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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at large:
Brad Underwood never expressed any doubt, at least publicly, that Mihailo Petrovic wouldn’t arrive in time to be ready for the 2025-26 season. But it certainly came down to the wire.
The 22-year-old Serbian point guard didn’t make it on campus at Illinois until the weekend before the start of the new school year. Truly an 11th hour arrival.
But now that Petrovic is in Champaign? The focus turns to getting him immersed in all things Illinois basketball. That means working with strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher to get into the kind of shape necessary to play for the Illini. It means learning the Illini’s offensive and defensive schemes. And it means establishing a relationship — on and off the court — with a new batch of teammates.
“He’s a workout guy. His conditioning has been, really, pretty good. I’m not going to say he’s in peak shape yet, but he’s been really good. He’s everything we thought. Just in seeing him a couple days in terms of his understanding of the game, his ability to play in ball screens, he’s very crafty. He’s got great speed, which is a nice plus to have. We maybe haven’t had that speed guy at that spot. Just very crafty.
“Plays like he is a little older. We still don’t know his eligibility status — from year he’ll be — and what that looks like. But he’s everything we thought he was when we recruited him and saw him on film and play.”