HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� Given the success Illinois coach Brad Underwood has had with recruits from Eastern Europe, he plans to keep adding such players to his team and is sure that many others will follow suit.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great marriage and a great fit,鈥� Underwood said Friday. 鈥淪o, we鈥檒l continue it. I would think others will continue to migrate over there and keep trying to recruit those guys.鈥�
Underwood鈥檚 third-seeded Illini meet Big Ten foe and No. 9 seed Iowa Thursday night in the South Region final with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Led by first-year coach Ben McCollum, who won four Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State, Iowa is in the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987.
Illinois is aiming for its sixth trip to the Final Four and first since 2005, while Iowa looks to return to the national semifinals for the first time since 1980 and fourth overall. Neither school has won a national title.
The Illini will try to end Iowa鈥檚 charmed March run with a roster that includes four players from Eastern Europe and Andrej Stojakovic, who was born in Greece, but whose father is Serbian three-time NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic.
The Eastern Europeans on the team are Croatian twins Zvonimir and Tomislav Ivisic, Montenegrin forward David Mirkovic and Serbian guard Mihailo Petrovic.
鈥淚t means a lot to represent our countries on this big stage,鈥� Zvonimir Ivisic said. 鈥淏eing here together, going through this whole process and experiencing it together, making memories for life, it really means everything.鈥�
For Mirkovic, a freshman who led the team with 14 points and 10 rebounds in , having so many Eastern Europeans on the team made his transition to the United States much easier.
鈥淲hen you move to the other side of the world having someone that speaks your native language and that鈥檚 already had the college experience means a lot,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much, much easier. You feel like home.鈥�
Underwood鈥檚 recruiting of Eastern Europeans was made possible by the advent of the name, image and likeness era, which allowed him to entice players who could otherwise make money playing professionally as they pursue the path to the NBA followed by the likes of Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic.
Iowa star Bennett Stirtz said he expects to see more players from the Balkan region playing for U.S. colleges in the years to come.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a new era now,鈥� he said. 鈥淟ots more college teams doing that and obviously it鈥檚 working for them.鈥�
For Underwood, getting European players to Champaign has been a long process that has paid huge dividends.
Mirkovic leads the team in rebounding at 8.0 per game and is second in scoring at 13.7 points. Tomislav is averaging 10.2 points and 5.7 rebounds, and his brother averages 6.7 points and 4.7 rebounds.
鈥淚t鈥檚 taken years,鈥� Underwood said. 鈥淣IL has obviously helped enhance our abilities to attract some of the best players in Europe. But they鈥檙e a great fit for us. It鈥檚 not for everybody. I enjoy coaching them. They fit our university. We鈥檙e a diverse university with a lot of international students, so it鈥檚 a perfect fit for them.鈥�
Although Stojakovic wasn鈥檛 raised in Serbia, he is proud of his heritage and revels in the spotlight this team is putting on the region.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always nice to see guys coming from where I come from, where my family comes from to have success at this level,鈥� he said. 鈥淥bviously everybody talks about the players in the NBA, but you鈥檝e got guys all over college slowly starting to make a name for themselves … so it鈥檚 something that you want to be proud of.鈥�
Folgueiras overcomes the language barrier
Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras is from Spain and didn鈥檛 speak English very well when he first moved to the U.S. in high school. He said that led to a tense exchange with a coach one day in practice.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 playing really good on practice, and one of the coaches came to me saying: 鈥榃ake up … you鈥檙e not doing good,鈥欌�� Folgueiras said. 鈥淗e was kind of hard on me. And I put a face like he thought I was challenging him, but the truth is that … my face was because I wasn鈥檛 understanding him.鈥�
His English is a lot better now and he said basketball helped him communicate until he became fluent in the language.
鈥淵ou come here to learn the universal language called basketball,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, I guess on that part, I learned even more than just a couple words in English.鈥�
Wagler explains rebounding by guards
Freshman guard Keaton Wagler led Illinois with 12 rebounds against Houston. He said grabbing rebounds as a guard requires different tactics than the big guys use.
鈥淏igs, it鈥檚 more of a physical battle for them,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s for guards, it鈥檚 tracking down the ball, getting the longer rebounds. That鈥檚 what it was yesterday for me. Our bigs did a great job blocking out their bigs, and I just came in there and cleaned up the boards that way.鈥�
___
AP March Madness bracket: and coverage:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
