Stojakovic remains ‘both feet in’ the draft, keeping Illinois options open

“We see each other at the hotel. Um, it still hasn’t hit me that, you know, if I do decide to go back to school, they won’t be in the same locker room as me.”

Although Andrej is bought into the NBA Draft, his main factor in his decision is to go wherever he’ll be able to grow the best. If he decides to stay in Champaign, it’ll be a season of proving what he can do and coming back even more ready for the draft next year.

A major point of growth for Andrej, whether it be at the college level or in the NBA, is his shooting percentage. It’s also one of the only concerns that the NBA has about Stojakovic.

“I’ve been very, you know, upfront and realistic with that,” Stojakovic said. “Going back to school is another chance where I can go prove that, you know, shooting the ball is one of my strengths.”

But Stojakovic’s early career revolved more around his shot than driving to the rim. Illinois changed that.

“Growing up in high school, I was always viewed as a shooter in my class. You know, especially going to Illinois, they kind of unleashed a certain mindset for me to go to the rim. They saw something in me,” Stojakovic said.

“The size we had as a team this year kind of allowed me to, you know, space the floor and drive because we had bigs that could shoot the ball. That was something that we were comfortable with going to in a lot of the games.”

So, why did Andrej announce his return to Illinois if he was uncertain?

“Announcing coming back to Illinois was more so, having a plan either way. I love Illinois, I loved it this year, and if I do go back I’m looking forward to hopefully making more history with the team,” Stojakovic said.

“But yeah it’s just for my peace of mind, knowing that obviously it’s a dream of mine but there is a chance I’m gonna go back and I’m looking forward to participating in another Final Four hopefully.”

Regardless, he won’t forget about the historic year with a special group.

“I think we’d all love to take a moment and embrace it at some point. If I go back, I’m looking forward to seeing everybody playing at State Farm once again,” Stojakovic said. “And I know moving forward for the rest of our lives when we go back there, it’s going to be all love.”