Guard Andrej Stojaković joins Illini from Cal
Brad Underwood and the rebuilding Illini basketball crew have added another international player through the transfer portal.
Cal guard Andrej Stojaković is signing with the orange and blue.
The 6-foot-7-inch sophomore was the Golden Bears' leading scorer last season and is a former McDonald's All-American.
"Andrej is a veteran, proven scorer who does it in all three facets: catch and shoot, off the dribble, and post ups," Underwood said in a news release. "He has great size on the perimeter, ball handling skills, playmaking abilities, quickness on the defensive end, and knack for blocking shots. Andrej is a very important addition for us because of his experience, high basketball IQ, and productivity. He has had very good coaching and shows a tremendous understanding for how to play the game on both ends of the court."
At Cal, Stojaković averaged 17.9 points to lead the team, and he ranked sixth in the ACC. He scored double figures in 25 of his 29 games, and 20 or more points in 13 games.
He closed out the year with a career-high 37 points against Stanford in the ACC Tournament second round on March 12, following 29 points against Virginia Tech in the first round.
As a true freshman at Stanford, Stojaković started 10 of 32 games. He has started 10 of 32 games in 61 career total games across two college seasons, and has averaged 12.6 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 42% from the floor.
Stojaković will help an Illini offense that lost Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley to NBA Draft this offseason.
Stojaković is the son of former NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic, who played for the Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Hornets, Toronto Raptors, and Dallas Mavericks, and most recently served as assistant general manager of the Kings.
Stojaković is not the only Cal player headed to our area. Loyola got transfer forward Joshua Ola-Joseph, who averaged 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds last year.
Back at Illinois, Underwood has been leaning into his success of landing international players, as seen in a profile picture on X with more than 2.5 million views.
