No. 3 Illinois, with five key players back on the roster, reloads for another run at the Final Four

Expectations are high at Illinois after a season in which the Illini made their first Final Four appearance in 21 years, compiled the fourth-most wins in school history and finished second behind national champion Michigan in the Big Ten. Illinois is ranked No. 3 in AP’s Top 25 preseason poll, matching the second-highest preseason rank in program history.

Five rotation players are back from last year’s team. They are preseason All-Big Ten players David Mirkovic and Andrej Stojakovic, Jake Davis and 7-foot twins Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic. Mirkovic, who averaged 13.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists last year in his freshman season, will miss the start of the season because of a left foot injury in July. He underwent surgery in early August. Stojakovic averaged 13.5 points last year and shot 50% from the field.

Gone is leading scorer and NBA draftee Keaton Wagler, who averaged 17.9 points, ended last season with 30 straight games of at least 10 points and had 35 double-figure games. Veteran Kylan Boswell, another NBA player, also will be missed. Transfer Stefan Vaaks from Providence was eighth in scoring in the Big East last season at 15.8 points per game. The top recruit is Quentin Coleman, a 6-foot-4 freshman guard who played for the U.S. Men’s U18 National Team this summer at the FIBA AmeriCup.

Illinois opens at home Monday against Fairleigh Dickinson. Seven AP Top 25 teams are on the schedule, including four in the Big Ten. Illinois will play at No. 19 Texas Tech on Nov. 10 and No. 2 Duke on Nov. 17 and face No. 4 UConn on Dec. 4 in Chicago before starting conference play Dec. 8 at Minnesota. The Illini will play host to Big Ten rivals No. 22 UCLA on Feb. 2 and No. 6 Michigan State on Feb. 5 then travel to No. 16 Michigan on Feb. 9 in three straight games between preseason ranked teams. No. 21 USC will visit the State Farm Center on Jan. 27.

Stojakovich scored in double figures 19 times last year, had eight games of at least 20 points and was 103 of 128 at the free throw line. ... Illinois averaged 83.2 points last season, second in the Big Ten. ... Illinois is one of four programs nationally with seven straight regular seasons of at least 20 wins. ...The entire allotment of 3,000 student season tickets for Illinois home games was purchased in one minute.

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