High Five (+5): The Best Of It All

There was never going to be an NCAA Tournament “Low Five”. I had mostly decided that after the loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament and once the ticket to the Sweet 16 was punched, there was zero doubt.

A Low Five is not what I want to write and it’s not what you want to read - so we’re just not going to. I mean, was I really going to spend valuable minutes of my life rewatching the loss to UConn and then force feeding you lowlights of the same miserable experience?

The last thing we need in our lives today is more of this evil witchcraft:

This game goes in the same vault as the 1989 National Semifinal loss to Michigan and the 2005 Championship game against North Carolina. I call it “The Vault of Shit I’m Never Going to Watch Again”. Instead we’re going to do a little soul cleansing exercise which I’m quite sure will help me and I hope will help you. But more on that in a minute. First, I want to talk a little bit about Saturday.

Sunday was supposed to be that divine 24 hours of bliss following a Final Four semifinal win. I still remember everything about that Sunday in St. Louis after the win against Louisville in 2005. Best. Day. Ever. I was so ready for another one of those.

From a purely basketball point of view, I genuinely thought we were the better team going into the game, but I also had talked myself into the idea that the college basketball gods had pre-ordained an Illinois-Michigan clash in the title game. I mean, the sequence of events which needed to occur to create the Illinois vs UConn matchup in the first place is mind-boggling.

+Penn’s TJ Power made improbable back to back threes in the final 16 seconds of Penn’s Ivy League Tournament final against Yale to force overtime. The Quakers would go on to win in OT to earn an NCAA Tournament spot and a first round matchup against Illinois.

+VCU had to come back from 19 down with just 15 minutes to play in the second half in their first round game against North Carolina to force overtime. The Rams would eventually take down Carolina in OT to advance to play Illinois in the second round.

+Nebraska survived a half court shot from Vanderbilt which was 3/4 down before bouncing out. If that shot had bounced in, Vandy would have faced Iowa in the Sweet 16 instead of Nebraska and our Elite Eight matchup could have been vastly different.

+And finally, UConn came back from 19 down in their Elite Eight game against Duke and still needed a Christian Laettner-esque miracle from Braylon Mullins (the 2026 version of Danny Freaking Miller) to take down the Blue Devils and join the Illinois side of the Final Four bracket here in Indy.

I realize I was butterfly-effecting pretty hard there, but it just felt to me before the game like every single one of those plays happened to help nudge Illinois towards a Championship Monday appearance. That’s silly, of course, but dang were my vibes good at 6:09 Indianapolis time on Saturday.

Fast forward (seriously, don’t watch that game again!) a couple of hours later to the post-game Illinois locker room and whatever the antithesis is of good vibes hit like bricks to the soul. That room was RAW to the bone. It was easily my most unpleasant experience in my 10 years of covering Illinois basketball. I quickly decided I didn’t want to ask any questions of the players in that moment, so I took a few videos and pictures and left the room.

Thirty seconds later I deleted every single one of them.

I fully understand why the media is allowed in the post game locker room win or lose. People want a window into the depths as well as the heights - and that’s completely fair in this business. But for me in that moment, those videos and images just felt wrong. Those were their emotions and they didn’t belong on my phone.

Unfortunately, now almost 36 hours later, I’ve not been able to wipe those images from my mind. This team was too fun, too funny, and really, too damn GOOD for those locker room blues to be my lasting memories from this season. So, instead of a Low Five, we’re going to play all the hits.

I’m rolling with all of my favorite plays from this season for the ages. So come along with me (maybe instead of watching Michigan/UConn) and remember this season for the joyride it was in this “Thanks For The Memories” edition of High Five…

1- In the “Pre-Keatonian Era” of November, it was the two incoming transfers - Andrej Stojakovic and Zvonimir Ivisic - who most piqued the curiosity of Illini fans. Stojakovic missed most of the pre-season due to a knee injury while Zvonimir was pressed into a major role while his brother Tomislav Ivisic was dealing with knee issues of his own. So as Illinois entered its first marquee game of the season against Texas Tech, the eyes of Illini Nation were focused on those two with Stojakovic making his Illinois debut and Big Z inserted into the starting lineup. It’s fair to say they delivered. First Big Z loudly announced his presence with this scintillating defense to offense sequence…

While Stojakovic - who was fantastic in his debut with 22 points - sealed the deal late…

2- Welcome to the party David Mirkovic. On a quiet Friday night in mid-November, Mirkovic loudly announced his arrival to college basketball with a 27 point/21 rebound performance against Colgate. We all knew he had the potential to be a low post threat and major rebounding force, but these clips from that game and then the win over Tennessee in Nashville gave us a glimpse of the on ball play-making skills and shooting which elevated him into one of the best freshmen in the country…

(I don’t think Mirk cut his hair the rest of the season.)

3- Meanwhile, Keaton Wagler just kept coming. I infamously wrote these words after the first UConn game in New York City: “Wagler was basically a non-factor against UConn in just 14 minutes on the floor.  It’s reasonable to wonder if Underwood will remain patient with him if he continues to struggle against high major competition.”  Over the next two games (wins against high majors Tennessee and Ohio State) Wagler put up 39 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists - including this late game dagger against OSU which introduced us all to his trademark fearlessness…

Oh, there was more ridiculousness to come John Fanta.

4- Yeah, it was a Merry Christmas this year…

The Bragging Rights game also featured one of my favorite snapshots of the season - the soon to be married Ben Humrichous flashing his ring finger after drilling a late three…

Icing on the ”wedding” cake, he meant.

5- 46 points in Mackey. Ridiculous, indeed Keaton Wagler. I had my pick of 13 made baskets (including nine threes) from that afternoon, but I picked this one because TKR’s reaction is just sooooo priceless…

6- Just a week later in Nebraska, Tomislav Ivisic had the assist of the season with his volleyball tap to Jake Davis to beat the shot clock in Lincoln…

This was just crazy good. I mean look where the ball is with only three seconds on the shot clock…

It was this game which fully solidified my belief that this team had a legitimate Final Four pedigree.

7- Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Keaton Wagler also did this..

8- No doubt about it, Kylan Boswell struggled down the stretch and in the NCAA Tournament. If I had asked questions in the post-game locker room, I would have asked Boswell if his hand injury affected him over these past six weeks. I‘m quite sure it did, but he would never have admitted it during the season. In any case, broken hand notwithstanding, he had one of the best dunks from any Illini player all season with that injured hand amidst a dismantling of USC…

9- My nominee for “Funniest Moment of the Season” (Non-NCAA Tournament Category) was AJ Redd making the most of Senior Night…

From one former walkon to another - much respect AJ. 🫡

10- We all have indelible memories from the 1989 and 2005 Final Four teams. Kenny Battle’s behind his head shot and a bloodied Kendall Gill’s tip dunk against Syracuse in ‘89. The Comeback against Arizona and Roger Powell’s dunk off his own missed three against Louisville In ‘05. In this tournament, I think there are three highlights which will live forever.

Big Z taking flight in Greenville…

Ben Humrichous capping a 17-0 burst against Houston in Houston…

And, of course, the pièce de résistance - Keaton Wagler asking a hapless Iowa defender to shag the ball for him…

HELLO!

And, finally, the winner of for “Funniest Moment of the Season” NCAA Tournament Category): David Mirkovic…

Man, I wish I could have done one more of these. When I told Robert back in September I would be available for more basketball coverage this season, I had no idea what that would look like. What it turned into was covering 24 of 37 games in person and writing 47 articles for the site (compared to just 26 combined over the previous two seasons). It turned into road trips to New York, Philly, Lincoln, and DC in the regular season, the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago, and an unforgettable whirlwind of an NCAA Tournament with stops in Greenville, Houston, and, of course, Finally Indianapolis.

If that sounds like a dream come true, well, you’re right. I’ve had the time of my life this season covering this ridiculously likable collection of personalities who just happened to come together to form one of the best teams in Illinois basketball history. It also helps to have in Brad Underwood one of the most accessible, honest, and forthright coaches I’ve encountered in my time covering this sport. In a sport full of Mick Cronins, be a Brad Underwood.

I’m so thrilled and thankful to have been able to share my thoughts with you over these five months. So thank you all once again for reading - I hope you enjoyed the extra voice this season. I’ll see you again in October, and here’s to having basketball words to share in April again next year.

HIGH FIVE!