Illini fans have been spoiled with excellent guard play since the arrival of Ayo Dosunmu in 2018.
Several have followed in Dosunmu’s footsteps, cementing Brad Underwood as a coach that can develop guards. Ayo Dosunmu, Kasparas Jakucionis, Will Riley and Keaton Wagler were all home-grown stars recruited by Underwood.
If Underwood’s staff isn’t developing guards, they are busy recruiting transfers. Success from transfers such as Alfonso Plummer from Utah, Terrence Shannon Jr. from Texas Tech, Kylan Boswell from Arizona, and Andrej Stojakovic from California/Stanford have helped Illinois become a marquee program.
Built on fantastic guard play, the Illini reached their first Final Four since 2005. However, now the 2025-26 season is over, and key guards Kylan Boswell and Keaton Wagler are gone. To replace their combined 30.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game, Underwood brought in Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks and No. 35 overall recruit Quentin Coleman out of Missouri.
Coleman averaged 23.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and shot 64.9% from the field as a senior, winning Missouri’s 2025-26 Gatorade Player of the Year.
Coleman should fit well into an Illini offense that looks to replace Wagler and Boswell. Underwood sees Coleman as a first-year guy who will make an immediate impact alongside Vaaks and Stojakovic. Similarly to Wagler, Coleman shoots the basketball extremely efficiently as he shot 50.6% from three in his senior season.
Additionally, Coleman brings a similar sense of poise and a competitive spirit to the court. According to Underwood’s evaluation of Coleman, he has an elite competitive spirit and winning is in his DNA, proven by winning back-to-back Missouri state titles. He has gained valuable postseason experience through winning those state titles at a combined 60-3 record, which should bode well for the young guard throughout the 2026-27 season. In the state title game, Coleman dropped a ridiculous 50 points on 18-of-21 shooting, further showing his poise as well as his skill and ability to take over a game.
When Coleman arrives on campus, he will begin to work with strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher, who has served as a key piece to make Illinois into a guard factory, churning out NBA talent like Dosumnu, Shannon Jr., Jakucionis, Riley, and Wagler. Fletcher’s workout regime and diet plan along with intense practices at Ubben have helped develop previous Illini legends.
Quentin Coleman looks to be the next legend to have his jersey number hanging above Lou Henson Court forever.