What adding transfer Andrej Stojakovic means for Illinois basketball

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Illinois basketball has reshaped its roster.

With a plethora of newcomers – both freshmen and from the transfer portal – head coach Brad Underwood has replaced departing high-profile freshmen with experienced players.

Here's what it means for the Illini.

Who's new in Champaign

This offseason, Illinois signed Mihailo Petrovic and David Mirkovic, both freshmen, along with Andrej Stojakovic and Zvonimir Ivisic from the transfer portal. This goes alongside returning players Kylan Boswell, Tomislav Ivisic and Ty Rodgers.

Above all, Stojakovic is the most significant addition to date.

The transfer guard comes to Illinois from Cal-Berkeley, where he averaged 17.9 points per game. That led the Golden Bears and ranked sixth in the ACC. Stojakovic fills the hole that Kasparas Jakučionis left open when he declared for the NBA Draft.

"Andrej is a veteran, proven scorer who does it in all three facets: catch and shoot, off the dribble, and post ups," Underwood said in a statement announcing his signing. "He has great size on the perimeter, ball handling skills, playmaking abilities, quickness on the defensive end, and knack for blocking shots. Andrej is a very important addition for us because of his experience, high basketball IQ, and productivity. He has had very good coaching and shows a tremendous understanding for how to play the game on both ends of the court."

The "E" word, experience, is something Illinois clearly recruited this offseason. That's "Experience," and Underwood has found that in European players.

Illinois gets older

After the season-ending loss to Kentucky in Milwaukee, Underwood was asked if the struggles in the 2024-2025 season would make him think about recruiting a team that was so young in the future.

Underwood didn't say it would necessarily keep the Illini staff from recruiting a younger roster in the future. A big reason was because of how mature European players

"I thought the maturity of especially Tommy and Kasparas – those two, because of their experiences overseas – was above and beyond," Underwood said on March 23 after exiting the NCAA Tournament. "We're going to keep recruiting Europe, that's for sure. And we're going to keep adding freshmen that can develop."

In losing Jakučionis, Riley and Morez Johnson Jr., Illinois loses its promising freshmen, two of whom are likely to be first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft. However, the additions of Ivisic and Stojakovic replace the void Johnson and Jakučionis create in multiple ways. The first is talent-wise, the second is age-wise.

Illinois is now older. The likes of Jakučionis, Riley and Johnson entered the 2024-2025 season as talented players, but with a grand total of 0 combined collegiate games played. Ivisic and Stojakovic have 111 combined games under their belt.

What this means for the Illini

Underwood has a team.

With Stojakovic, Illinois has a high-profile scoring player. Returning guard Ty Rodgers gives Illinois an experienced voice in the locker room. The Ivisic brothers give Underwood the chance to consistently have height on the floor.

It's not over yet either. Now, Illinois has three open scholarships left.

The Illini have been linked to international recruit Dame Sarr, however with the of Stojakovic that might make Sarr's recruitment unlikely.

Time will tell.

University of Illinois NCAA College Basketball