Other than a frustrating mid-summer foot surgery for breakout sophomore big man David Mirkovic, it's been a weirdly chill summer for Brad Underwood amidst the chaos that is college basketball. Turns out, you don't need injunctions or shady judges who may or may not tilt toward the orange and blue when you get your work done early. The Illini became just the fourth team in the transfer portal era to retain five key rotation players from a Final Four club.
This coaching staff believes it is close to scaling the mountain once and for all. It's what made the Keaton Wagler-led ride to the Final Four so special. It's also what made another do-or-die loss to UConn, despite a hefty homecourt advantage in Indianapolis, just so devastating.
Underwood can only imagine the what-ifs if all those layups that kissed every part of the rim without going into the bucket ended slightly differently. It's all about stacking the next bite at the apple in the pursuit of a championship. Underwood has done that using mostly retention combined with a splash of the portal and a six-man freshman class.
Illinois will enter 2026-27 as a potential Top 5 team in the country with legit Final Four aspirations. "Illinois would be my choice if they had reliable point guard play," a Big 12 assistant told CBS Sports' Matt Norlander when asked for his best team in the country. "I'm not sold that Quentin Coleman can be the point guard they need as a freshman, though." Good thing Coleman isn't slated to be the starting point guard.
Vaaks is a major part of the Keaton Wagler Replacement Plan. Good luck topping one of the best individual seasons in program history that came out of absolutely nowhere, but Vaaks is brimming with talent in his own right. The soon-to-be sophomore lead guard averaged nearly 16 points for Providence in his first season of college basketball and showcased the exact type of stuff that Illinois likes for its lead guards.
Vaaks checks in at a whopping 6-foot-7. Vaaks tied for 12th nationally with Louisville lottery pick Mikel Brown Jr., splashing 1.2 pull-up triples per game. Vaaks posted a serviceable 18% assist rate, and his live-dribble reads are extremely tantalizing.
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