Brad Underwood already has the next great Illinois basketball player waiting in the wings

I will be the first to say that as an Illinois basketball fan, I feel pretty spoiled right now.

The Illini are coming off a Final Four run that was led by a true freshman and one of the best players in the country. Keaton Wagler was a one-and-done, and he was selected No. 5 overall by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Wagler’s success was so fun to watch. On top of that, he was so easy to root for. The kid was so nice and genuine, and he was a killer on the court.

On the flip side, now I am expecting Illinois to have a Wagler-type player every year. Quentin Coleman now has a lot to live up to, and probably some unfair expectations in 2026-27.

Brad Underwood has both Quinton Kitt and Mason Martin committed for 2027. Both players could be pretty good. What is crazy is that the Illinois basketball program might have the next Wagler for 2028 waiting in the wings, too.

On Monday, Brady Pettigrew took a trip down to Champaign for an unofficial visit to Illinois.

This isn’t just your run-of-the-mill unofficial visit. Pettigrew is one of the best players in the country. He is a 6-foot-3, 185-pound combo guard from Bolingbrook High School in Illinois. He is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 15 player in the class of 2028. Pettigrew is also the No. 2 combo guard in the country and the best player coming out of Illinois.

Even though we are in an age of NIL dollars, relationships do matter. Illinois has the dough to compete with the big boys in the basketball realm, and building that relationship with someone like Pettigrew is going to be huge for the program in the future.

Brad Underwood’s ability to recruit at Illinois has only gotten stronger with time

The recruiting track record of Underwood has been impressive from the jump, and honestly, it is only getting stronger.

Underwood snagged Ayo Dosunmu in year one at Illinois. He brought in Kofi Cockburn, who was an All-American. He snagged players like Adam Miller and Brandin Podziemski, who never panned out with Illinois, but Miller was a top recruit, and Podziemski is in the NBA.

Over the last few years, the recruiting has been turned up a notch. 2024 brought three first round NBA Draft picks in Will Riley, Morez Johnson Jr., and Kasparas Jakucionis. The class of 2025 had the No. 5 pick in the draft in Wagler. It also included David Mirkovic, who is a projected first round pick in 2027.

Joining Mirkovic in that first round is Illinois’ top commit for 2026, Coleman. He is a high first round pick and could even climb into the single digits in the draft.

Underwood and his coaching staff have been able to identify and develop talent at Illinois. That train isn’t stopping anytime soon, either.

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