NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates 
Illinois forward David Mirkovic is the Fighting Illini’s third-leading returning scorer from last season behind Andrej Stojakovic and Stefan Vaaks, but has garnered more preseason hype than his two teammates heading into the 2026-27 season.
Mirkovic found himself in elite company on Wednesday as he joined four other college basketball players on the Associated Press’ Preseason All-America team, including a point guard from rival Michigan State.
Advertisement
Mirkovic is still recovering from surgery on his left foot, but has all the makings of a top five player in the country this season based on his potential and previous body of work.
Feb 4, 2026; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward David Mirkovic (0) shoots over Northwestern Wildcats guard Angelo Ciaravino (44) during the first half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
Mirkovic joined one Big Ten player, two SEC players and one Big 12 player on the AP’s Preseason All-America Team, representing a big, talented lineup of returning players.
Mirkovic was joined by Jeremy Fears Jr. of Michigan State, Tyler Tanner of Vanderbilt, former national champion Thomas Haugh of Florida and Motiejus Krivas of Arizona. Mirkovic and Krivas are the only two players whose teams qualified for last year’s Final Four, with both Illinois and Arizona losing before the national championship game.
Advertisement
The Illini power forward Mirkovic was a freshman last season and scored 13.3 points per game in 29.5 minutes for coach Brad Underwood’s team. He hauled down eight rebounds per game and dished out 2.6 assists per game while shooting 48.4% from the field, third on Illinois among rotation players.
He is expected to be part of a new “positionless basketball” approach by Underwood ahead of the season.
Mirkovic ranks fourth in scoring on the 2026-27 AP All-America team, behind all but Krivas, the 7-foot-2, 260-pound Wildcats senior from Lithuania who averaged 10.4 points per game and grabbed 6.1 rebounds per…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/illinois-david-mirkovic-joins-4-140037874.html
Author :
Publish date : 2026-10-22 14:00:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
