Brad Underwood and the Illinois basketball team are going into the New Year with a 10-3 record and hope for a deep run in the postseason.
The Illini ran headfirst into this season with a hope and a dream, especially after an offseason filled with major moves from across the world. They brought in high-level talent like freshman forward David Mirkovic and junior guard Andrej Stojakovic to help round out a roster that was decimated with departures.
Illinois has been on a bit of a roll as of late, winning four of their last five games heading into the New Year. Their offense has found a certain spark that they didn't have at the beginning of the year, led by the emergence of freshman Keaton Wagler. But will this entertaining beginning lead to members of this team breaking school records?
Keaton Wagler takes down the freshman single-season scoring record
Keaton Wagler has been a breath of fresh air throughout the first part of the season. In just 13 games, the freshman from Shawnee, Kansas, is averaging 15.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game for the Illini.
Wagler is the most recent freshman to average 15+ points per game, joining former Illini Kasparas Jackucionis, who achieved the feat just last year. But when you look at the entire history of the program, Wagler is easily within sniffing distance of former Illini Kiwane Garris' freshman record of 15.9 points per game that was set in 1994.
If Wagler wants to reach this mark, he is going to need to continue this surge that he's been on throughout the past number of weeks. He will need to average, roughly, 16.5 points per game across the final 18 games to hit it by the end of the regular season, with hopefully a little buffer throughout the postseason.
Illinois freshman Keaton Wagler is an ELITE level talent 🔥
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) December 23, 2025
The 6-6 Kansas native was a 3-star out of high school and is playing like one of the best freshman in the country for No. 20 Illinois
22 PTS | 7-11 FG | 5-6 3PT | 8 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK pic.twitter.com/sV47v1WezA
David Mirkovic surpasses Kofi Cockburn's freshman rebound average
Kofi Cockburn is the greatest big man in the history of Illinois basketball. That's a fact! The legacy that the Kingston, Jamaica, product left on the navy and orange was something special, averaging 17.2 points and 9.6 rebounds through 90 career games.
But this season, there is a strong possibility that Kofi's freshman rebound record of 8.8 rebounds per game will fall to Mirkovic. The Niksic, Montenegro, product has been a real glass eater this season, averaging 8.3 rebounds through 13 games played.
He has a shot to surpass Kofi's record by the end of the year, but he needs 171 boards through his final 18 games to make it happen. Mirkovic needs to average about 9.1 rebounds per game against the meat of Illinois' schedule, which includes tough match-ups against No. 5-ranked Purdue and No. 2-ranked Michigan.
Will he make it? It's going to be tough. But we should still keep an eye on this as the season moves on.