Nov. 7—Expectations are already sky high for Illinois this season. Let’s just add to them with 10 bold predictions for the Illini in 2026-27:
Stefan Vaaks will challenge the late Dave Downey’s single-game scoring record of 53 points a year after Keaton Wagler did the same with 46 points at Purdue. Wagler did it with a flurry of threes against the Boilermakers, which happens to be Vaaks’ specialty. The one sticking point might be how much Vaaks plays given a more egalitarian approach to the rotation, but if Vaaks gets red hot early in a game there would be no harm in letting him cook.
While we’re on the subject of three-pointers, the team records for three-point attempts and three-point makes could be in jeopardy. The 2025-26 team holds the record for both, making 391 three-pointers last season on a program-record 1,132 attempts. If early indications are anything, though, these currenty Illini might challenge both
Let’s stick with record that may fall. Illinois got close to setting a new single-game scoring record in its 120-45 thrashing of Fairleigh Dickinson in Monday’s season opener. Shooting 5 of 13 in the final 7 1/2 minutes kept the 1988-89 team’s record of 127 points at LSU safe. For now. There are enough FDU-adjacent teams on this year’s nonconference schedule to make a successful run at it.
The list of former Illinois players with a triple-double in their career is short. There’s just six of them. Ayo Dosunmu’s pair in February 2021 top the list. He’s joined by Kylan Boswell, Marcus Domask, Coleman Hawkins, Sergio McClain and Mark Smith (no, not that Mark Smith). That list will grow by two this season. Freshmen guards Quentin Coleman and Ethan Brown remain on constant triple-double watch.
Brad Underwood put together a challenging schedule with five nonconference games against Power Five programs accompanying Illinois’ 20-game Big Ten slate. How the Illini fare in those five games — at Texas Tech, at Duke, against Connecticut in Chicago, against Missouri in St. Louis and against North Carolina in Nashville, Tenn. — will be a factor in how the team is viewed nationally. A better than .500 record would be a statement. Consider it a sure thing.
Bank on the game-by-game shot chart for Illinois showing a concentration around the rim and from every spot on the perimeter. If the Illini attempt more than a single mid-range jumper per game, it will be a surprise. Mostly because it feels like the first player to pull from 10-15 feet will find himself yanked from the game as soon as humanly possible.
The one thing Illinois hasn’t done for what’s now the bulk of Brad Underwood’s tenure as coach is force turnovers. The Illini have ranked below 300th nationally in opponents’ turnover percentage six of the last seven seasons. Last year they were last — 365th out of 365 Division I teams. Forcing more turnovers if only to feed the beast that is Illinois’ uptempo offense is a priority this season and should keep the Illini out of the forcing turnovers basement.
Enjoying this article? Support our work with a small crypto donation.Illinois wasn’t the unanimous pick to win the Big Ten, but the vote by the league media did have the Illini securing 18 of the 28 first-place votes. Illinois shared its most recent Big Ten title with Wisconsin in 2021-22. Since, the conference champ has won the league by at least three games, with Michigan running away with the title by four games last season. Illinois will hit that three-game cushion come March.
A dominant regular season run in the Big Ten that ends with a conference title should almost guarantee Illinois a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. It would be the fifth in program history should it happen, following 1989 (Final Four), 2001 (Elite Eight), 2005 (national runner-up) and 2021 (second-round exit).
The level of incoming high school recruit has risen steadily the last few years. That includes landing a pair of five-star prospects in Will Riley (now in his second season in the NBA after a one-and-done year in Champaign) and Coleman (probably following Riley’s footsteps). Securing a commitment from another five-star recruit, even if it takes a reclassification, will be the highlight of Illinois’ 2027 class. Welcome to Champaign, Brady Pettigrew?
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