Illinois Year in Review | Top freshmen – The News-Gazette

Some of Illinois’ best athletes this past year were also the Illini’s youngest. Beat writer Scott Richey spotlights 10 freshmen that were ahead of the game in 2025-26:

1. Keaton Wagler | Men’s basketball

That Wagler’s No. 23 jersey will soon rise to the State Farm Center rafters is all the evidence necessary to explain his exemplary one-and-done season in Champaign. Consensus Second Team All-American honors secured that future jersey raising ceremony for the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, who broke Kiwane Garris’ 31-year-old freshman scoring record averaging 17.9 points in leading Illinois to the Final Four and later becoming a top 5 NBA draft pick.

2. Luuk Pelkmans | Men’s track and field

Pelkmans made a splash in his Illinois debut, setting a new program record in the heptathlon with 6,127 points. A mark that remains the 11th best in the world this year. The Breda, Netherlands, native added another school record during the outdoor track season, with his 8,079 points to place third in the decathlon at the NCAA outdoor championships after winning the Big Ten title with 8,004 points (the No. 3 mark in program history).

3. JaiCieonna Gero-Holt | Women’s track and field

A redshirt season in 2025 certainly didn’t hurt Gero-Holt. The Illinois multi-event specialist wound up Big Ten Freshman of the Year during the outdoor season after winning the conference title in the heptathlon on the heels of her runner-up finish indoors in the pentathlon. Like Pelkmans, she owns a pair of school records with 4,466 points in the pentathlon as NCAA runner-up and 6,010 points in the heptathlon as the third-place finisher at nationals.

4. Aidan Flinn | Baseball

Freshman All-American honors came from a number of sources for Flinn, with the Illinois right-hander recognized by Baseball America, D1Baseball, Perfect Game and the NCBWA. Flinn finished his first season with the Illini with the lowest ERA by a freshman since 2020 (2.79), the most innings pitched since 2017 (61 1/3) and the most strikeouts since 2013 (58). The Mokena native, who made 13 starts, also walked just 13 batters all season.

5. Cearah Parchment | Women’s basketball

Multiple Illinois freshman records fell during Parchment’s breakout debut season. The 6-3 forward got her name in the record book for most points (463), rebounds (285), double-doubles (12) and best three-point percentage (40.7 percent) by an Illini freshman. Parchment was a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team pick by the conference’s coaches and also claimed honorable mention All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and league media.

6. Gabriel Debru | Men’s tennis

Debru had to contend with an injury that kept him off the court during Illinois’ fall season, but he started the new year healthy and became one of the Illini’s top players. Ranked at one point as the No. 1 junior in the world, Debru went 15-6 in singles play, with eight wins against ranked opponents, and earned both Big Ten All-Freshman Team and All-Big Ten First Team honors while finishing the year No. 18 in the ITA singles rankings.

7. Destiny Jackson | Women’s basketball

Jackson was also a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection after showing up from day one as Illinois’ top playmaker. The 2025 N-G All-State Player of the Year started all 34 games for the Illini in year one and averaged 9.9 points, 5.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds. Jackson’s playmaking saw the 5-6 point guard set not only the program’s freshman record, but also overall single-season record with 176 assists and a 2.32 assist-to-turnover ratio.

8. David Mirkovic | Men’s basketball

Mirkovic would have been a strong Big Ten Freshman of the Year candidate in any other season. The 6-9 Montenegrin simply had to contend with a teammate who was a top five freshman in the country. Mirkovic still played an important role in Illinois’ 28-9 campaign, finishing his debut season with nine double-doubles, leading the team in rebounding and averaging 13.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists as a power forward/point forward.

9. Jonathan Kapitolnik | Men’s track and field

Kapitolnik didn’t have much lead time to his first season in Champaign, arriving as a mid-year enrollee in January after signing in November. The six-time Israeli national high jump champion and 2021 World U20 gold medalist didn’t compete during the indoor season and made his Illinois debut in April. A month later, he was the Big Ten high jump champion before qualifying for the NCAA outdoor championships.

10. Alyssa Aguayo | Volleyball

Aguayo’s “Welcome to D-I volleyball” moment was an impressive one. The 6-foot outside hitter became the first Illini to post a double-double in her debut since Laura DeBruler in 2007 and then became the first to have double-digit kills in each of her first six matches since Jacqueline Quade in 2016. Aguayo started all 29 matches for Illinois last fall and finished second on the team with 294 kills and third with 253 digs and 26 aces.