Illinois has turned the usual narratives associated with a Brad Underwood-led squad on their head in the 2026 offseason. Sure, the Illini lost four players to the transfer portal. But among this past season's rotational pieces, everyone with remaining eligibility appears poised to run it back ( save for projected NBA Draft lottery pick Keaton Wagler, understandably ). There may not be another school in the country that has seen the transfer portal poach as much talent from its program as the Illini have over the past few years. But this time around, Illinois should – assuming Andrej Stojakovic ultimately forgoes the NBA Draft – be in the clear. Thanks to NIL, losing players to transfers will be an annual routine for almost every college basketball program moving forward. So the measure of an offseason now will have less to do with who was lost to the portal and more to do with whether a team, on balance, got better. Given who Illinois is losing to expired eligibility and the NBA, that will be a tall order.…