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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at large:
Illinois has clearly gone all in on recruiting internationally this offseason with a 2025-25 roster that is set to feature two Croatians (Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic), one Montenegrin (David Mirkovic) and a Serbian (Mihailo Petrovic). Not to mention a former McDonald’s All-American out of California born in Greece to a Greek mother and Serbian father if Andrej Stojakovic does, in fact, pick the Illini.
Brad Underwood and Co. are simply following the trend already set by the NBA. A total of 125 international players were on opening night rosters this season in the league. The last six NBA MVPs were born outside the U.S., with either Nikola Jokic (Serbia) or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada) about to make that seven in a row.
Talented players can be found … anywhere. Underwood believes so — particularly if they’re from the Balkans apparently — and NBA front offices clearly do, too. Of the 125 players listed as foreign born by the NBA, 77 of them played college basketball. (That’s 61.6 percent).
Here’s where they’re all from:
Philadelphia 76ers — Adem Bona (Nigeria); Joel Embiid (Cameroon); Guerschon Yabusele (France)
Milwaukee Bucks — Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece)
Chicago Bulls — Josh Giddey (Australia); Emanuel Miller (Canada); Nikola Vucevic (Montenegro)
Cleveland Cavaliers — Tristan Thompson (Canada); Luke Travers (Australia)
Boston Celtics — Al Horford (Dominican Republic); Kristaps Porzingis (Latvia); Neemias Queta (Portugal)
Los Angeles Clippers — Nicolas Batum (France); Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia); Patty Mills (Australia); Ben Simmons (Australia); Ivica Zubac (Croatia)
Memphis Grizzlies — Santi Aldama (Spain); Brandon Clarke (Canada); Zach Edey (Canada); Yuki Kawamura (Japan)
Atlanta Hawks — Clint Capela (Switzerland); Dyson Daniels (Australia); Mouhamed Gueye (Senegal); Vit Krejci (Czech Republic); Zaccharie Risacher (France)
Miami Heat — Nikola Jovic (Serbia); Pelle Larsson (Sweden); Andrew Wiggins (Canada)
Charlotte Hornets — Moussa Diabaté (France); Josh Green (Australia); Jusuf Nurkic (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Josh Okogie (Nigeria); Tidjane Salaun (France)
Utah Jazz — Lauri Markkanen (Finland); Svi Mykhailiuk (Ukraine); Oscar Tshiebwe (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Sacramento Kings — Trey Lyles (Canada); Domantas Sabonis (Lithuania); Jonas Valanciunas (Lithuania)
New York Knicks — Precious Achiuwa (Nigeria); OG Anunoby (United Kingdom); Pacome Dadiet (France); Ariel Hukporti (Germany)
Los Angeles Lakers — Luka Doncic (Slovenia); Rui Hachimura (Japan); Maxi Kleber (Germany); Christian Koloko (Cameroon); Alex Len (Ukraine)
Orlando Magic — Goga Bitadze (Georgia); Tristan da Silva (Germany); Caleb Houstan (Canada); Cory Joseph (Canada); Ethan Thompson (Puerto Rico); Franz Wagner (Germany); Moritz Wagner (Germany)
Dallas Mavericks — Dante Exum (Australia); Kyrie Irving (Australia); Kai Jones (Bahamas); Dwight Powell (Canada); Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Canada)
Brooklyn Nets — Tosan Evbumwan (United Kingdom); Cam Thomas (Japan)
Denver Nuggets — Vlatko Cancar (Slovenia); Nikola Jokic (Serbia); Jamal Murray (Canada); Dario Saric (Croatia)
Indiana Pacers — Johnny Furphy (Australia); Bennedict Mathurin (Canada); Andrew Nembhard (Canada); Pascal Siakam (Cameroon);
New Orleans Pelicans — Karlo Matkovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Yves Missi (Cameroon); Kelly Olynyk (Canada)
Detroit Pistons — Simone Fontecchio (Italy); Bobi Klintman (Sweden); Dennis Schroder (Germany)
Toronto Raptors — RJ Barrett (Canada); Chris Boucher (Saint Lucia); Ulrich Chomche (Cameroon); A.J. Lawson (Canada); Jakob Poeltl (Austria)
Houston Rockets — Steven Adams (New Zealand); Dillon Brooks (Canada); N’Faly Dante (Mali); Jock Landale (Australia); Jack McVeigh (Australia); Alperen Sengun (Turkey)
San Antonio Spurs — Charles Bassey (Nigeria); Bismack Biyombo (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Sandro Mamukelashvili (Georgia); Jeremy Sochan (Poland); Victor Wemanyama (France)
Phoenix Suns — Bol Bol (Sudan); Vasilije Micic (Serbia); Nick Richards (Jamaica)
Oklahoma City Thunder — Ousmane Dieng (France); Luguentz Dort (Canada); Alex Ducas (Australia); Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada); Isaiah Hartenstein (Germany); Ajay Mitchell (Belgium); Nikola Topic (Serbia)
Minnesota Timberwolves — Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Canada); Jesse Edwards (Netherlands); Rudy Gobert (France); Joe Ingles (Australia); Leonard Miller (Canada)
Portland Trail Blazers — Deni Avdija (Israel); Deandre Ayton (Bahamas); Dalano Banton (Canada); Toumani Camara (Belgium); Sidy Cissoko (France); Duop Reath (South Sudan); Rayan Rupert (France); Shaedon Sharpe (Canada)
Golden State Warriors — Taran Armstrong (Australia); Buddy Hield (Bahamas); Jonathan Kuminga (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Quinten Post (Netherlands); Jackson Rowe (Canada); Gui Santos (Brazil)
Washington Wizards — Bilal Coulibaly (France); Kyshawn George (Switzerland); Alex Sarr (France); Tristan Vukcevic (Italy)
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