On Friday morning, coach Brad Underwood addressed the media ahead of Illinois’ first exhibition matchup of the 2026-27 season – which takes place on Saturday at Cincinnati.
Underwood offered insight into the Illini’s health, detailed the outlook for a few players and explained why his program scheduled this game. Here is what Underwood said, plus our takes:
Status of David Mirkovic and Jake Davis, plus Illinois’ deep rotation for Cincinnati
“I’ll very much handle this like a preseason NBA game, with a lot of bodies, a lot of lineups, looking at different things,” Underwood said. He also added that David Mirkovic will not play and Jake Davis, who rolled his ankle in practice, “probably will not” play.
Mirkovic is clearly being cautiously nursed back to health, and understandably so. Davis’ injury fortunately doesn’t seem to be too serious. In this scenario, neither are exactly negatives. This gives other players more opportunities to get quality in-game reps.
Landon Davis and Jason Jakstys will be thrust into the limelight
“Yeah, it’s not just those two,” Underwood said, speaking of the Ivisic twins stepping up in Mirkovic’s absence. “Landon [Davis has] been terrific. Jason Jakstys has been very, very good. We can play smaller. We can play bigger. So I’m very curious to see how it all fits.”
Even if Mirkovic is held out of only the exhibition matchups, Davis' and Jakstys’ minutes in his absence could pay dividends down the road. Obviously, Illinois’ frontcourt is stacked. But if and when foul trouble occurs, Davis or Jakstys will have his number called. These preseason outings will help prepare them.
Lincoln Williams’ ‘best week of practice’
“He’s had his best week of practice, which is great, because it’s kind of been an exponential growth from Day 1,” Underwood said of Lincoln Williams. “He's been playing much harder on a consistent basis. And I’ve been really pleased with that. He has the ability to really defend. He can run. He’s, like I said many times, he’s very athletic.
“So I think that it’s another opportunity for him to go out now and do it against an opposing team. We’ll see what it looks like. For all these freshmen, it’s just finding a pace that allows the game to slow down for them. There’ll be some nerves, and I expect that. And we’ve got to be able to handle those things.”
Defense will most likely be Williams’ calling card for 2026-27. Consistent effort on that end of the floor will be a non-negotiable if he's to make an impact and command minutes.
What Brad Underwood wants to see out of Quentin Coleman against Cincinnati
“I hope he stays out of foul trouble. He's been very aggressive. He’s another one, I want the game to slow down for him. And that experience will be vital. He is very wired. He's very hard playing. He doesn’t take any plays off. I think he’ll rise to the occasion. … There’ll be some nerves and some anxiety, I’m sure, as there is with everybody. But as he settles into the game, I think we’ll start to see his talent. And then he’s got to control that emotion on the defensive side and just be solid.”
Coleman was a five-star recruit for a reason. He is really talented. It's the other elements coming together that make his potential something special even as a freshman. The motor, competitiveness and desire Underwood keeps speaking of are very promising.
Time for Stefan Vaaks to put it all together
“Just consistency, do all the other things,” Underwood said. “We know he’s been a very, very good shooter throughout. I want to see him rebound. I want to see him guard. I want to see him lead. I want to see him make the right plays on the offensive side. Not just be a full-throttle scorer, which he can do. And we need him to do that. But he keeps growing every day. He had his best two days of practice this week. And it affected his team’s ability to win, and I’m excited to see how that translates tomorrow.”
We have said it all offseason, and now Underwood is going there, too: Vaaks needs to defend and rebound. As a freshman at Providence, he did neither – not well enough, anyway. In Champaign (and in Cincinnati on Saturday), he will need to do both or the Illini won’t reach their ceiling.
Brad Underwood on purposely scheduling Cincinnati on the road
“Two of the first five are on the road,” Underwood said, referring to the start of Illinois’ campaign, which is headlined by a trip to Texas Tech and then Duke. “We need a really, really quality opponent on the road. This group needs to learn how to tackle the road. We’re not very in depth with scouting in this game, intentionally.
“I want to see how we react to situations, and what our principles are. And they need to understand what it looks like and what our routine is on the road. Yeah, I don’t want the first one to be at Texas Tech.”
True road games are rare for high-profile teams in non-conference play. Not for the Illini in 2026-27, though. Understandably, the thought of Illinois’ first road trip being to Lubbock isn’t very appealing to Underwood.
The Illini, and especially their six freshmen, could certainly use the experience this Cincinnati trip will offer. Still, although it’ll help with the logistical aspect of a contest outside of Champaign, nothing on Saturday will mirror the environment at Texas Tech, and certainly not at Duke.
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