Illinois basketball has Final Four and national championship aspirations this coming season, and Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks is a big part of them with fall camp on the horizon.
Vaaks, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound guard/forward from Estonia, played in the Big East during his freshman season with the Providence Friars, scoring 15.8 points per game and shooting 35% from three-point range.
Vaaks left Rhode Island for one of the nation's best programs in recent years, the Fighting Illini, but only after getting an earful from his former coach about his decision, which he revisited during a major team event on Wednesday.
No Regrets for Illinois Transfer
Vaaks was surrounded by teammates at the annual Illinois Basketball Tip-Off Classic at the Champaign-Urbana Kiwanis Club on Wednesday as he strode to the podium to tell his story.
Teammates including freshman sensation Quentin Coleman clapped for him as he got behind the microphone to speak to the crowd.
"Hi, I'm Stefan Vaaks, from Providence, transfer. I'm a sophomore and I want to tell a funny story, how (former coach Kim English) told me, he said I'll regret not being in Providence, I mean, I don't regret," Vaaks said in a video from WCIA-3 Champaign as cheers and applause went up from the crowd and his teammate.
English was replaced by Bryan Hodgson after back-to-back losing seasons with the Friars while Vaaks continues to practice and prepare for the season with one of the nation's best teams.
Vaaks will play for Underwood, a coach with a proven track record of success, including a Final Four appearance in 2025-26, under his belt, which should bode well for his development this season and beyond. Vaaks will almost certainly be one of the Big Ten's youngest starting players, but appears ready for the challenge, surrounded by a mix of newcomers and veterans in Champaign.
Vaaks a Projected Starter
Vaaks is projected to start this season alongside the five-star freshman Coleman in the Fighting Illini backcourt, part of coach Underwood's 'positionless basketball' plans for the team in 2026-27.
Illinois has a roster full of players who are comfortable passing, shooting, and handling the basketball in both an open court and half-court setting giving Underwood plenty of roster flexibility as he puts together his gameplans.
Vaaks averaged 3.2 assists last season, a number that could nearly double as he plays alongside Coleman, an athletic scoring guard, Andrej Stojakovic, a versatile playmaker and outside shooter, and David Mirkovic, a big scoring forward who is recovering from foot surgery.
Expect a big season from the Providence transfer Vaaks, who feels secure that he made the right choice, and is looking to prove he did with Underwood's team on the practice courts this offseason.