Quentin Coleman Projected to Be Illinois’ Second-Leading Scorer

The Illini began their journey yesterday, and the hype is real for the upcoming season. The regular season does not start for more than a month, but fans will get their first look at the 2026-27 Illini on October 17 in Cincinnati for their first exhibition game.

The Illinois basketball X account gave fans a look at practice No. 1 under Brad Underwood. The Final Four banner is hanging in the Ubben Practice Facility, and the goal is to hang another one next April. This team has enough talent to get there, and a major piece of the puzzle will be freshman guard Quentin Coleman.

The Illini received a commitment from Coleman while they were at the Final Four last season, and he could be one of the reasons they make it back for a second straight year. The five-star recruit was originally set to play his freshman season at Wake Forest, but he reopened his recruitment following a stellar senior season. Coleman helped lead The Principia School in St. Louis to a state title in his final high school season and finished as the No. 14 player in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports.

Coleman is from O'Fallon, Illinois, and will try to help lead his home-state school to its first outright Big Ten title since 2005. He is expected to help replace Kylan Boswell and Keaton Wagler in the backcourt alongside Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks. Coleman should be one of the best freshmen in the Big Ten and has a chance to become Brad Underwood's next one-and-done freshman.

Analytical expert Bart Torvik projects Coleman to be Illinois' second-leading scorer this season behind David Mirkovic. Mirkovic is projected to average 16.5 points and eight rebounds per game, according to Torvik. He should be the Illini's go-to scorer, but Coleman should not be too far behind him.

Torvik projects the freshman guard to average 12.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Andrej Stojakovic and Tomislav Ivisic are also projected to average double figures, at 12.1 and 10.8 points per game, respectively.

Stefan Vaaks is only projected to average 8.4 points per game, but I would expect him to score more than that on a nightly basis. There will be a lot of mouths to feed on an Illinois offense that is expected to be one of the best in the country, but Coleman should be able to average double figures.

Coleman is a great cutter and can impact the game in multiple ways through offensive rebounding and defense. He is also a very good transition player and should be able to get easy buckets by running the floor.

Torvik has a bullish outlook on Coleman offensively, but it is not out of the question for him to become the second-best scorer on the team, even as a freshman.