The 2026–27 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team will represent the University of Illinois during the 2026–27 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Illini will be led by tenth-year head coach Brad Underwood. The Illini play their home games at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois, as members of the Big Ten Conference.
Previous season The Fighting Illini finished the 2025–26 season 28–9 and 15–5 in Big Ten play. As the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they were upset in the quarterfinals by Wisconsin. As an at–large bid to the NCAA tournament, they were the No. 3 seed in the West region. There, they defeated Penn, VCU, Houston and rival Iowa en route to the team's sixth Final Four in program history and first since 2005. However, they were defeated by UConn, denying them an appearance in the National Championship game.
Offseason Departures All players listed as "graduated" are tentative departures unless otherwise noted. Illinois departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Brandon Lee 1 G 6'4" 195 Freshman San Juan, Puerto Rico Transferred to James MadisonBen Humrichous 3 F 6'9" 235 Graduate Student Tipton, IN GraduatedKylan Boswell 4 G 6'2" 215 Senior Champaign, IL Graduated AJ Redd 5 G 6'3" 170 Senior Chicago, IL Walk-on; GraduatedToni Bilić 9 F 6'8" 210 Sophomore Trogir, Croatia TransferredTy Rodgers 20 G/F 6'6" 210 Sophomore Saginaw, MI Transferred to Boise StateKeaton Wagler 23 G 6'6" 185 Freshman Shawnee, KS Declared for the 2026 NBA draft;Selected 5th overall by Los Angeles ClippersMihailo Petrović 77 G 6'2" 180 Sophomore Prokuplje, Serbia Transferred to Seton Hall
Incoming transfers Illinois incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous schoolQuentin McCoy 5 G 6'1" 195 Junior Chicago, Illinois Arizona StateStefan Vaaks 7 G 6'7" 215 Sophomore Tabasalu, Estonia Providence
Recruiting class 2026 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=""|Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=""|Regular season
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References