“Have her here more often”: Brad Underwood’s heartfelt words about Andrej Stojaković steal spotlight amidst Illinois’ big win

Illinois defeated Maryland 89-70 on Wednesday night, bringing their season record to 16-3. Head coach Brad Underwood referred to this Illinois club as a coach's fantasy earlier this season.

Underwood is now raving about Andrej Stojakovic, one of his players. Speaking of him, he claimed to have taken coaching to a very high level. This is a result of the high standards that people have for him. He added that he is an incredible teammate. In addition, he is a fantastic learner and an amazing listener. He went on to say that he is becoming an incredible player. Underwood continued by discussing Stojakovic's mother and how he would like to see her more frequently in the stands.

Brad Underwood praises Andrej Stojaković’s growth, work ethic, and his mother’s presence during press conference

Illini HC Brad Underwood talked about Andrej Stojakovi during a press conference. Stating the same, he said:“Yeah, I think the one thing you have to understand when you win is there's no playoffs. There's no days off. And in this league, if you do that, you get beat. I was really frustrated with the first start of the year because you know, I didn't get to grind on him…”He continued:“I didn't get to just demand and get after it with him defensively, and you know I've always known he was a capable scorer, but you know what do you do the 95% of the time when you don't have the ball,” Underwood started with in his discussion of Stojakovic, per Sahil Mittal of The Daily Illini…”

He then said:“He's taken coaching at a really, really high level. He's had to do it on the fly.

He's had to learn, have a lot expected of him. I mean, maybe more than he's even expected from himself in some cases. But I couldn't be happier. Unbelievable teammate. Great listener..”He continued:“Unbelievable listener and a terrific learner. He wants to learn. He wants to do the other things. And you know, you throw in the nine rebounds tonight from a kid that in games couldn't get a rebound. Yeah, he's turning into one heck of a terrific player.”He also said that he wanted Stojakovic's mother in the stands more often. He added: “She's the most important person in my life by far. She's the peacemaker in my life. It's so nice to have her here these last couple days. If I'm going to play defense like that, we should have her here more often. But no, it's amazing to see her here. She hasn't seen her here…”

Andrej Stojaković steps up as Illinois’ key player as Brad Underwood’s confidence in him continues to grow

Andrej Stojaković made it extremely evident on Wednesday night that he will be Illinois' most crucial player for the upcoming month.

Days after senior guard Kylan Boswell's broken hand kept him out of action until mid-February, the junior wing scored 30 points against Maryland to help No. 11 Illinois (16-3, 7-1) win for the eighth time in a row.Following the press presentation, Stojakovic has recently gained significant attention. He had 20 points, nine rebounds, an assist, and two blocks in the Maryland game. He was scoring points early in the season, but he wasn't contributing in any other way. He scored 23 points against Texas Tech in November, but he only pulled down one rebound and dished out three assists. He is now regularly contributing five or more rebounds, along with a few assists, and having an effect on the court's defense.Underwood's high assessment of Stojakovic was one of his longer responses during the news conference. Illinois will continue to win if his guard plays like this. Stojaković needs to keep up the good work as Illinois plays without Boswell for the next month or so.