Good Morning, Illini Nation: What questions do you have?

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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:

Illinois will hold its first official practice for the 2025-26 college basketball season today. All that means, really, is the Illini coaching staff can now spend more hours per work with their team. The work at Ubben Basketball Complex never stops.

Brad Underwood will be available to the media today to discuss his team as preparations for the coming season ramp up. There will be plenty of questions for the Illini coach to address. Like ...

What is Ty Rodgers' status? The veteran wing suffered a knee injury this summer that required surgery. How said injury will affect Rodgers' standing this season is unclear. He's no longer wearing the giant, hip-to-ankle knee brace he was in during the summer, but offseason knee surgery generally portends not great things. 

How long will Andrej Stojakovic remain sidelined? Speaking of knee injuries, the Cal transfer has been sidelined this month with what Underwood called a knee sprain. Nothing too serious, I was told, with Stojakovic mostly behind held out for an abundance of caution. A fully healthy Stojakovic, though, is rather vital to illinois' success.

Will the Ivisic twins play much together? Likely yes, but probably not as much as most people thought when Illinois landed Zvonimir out of the transfer portal. They can play together, but the most likely scenario is they split time at the 5 with some overlap on the court. (Notably, they'd make the perfect big man if their powers were combined).

How has Mihailo Petrovic settled in? The Serbian point guard arrived in Champaign as the academic year started, missing the entire offseason while his eligibility was sorted (not to mention his visa status). On one hand, he's 22 years old and has played professional basketball for several years, so there's some experience in adjusting to new teams and new teammates. On the other, it's the first time he's doing so outside Serbia.

What questions do you have for Underwood about the Illini?