Andrej Stojakovic's bold postgame message is the energy Illinois needs for Final Four

For the first time since 2005, Illinois got to cut down the nets in the NCAA Tournament as the Fighting Illini took down Iowa in the Elite Eight to punch their ticket to the Final Four. Anytime a team makes it this far in the tournament, no matter how high a seed they are, it is a major accomplishment.

This isn't the dream, though, for Illinois. Of course, the Final Four is great and a huge thing, but it is not the end result for the Fighting Illini. Now that Illinois is at this point, Andrej Stojakovic knows that they didn't get to this point just to get to this point.

"I don't want anybody to think this is it," Stojakovic said. "We didn't get to the Final Four just to get there, we're coming to win two more games."

Illinois is just two games away from history in the NCAA Tournament

Illinois basketball has had its history of success; however, there is one thing that the Fighting Illini haven't ever experienced before: a basketball National Championship. Head coach Brad Underwood has built a championship-winning team, and even though at some points during the season it didn't seem like it, Illinois could win it all.

A lot of it started not just with the recruitment of freshman Keaton Wagler, but also in the transfer portal. When Andrej Strajokovic entered the transfer portal for the second time in his career, he had three teams in mind: Stanford, UNC, and Illinois.

It wasn't long until Strajokovic picked the Fighting Illini, proving that Underwood can recruit well in the portal, too. Now just two games away from the end, Illinois will face Arizona in the Final Four, a team that has been able to chip away at opponents each game of the NCAA Tournament adn suddenly win big in the end.

It won't be easy, but if Illinois can make it to the National Championship, they could truly make history.