on the source material, Illinois fans are left to assume his defense and rebounding are part of the reason. Even without the opening tip role, though, Vaaks has been making his minutes count by stretching the floor from deep.
Up front, Tomislav Ivisic is still Underwood’s main option, but his workload appears to be shrinking a bit because Jason Jakstys has earned real minutes. Excluding the Baylor exhibition, where both Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic exited with injuries, Tomislav has played 58 minutes and Jakstys 38. Zvonimir Ivisic, who also missed the UIC exhibition, has logged 20 total minutes across the FDU and Cincinnati games.
Jakstys carving out a rotation spot is a positive for Illinois, but it also trims Zvonimir Ivisic’s path to minutes. At this pace, Zvonimir Ivisic is on track for a seven-minute drop per game from last season.
The rest of the freshman group is still sorting itself out. Kankakee native Lincoln Williams got the start against UIC in place of Stojakovic, but he left after four minutes with a groin injury that also kept him out of the FDU opener. Against Cincinnati, Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year Zavier Zens and Landon Davis both played more than Williams.
Once Mirkovic is back, Williams and Zens should be the freshmen most likely to lead that next wave of minutes, with Lucas Morillo and Landon Davis close behind.
If the injuries keep coming, Illinois appears to have enough depth to absorb them. And when Big Ten play arrives, Underwood may still prefer a tighter rotation. But this roster has enough talent packed into it to make that old formula harder to stick to.
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Nebraska arrives in a far different place, having dropped three in a row after opening the season with real momentum. ESPNs Football Power Index still leans heavily toward the Cornhuskers, giving them a 69.1 percent chance to win, but this feels like the kind of matchup where the numbers may not tell the whole story. Illinois has already shown it can reset its season, and now it gets a prime-time stage to see whether it can do the same to Nebraskas. [Read more 🡒]