Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular

April 28, 2025

This week has been crazy as the Illini picked up a surprise commitment from 6’3” Serbian point guard Mihailo Petrovic. Grabbing a talented point guard is a big deal, but most Illini hoops fans are focused on if or when 6’7” former 5-star recruit Andrej Stojakovic will declare for Illinois. Or will he end up at North Carolina or Stanford?

We also had the NFL Draft hit and that’s where I’d like to start my column.

Hail Mary #1 – New Concerns for NFL & NBA Draft Decision Makers

It’s a new world out there for both draftees and the drafters - in both for the NFL and the NBA.

For years drafting players has been about:

• Balancing the measurables (height, weight, speed, strength)
• Estimating how each player fits in scheme the drafting team plays
• Understanding how much the prospective draft pick grasps the game
• Deciphering how hard of a worker each player is
• Gathering information about how their teammates view the player, etc.

Even with all the video documentation of a player in game action, the pre-draft interviews, the investigative digging into a player and his background, feedback from coaches and teammates, and the player's combine results, it’s still a 50-50 chance that a first-round pick doesn’t pan out. Pretty amazing, eh? Guess what, thanks to NIL dollars, it’s even worse now!

For the first time, the NFL and NBA will be drafting players who have already made millions. NIL has made the millionaire college athlete a real thing. How will these newly earned NIL fortunes affect the prospective draftee? Teams now have to understand and predict how large amounts of money will affect an individual player's:

• Overall attitude
• Work ethic
• Willingness to be coached
• Ability to fit in with their new teammates
• Enjoyment of the professional game - which requires hours of dedicated skill development

Fairly or unfairly, Shedeur Sanders was judged harshly by NFL teams for whatever vibe he was giving off to prospective teams. Was part of this due to the money he earned through NIL (as opposed to his father's money)? We will probably never know for sure, but NIL funds will be looked at as a catalyst for changing a player's attitude towards a number of behaviors. While NIL funds and their effects on players are only one factor in evaluating whether to draft a player or not, it’s clearly one that is important, and its effects need to be evaluated carefully and accurately. No one wants to pick someone who is no longer motivated to get better due to their belief they are "set for life" due to NIL earnings. And no one wants to erroneously miss out on a potentially great player because the GM assessed the player incorrectly.

The NFL and NBA haven’t had many millionaires drafted in the first round. Now, that might become the norm. Good luck, GMs!

Hail Mary #1 – Skill Development Versus Athletic Talent

When it comes to using high school recruiting, the Transfer Portal (Portal Kombat) and European newcomers to build a team, Brad Underwood has demonstrated a real skill at filling the roster with talent. He’s landed key contributors through the portal on a consistent basis each off season. Now, with his use of European talent increasing, the Illini are starting to rival Gonzaga’s ability to construct a title contender featuring key talent freshly arrived from the Old World.

Tomislav Ivišić and Kasparas Jakucionis arrived last season and set a high bar for future European players wearing the Orange and Blue. KJ played well enough to be a Top 10 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Only mononucleosis and a couple of nagging injuries kept Ivišić from making one of the All B1G teams. Illini fans may pick nits with me, but I look as KJ and Tomislav as huge advertisements for what Illini basketball can do for a European player who is interested in making some NIL dollars and jumping to the NBA. They might be the start of a talent pipeline for the Fighting Illini.

This season, the Illini have been joined by Tomislav’s 7-foot, 3-inch-tall brother Zvonimir Ivišić, 6-foot, 8-inch-tall power forward David Mirkovic and 6-foot, 3-inch-tall point guard Mihailo Petrovic. Illinois will feature an Illini team that is highly proficient in basketball skills with the ability to play with a high basketball IQ. The European way of developing players is focused much more on skill building, mastery of fundamentals and endless repetitions versus the American way of playing a ton of games. I cannot wait to see how this team looks on the court, it should be a fun team to watch.

The concerns of athleticism for this team are mounting from some in the fanbase. Are they legitimate concerns? They might be, but I’m not so sure as Petrovic (as an example) is a very quick player who moves as fast with the ball as he does without it. Don’t forget, these players will have six months of working out under the watchful eye of Fletch before games start. We will see if the athletic concerns are true soon enough. We know newly arrived Illini players will be bigger, faster and stronger come November.

Maybe instead of worrying about factors that are currently unproven, instead the focus should be on the skills these players bring to the table. This will be a very skilled Illini team when the season starts.

Hail Mary #2 – The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Illini fans are waiting to hear from Andrej Stojakovic. Will he choose Illinois, North Carolina or Stanford? The talented 6’7” forward from Cal has visited Illinois and is reportedly making his decision soon. Illini fans were hoping for a commitment from Andrej late last week. It’s been about 9 days since that hoped for date has passed. Nerves are a bit frayed. Watching and listening to Illini fans, I tried to find a way to encapsulate what Illini fans are feeling.

Fortunately, Tom Petty wrote the song “The Waiting is the Hardest Part” in 1981. I know he wasn’t writing a song about basketball recruiting, but a few lines of his song certainly apply to this recruiting scenario:

"The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part"

Let’s hope we hear from Stojakovic that he wants to play for the Orange and Blue this week - and the sooner the better, of course! He would be a great asset to the Illini and add another player with European origins to play for the Illini. That would be fun. No more Fighting Illini, they could be the Fighting Illyrians!

If Stojakovic selects North Carolina or Stanford, I still trust Coach Underwood, Antigua and Alexander to find talent to compete for titles. That’s what has been done for the last six years. There’s no reason next year should be any different.