LAS VEGAS — Andrej Stojakovic grabs the pass from a teammate and goes to work, backing down his defender with four strong left-handed dribbles. He slips into the lane and nails a sweet 12-foot floater.
Deftly switching hands as he dribbles, he cuts into the left side for a layup. He drills a three-point shot, a jumper from the right elbow, a rainbow from the corner.
He snags a rebound at the free-throw line, executes a 360-degree spin around his right side and cans a feathery 7-foot jumper.
The clock expires after he misses a 27-foot shot.
California loses an improbable ACC Tournament game in North Carolina against Bay Area rival Stanford. Just as improbably, Stojakovic had tallied 37 of his team’s 73 points.
During a long drive, I had listened to every second on satellite radio, eager to view the video of the game. His exceptional effort is a YouTube highlight reel.
Two minutes, 11 seconds of scoops, swoops, pull-up three-pointers, elbow jumpers, 360 spins and floaters, an old-school arsenal thanks to stellar DNA.
His old man, Predrag, was known as Peja during a 14-year NBA career in which he earned All-Star status three times and helped the Mavericks win the championship in 2011.
Illinois hoop fans, you’re in for some fun.
The Stojakovic stakes
On the morning of Monday, April 28, I scarfed a hard-boiled egg as I scanned the web to discover that Andrej, who had left California for the transfer portal, had made some news.
He’d spent 11 days in the portal. After that 37-point show, I figured he’d bolt. Kentucky and North Carolina were supposedly out-raising each others’ antes to lure Andrej.
Hooked on the lithe 6-7 shooter’s game, I vowed to take an early title position with whomever he signed.
Duke and even Stanford, where he had played as a freshman, were supposedly involved, too, but Illinois won the Stojakovic stakes.
It was trumpeted 20 minutes earlier. I scanned title odds for the Illini on my four Vegas apps, which I do not stock with cash.
Regulars here know I make making a bet challenging, a physical ticket that I store in a Cuban cigar box.
There are other governors. I don’t want financial information on any app, proven wise when BetMGM experienced a compromising data glitch in May 2022. Plus, without such easy access, it eliminates the impulse buy. I must travel to a book to invest.
Sometimes, I pay for it, like April 28. The Westgate SuperBook showed 100-to-1 odds on Illinois to win it all in 2025-26, when Indianapolis hosts the Final Four.
I had to zip down there, maybe a 30-minute drive, and hope those succulent triple digits still existed.
Chasing odds
Less than an hour after the Stojakovic news broke, those odds had changed.
At the SuperBook counter, the grizzled ticket writer informed me that Illinois was now 60-1. I bought it and went to a Circa Sports outlet that had the Illini at 65-1.
Others had beaten me to 100-1 at the SuperBook. No matter, as I doubled up my investments, on the 60-1 and 65-1 tickets, for a potentially fat return.
(On Wednesday, those Illinois odds were 50-1 at the SuperBook and 35-1 at Circa.)
Since Florida paid off so nicely (40-1 and 50-1 title tickets) for me last season, I had bought another one on the Gators, at 45-1 for the upcoming season, on April 16 at Circa.
(On Wednesday, the Gators had been sliced to 16-1; odds and prices subject to change.)
I will buy no other college hoop futures until the last week of November or first week of December, should any squad reside among the nation’s top 10% in offense and defense, and ATS.
Florida met those requirements early last season, as did UConn in ’22 and ’23. Florida Atlantic fit the template early in ’22-23 and delivered, at 60-1 just to make the Final Four.
But this is about Andrej, my favorite player for ’25-26 since that day he pelted Stanford with his savvy repertoire, and the dynamo that coach Brad Underwood has created for his ninth season at Illinois.
Boys from the Balkans
A haul of Eastern European additions has already deigned Illinois the Balkan Bloc.
It includes 22-year-old floor general Mihailo Petrovic and 19-year-old power forward David Mirkovic. Zvonimir Ivisic also left Arkansas to join twin brother Tomislav in Champaign-Urbana.
Underwood is a task master with hard edges, so it’s refreshing to see a finesse figure like Stojakovic want to play for such a demanding boss.
According to Andrej, Underwood, assistant coach Orlando Antigua and the rest of the Illini staff told him that he represented the team’s “missing piece” to glory, a first -national title for the program.
The Illini must become tougher defensively, like the three teams Underwood had at Stephen F. Austin. Those three squads forced foes into many turnovers, always among the top seven in the nation.
The Illini offense promises to be one of the nation’s finest, with Peja’s whirling-dervish-like son leading the way on the perimeter, inside, in the lane, at the elbows, everywhere.
Should Andrej prove to be the missing piece, he’ll help deliver what has been missing for so long from the Illinois trophy case.