The Big Question: Where Does Mihailo Petrovic Belong in Recruiting Rankings?

Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic

Although 247Sports eventually assigned former Illini guard Kasparas Jakucionis a ranking last fall, the Lithuanian native landed with Illinois well before he was tabbed a four-star prospect. But in the case of Jakucionis, scouts got to see him compete against America’s top amateur recruits in the Nike Hoop Summit. Ultimately, the 6-foot-6 lead guard was rated the nation’s No. 36 recruit (2024).

As for Tomislav Ivisic, the Croatian big man had played in the Adriatic League – just like Petrovic – but hadn’t exactly had a prime opportunity to showcase his abilities against his American peers. Without a ton of context or comparative information with which to form an opinion, 247Sports settled on a No. 52 ranking for Ivisic (also 2024) – which, in hindsight, appears fairly accurate.

What about Mihailo Petrovic?

We can assume that Petrovic will earn a ranking from 247Sports at some point, but as of now he hasn't been assigned one. Here is our best approximation of where Petrovic should land. Let's start with a side-by-side of Petrovic and Ivisic’s stats in the Adriatic League:

It's worth noting that Petrovic is 22 years old, while Ivisic was 20 when compiling those numbers. Still, Petrovic’s age doesn’t factor into his ranking in the class of 2025. Clearly, his experience is an inherent advantage, but rankings are purely based on, subjectively, who the better player is.

Does this mean that if Ivisic were the No. 52 recruit that Petrovic should be top 20? Of course not. Similar to high school basketball, just because Player A averaged 25.0 points (and had a greater impact) while Player B averaged 18.0 points doesn’t automatically make Player A the "better" pick. Player B may have a game that is better suited for college, for example, which brings us back to our Petrovic-Ivisic comparison. (Ivisic’s skill set is perfect for the college game – and especially in Underwood’s system.)

Still, Petrovic’s combination of scoring and playmaking, along with that aforementioned experience, would indisputably put him in the top 100 of any recruiting rankings. If his jumper were a true weapon (1.0 three per game, on 33.3 percent shooting), Petrovic would be a surefire top-50 prospect. But as an only adequate shooter and a so-so defender at best, we’ll slide him into the next tier down and list him as the sixth-best point guard in his class of 2025.Illinois on SI verdict: Petrovic belongs in the Nos. 50-60 range.

Click here for a full scouting report on Mihailo Petrovic

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