Illinois has picked up a very interesting player via the transfer portal. Andrej Stojakovic, son of former NBA player Peja Stojakovic, has committed to head coach Brad Underwood and the Fighting Illini.
This was announced by Stojakovic himself on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
This is a massive recruiting win for Underwood and Illinois. Not only does Stojakovic have NBA basketball in his blood, but he proved last season at California that he can get the job done.
Stojakovic averaged 17.9 points per game for the Golden Bears to go along with 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. He started in 28 of 29 games played for Cal, so he’s bringing a ton of experience to Illinois with him, alongside two more years of eligibility remaining.
A former five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American, Stojakovic committed to Stanford out of high school. He played in 32 games as a freshman for the Cardinal and, like his dad, was good from three-point range. He made 34 that season, which ranked 10th in school history for threes made by a freshman.
As a sophomore at Cal, he scored 20-plus points in 13 games and notched a career-high 37 points in the ACC Tournament against his old school, Stanford. He was an All-ACC Team honorable mention at the end of the regular season and part of the ACC All-Tournament First Team.
Stojakovic projects to be a part of what Illinois wants to do next season, and he should ultimately find himself in the NBA once his college career is said and done.
