Orange and Blue News caught up with Matt Moreno from Golden Bear Report to get his take on what transfer wing Andrej Stojakovic will bring to the court for Illinois.

A 6-foot-7 small forward, Stojakovic signed with Illinois on Monday after a late surge from Stanford and North Carolina. Stojakovic played his freshman season at Stanford before transferring to Cal.

Stojakovic had a breakout season with the Golden Bears. He finished sixth in the ACC in scoring at 17.9 points per game and added averaged 4.7 rebounds.

Stojakovic went on a tear in the ACC Tournament averaging averaging 33.0 points per game on 57.1% shooting from the floor across two contests.

He scored a career-high 37 points in a loss to Stanford, marking the most points scored in an ACC Tournament game since 2013 and the most ever in an ACC Tournament second-round contest.

In 61 career total games spanning two college seasons, Stojakovic has averaged 12.6 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 42% from the floor, including 32.1% from 3-point range, and 76.6% from the free-throw line.

Stojakovic was a 2023 McDonald's All-American, graduating from Jesuit High School. He was ranked No. 19 nationally by 247 Sports, No. 22 by ESPN, No. 35 by On3, and No. 41 by Rivals in the Class of 2023.

Stojakovic’s development from the start of the season was really impressive to watch. Early on he proved himself as a capable scorer, but he often took far too many shots to hit some of his high scoring numbers. By the end of the season he had become much more efficient making him even more effective for the Bears.

His ability to hit shots from 3-point range is a plus, but his bread and butter sits in his ability to get to the basket. He has a knack for making aggressive plays to the hoop, and that was on display often throughout his time at Cal. He’s a strong free-throw shooter overall, and he can get to the line with regularity.

The part of his game that really started to shine most by the end of the season was his defense. (Cal coach) Mark Madsen often called Stojakovic Cal’s most important defender, and he proved that quite often late in the season. He had nine games with multiple blocks, and truly became a catalyst for everything Cal wanted to do on that end of the floor.

The Bears looked like a different team defensively when he wasn’t out there. He is a player Cal was hoping to build around heading into the fall, so it is a big loss for Madsen and company.

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