After Illinois made the Final Four for the first time since 2005 last season, it feels like the Illini will be around for the long haul. Head coach Brad Underwood is doing everything in his power to ensure that, especially when it comes to bringing in top-ranked talent.
Last week, Underwood received the news that five-star guard Brady Pettigrew will be making his way to Illinois for an official visit early in October. The good news continues to roll as Underwood also landed a visit from five-star center Darius Wabbington later that month.
While the Pettigrew news is huge, he is a 2028 recruit, while Wabbington is in the Class of 2027, making him a more pressing priority for Underwood and his staff. Wabbington is set to visit Champaign on October 23, just a few weeks before the college basketball season officially begins.
Darius Wabbington's official visit could line up perfectly with the return of David Mirkovic
Underwood wasn't able to get Wabbington onto campus during the college basketball season, but he did get the next best thing by getting him to Champaign in the weeks leading up to tipoff. Illinois will play its first game on November 2 when the Illini welcome Fairleigh Dickinson, just two weeks after Waggington is set to be in Champaign.
What is even better is that when Wabbington is taking his official visit to Illinois, it could perfectly line up with the return of David Mirkovic to the basketball court. Mirkovic suffered a foot injury in late July that required surgery. While no official timetable was released, Jeff Goodman with "The Field of 68" shared that his sources heard it would be 6-8 weeks until Mirkovic was back on the court.
That timetable would put Mirkovic back on the court around October, give or take a few weeks. Why is it so important that Mirkovic is back when Wabbington is in Champaign? Well, Mirkovic is one of Illinois' most exciting players to watch this season and is coming off a pretty big freshman season.
Mirkovic isn't a center for Illinois, but his size and ability to dominate in the paint certainly puts close to competing with some of the best centers in the country. Seeing Mirkovic on the court, knowing he could also come back for a junior season with the Illini, which just so happens to be when Wabbington would be a freshman, could entice the five-star recruit to choose the Illini.
Underwood does have some serious competition in Wabbington's recruitment. Along with his official visit to Illinois, the Phoenix native has official visits with Arizona, Indiana, Louisville, UNC, and Washington scheduled.
Illinois, now in all these battles for five-star talent, is just a testament to what Underwood is building in Champaign, and last season was just the start.
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