Illinois men’s basketball might have just lost one of its best players for a significant period of time just months before the season tips off.
Sophomore forward David Mirkovic underwent surgery on Tuesday after suffering a left foot injury during a team workout on Friday, the team said Wednesday.
While nothing official has been released on the forward’s recovery time, Field of 68 co-founder Jeff Goodman reported that Mirkovic will only be out for six to eight weeks.
Mirkovic posted on his Instagram story that he “will be back soon.”
The college basketball season is set to begin in 13 weeks, with some teams playing their first games in the first days of November, and while a full schedule has not been released, the Illini begin their season against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 2.
The injury will be discouraging for Mirkovic, who stayed in Champaign, Ill, to train for the season.
“He’s an outstanding player. I think he understands he’s one of the best players in college basketball,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said earlier this offseason. “And he wants to capitalize on making the most of that opportunity and felt like that was being here.”
The 6-foot-9 forward is coming off a season where he averaged 13.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from beyond the arc as a freshman.
Mirkovic was named an All-Big Ten honorable mention and made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
He also made the NCAA Tournament All-South Region Team after the Illini made a run to the Final Four.
Underwood said before his injury that Mirkovic looked bigger, stronger and faster heading into the 2026-27 season and was ready to bring much more confidence to the floor.
