After a trip to the Final Four recently, Brad Underwood and Illinois have been cooking with some offseason wins. Yes, nothing but good news has come in since the transfer portal opened, but some great news has also come in at the high school level.
Great retention for Illinois basketball leads to a transfer portal exit
That's because one of the exciting pieces from the 2026 class is no question standout guard Quentin Coleman. The St. Louis product has signed with the Fighting Illini and he previously did so as a 4-star playmaker. Well, that's no longer the case, as the sharpshooter just got a recent boost, with him now being a 5-star talent via the 247Sports Composite rankings. Yup, we love seeing that:
Coleman is now a 5 star📈🚨 pic.twitter.com/bIsFhWN6c7
— Illini Muse (@Illinimuse_) April 19, 2026
Future Illinois guard Quentin Coleman will arrive to Champaign as a 5-star talent
Not only that, but Coleman is ranked the No. 4 shooting guard in the country, No. 1 player out of Missouri and No. 27 prospect nationally for the 2026 class. He's got a bright future ahead of him in the Big Ten and this is only going to add to the hype surrounding his name leading up to next season.
This was a massive recruiting win for Underwood, as Coleman was getting serious looks from other programs. In the end, he committed to Underwood over additional offers from Wake Forest, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Arizona State and many others.
The 5-star update comes not long after Andrej Stojakovic announced that he's returning to Illinois next season. On top of that, the Fighting Illini have also managed to retain David Mirkovic, Tomislav Ivisic, Jake Davis and Zvonimir Ivisic. Five of the team's top seven scores are back, while Stephan Vaaks has committed through the portal.
Illinois is no question going to be in the conversation to be the No. 1 team in the country leading up to next season, as Underwood is doing a remarkable job in not only adding talent for next year, but also keeping playmakers in town. Coleman will look to make an immediate impact and it won't be a surprise at all if he does so - the kid is a gamer and he's oozing with potential for this team.
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