Illinois wing Andrej Stojakovic will return to Fighting Illini for 2026-27 season

Illinois junior wing Andrej Stojakovic has agreed to return to the Fighting Illini for the upcoming 2026-27 college basketball season, according to On3’s Joe Tipton. Stojakovic’s return is a major coup for Illinois head coach Brad Underwood as he looks to build upon the program’s first Final Four run in two decades.

Stojakovic is the eldest child of former NBA great and Serbian national Peja Stojakovic and previously played for Stanford and Cal before joining Illinois last offseason. The 6-foot-7 Stojakovic started 21 of his 33 games with the Illini in 2025-26 and ranked second on the team, averaging 13.5 points and 4.5 rebounds last season. That included 19 games with double-digit scoring efforts.

Stojakovic signed with Illinois last offseason as a four-star transfer out of Cal, where he was ranked as the No. 3 small forward and No. 20 overall player in the 2025 cycle. Last year, Stojakovic was coming off a breakout sophomore season with the Golden Bears, where he averaged a career-best 17.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 33.4 minutes per game in 2024-25.

After missing last season’s opener with a preseason knee injury, Stojakovic topped 20 points in four of his first six games of 2025-26. He dropped a season-high 30 points on 9-of-18 shooting in a 89-70 win over Maryland on Jan. 21, and then closed out Big Ten play with double-digit scoring efforts in four of Illinois’ final seven regular-season conference games.

Stojakovic continued to shine during the Fighting Illini’s Final Four run, including scoring 21 points in a second-round win (76-55) over 11th-seeded VCU. He then combined for 30 points on the second weekend of the tournament, including 17 points in a 71-59 victory over Big Ten rival Iowa in the Elite Eight to clinch Illinois’ first Final Four in 20 years.

Alas, that’s where it would end as the Illini lost 71-62 to second-seeded UConn in the Final Four as Stojakovic managed just nine points in the game. Following the game, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood reflected on his team’s spectacular run.

“This team, like I said, gave me joy because they were about all the right things,” Underwood said April 4. “If you want to put a contest together about good human beings, we’ll win. There’s no question what this group will be in life. As a coach, that’s why I got in this. Am I competitive? Does today stink? It hurts. My gut hurts so bad right now that I feel for all of them.

“But I’m also excited about the joy that we brought a lot of people in this run. We’ve got Illinois back to a level that they’re in Final Fours again, and my God, as long as I’m the ball coach, I’d better not take 21 damned years to get back there.”

— On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report.