The Illinois basketball team has a pretty full roster right now, but there are still a few more spots to fill via the transfer portal.
Brad Underwood has done a great job keeping the talent the Illini had from last season while adding some key pieces who could help put us back in the Elite 8.
A missing piece to the puzzle during the 2024-25 season was scoring. Illinois had plenty of willing shooters, but we didn’t have too many good shooters. That is a problem that could be fixed by landing Andrej Stojakovic.
According to Joe Tipton of On.3com, Stojakovic is set to take a visit to Illinois on Tuesday, April 22. This is a huge visit for the Orange and Blue.
Cal transfer guard Andrej Stojaković is visiting Illinois tomorrow, source told @On3sports.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 21, 2025
The 6-7 sophomore and former McDonald’s All-American averaged 17.9 PPG this season.
Andrej is the son of former NBA Champion and 3x All-Star Peja Stojaković. https://t.co/Xhjd44nJOm pic.twitter.com/QVdJiWMrzh
Stojakovic is a 6-foot-7, 205-pound wing. He was a four-star recruit who was the No. 19 player in the class of 2023. He began his collegiate career with the Stanford Cardinal. As a freshman, Stojakovic averaged 7.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game with Stanford.
After his freshman campaign, Stojakovic entered the transfer portal. He ended up landing with the Cal Bears this past season. Stojakovic averaged 17.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game with the Bears.
Andrej Stojakovic would give Illinois basketball a much-needed shooting boost out of the transfer portal
When you look at Stojakovic’s stats, his shooting numbers won’t jump off the page. In his first two seasons of college basketball, he shot 32.2% from three-point range. Here is the thing, Stojakovic only had 28 wins in those two campaigns. Teams knew that both Stanford and Cal were bad, so they would put a lot of defensive pressure on Stojakovic.
Illinois would be a breath of fresh air for Stojakovic. He could come into the program and have plenty of space to shoot. We have two big men who can space the floor, and Illinois has guard talent that will command a ton of attention.
Stojakovic’s understanding of the game is impressive, too. He moves well without the ball, and he is extremely smart. On top of that, he can play at all levels on the court.
I would imagine Illinois is putting a ton of resources into this recruitment. We need this kid out of the transfer portal.