Basketball

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

June 5, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – IlliniGuys, it's been a tad slow, but things are about to pick up again for the Illinois men's basketball program.

Here are a few updates to get the blood flowing for Illini Nation in June, so let’s dive right into it.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

June 4, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The silence from former Illinois freshman Will Riley at the NBA Draft deadline last week made it clear: the former 5-star recruit isn't coming back to Champaign as a player. Maybe to visit, but that’s it.

The NBA Draft process is still unfolding, but Riley's camp remains focused. According to his mother Tracy, “Will is still going through the process. He's currently in Los Angeles training. I was with Will at the Combine in Chicago, it was well-run and effective. I think Will did well at the combine, in the gym, and in the interview process. When he was in Los Angeles, part of his training was to prepare him mentally and physically. Will is locked in, focused, and spending countless hours in the gym and recovery.”

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

June 3, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

For the next several days, I will break down one current men’s and women’s basketball player each day and discuss what expectations might be for the upcoming season.

Today’s Double Dribble 2-1 Focus will be Berry Wallace and Andrej Stojakovic (both former McDonald’s All-Americans).

Player Biography: Berry Wallace is a 6-foot-1 combo/wing from Pickerington Central High School in Pickerington, Ohio. A five-star recruit, she was ranked No. 20 nationally by ESPN HoopGurlz and became the third signee in Illinois women’s basketball history to be named a McDonald’s All-American. She was also named the 2024 Ohio Capital Conference Buckeye Division Player of the Year and finished third in Ohio’s Miss Basketball voting.

What we know:

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

June 3, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Cal Athletics)

For the next several days, I will break down one current men’s and women’s basketball player each day and discuss what expectations might be for the upcoming season.

Today's Double Dribble 2-1 Focus will be Andrej Stojakovic and Berry Wallace (Both Former McDonald’s All-Americans).

Player Biography: Andrej Stojakovic is a 6-foot-7 wing and transfer from California. A 2023 McDonald’s All-American, he graduated from Jesuit High School (Carmichael, Calif.) and was ranked a four-star recruit by ESPN and On3 at No. 22 and No. 24, respectively.

Stojakovic started his collegiate career at Stanford during the 2023-24 season, where he made 34 three-pointers, ranking 10th all-time among freshmen in school history, and scored 18 points in back-to-back games against Santa Clara Nov. 14 and Eastern Washington Nov. 17. During his sophomore season at Cal, he led the team in scoring (17.9 PPG, sixth in the ACC), blocked shots 1.2, and also averaged 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 33.4 minutes per game.

What we know:

Jackson Buchanan, a former All-American and four-year starter at Illinois, finishes a 36-hole sectional qualifying round in his home state to qualify for his second United States Open Championship.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

June 2, 2025

Jackson Buchanan has survived what is commonly nicknamed ‘golf’s longest day’ to advance through sectional qualifying into the 2025 United States Open Championship.

The former Illini star player, who recently turned professional following the Illini’s finish in the 2025 NCAA Championships, will play in his second consecutive U.S. Open after making it through local and sectional qualifying stages.

Buchanan fired an 18-under par total over the 36-hole sectional qualifying round with back-to-back 63s at Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta, which is approximately 35 miles from his hometown of Dacula, Georgia. Buchanan finished in second place on Monday in the 84-player field where only five qualifying spots were available.

May 31, 2025

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

For the next several days, I will break down one current men’s and women’s basketball player each day and discuss what expectations might be for the upcoming season.

Today's Double Dribble 2-1 Focus will be Cearah Parchment and Zvonimir Ivisic.

Player Biography: Cearah Parchment is a 6-foot-2 wing from Fort Erie International Academy (CAN).

May 31, 2025

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

For the next several days, I will break down one current men’s and women’s basketball player each day and discuss what expectations might be for the upcoming season.

Today's Double Dribble 2-1 Focus will be Zvonimir Ivisic and Cearah Parchment.

Player Biography: Zvonimir Ivisic,

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 28, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

For the next several days, I will break down one current men’s and women’s basketball player each day and discuss what expectations might be for the upcoming season.

Today's Double Dribble 2-1 Focus will be Gretchen Dolan and Ty Rodgers.

Player Biography: Gretchen Dolan, 5-foot-11, combo guard/wing, a redshirt sophomore from Buffalo, N.Y. (Williamsville South High School)

What we know:

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 28, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

Over the next several days, I will break down one current men’s and women’s basketball player each day and discuss what expectations might be for the upcoming season.

Today's Double Dribble 2-1 Focus will be Ty Rodgers and Gretchen Dolan.

Player Biography: Ty Rodgers, 6-foot-6 combo guard/wing, a redshirt junior from Saginaw, Mich. (Thornton Township, Ill.)

What we know:

After early exit in NCAA Championship, Illinois head coach Mike Small lamented about his team’s finish that will “leave a bad taste in our mouth for a long time”.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 27, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

While watching Max Herendeen finish his individual round of the 2025 NCAA Championships on Memorial Day, Illinois head coach Mike Small was still fuming about how his team’s season ended.

The finish on Sunday, a 18th place that saw the Illini multiple shots away from the Top 15 cutline after 54 holes of competition, is the earliest Illinois has exited the NCAA Championships since 2019.

And the 25-year head coach, who has made it publicly clear his one ambition as the leader of the men’s golf program at Illinois is a national team championship, didn’t mince words when describing his team’s three-day performance in California as “a total meltdown”.

Illinois sophomore Max Herendeen completed a back-to-back Top 30 finish in the NCAA Championships as he completed his final round in California as an individual.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 26, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Max Herendeen’s 2024-25 college golf season ended with a 1-over 73 and a tie for 27th place at the 2025 NCAA Championships.

The Illinois second-year player finished the final round of tbe national tournament playing in front of his coaches and teammates as an individual after the Illini failed to make the Top 15 team cut on Sunday after 54 holes of competition.

Herendeen finished his 72 holes with a 2-over-par 290 total that saw him finish 13 shots behind individual medalist champion Mississippi’s Michael La Sasso. Like most of Herendeen’s tournament and the event for the rest of his teammates, the Bellevue, Washington, native had a roller coaster beginning to his round with a bogey-birdie-bogey-double bogey start on the back nine of the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood restructured his contract to give himself some long-term security and Illini officials got a national no-compete clause. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 26, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.  — Brad Underwood’s new contract shows a fair amount of give-and-take negotiating action where the Illini head coach took a small haircut in salary leading to the potential of more long-term money. 

Officials within the University of Illinois athletics (DIA), specifically Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman, was able to get his men’s basketball head coach to agree to a nationwide no-compete clause by giving Underwood a seven-figure signing bonus and the possibility of more automatic one-year extensions that would guarantee the Illini head coach stay in his current job until after the 2034-35 season. 

Underwood’s base salary of $4.4 million will not change annually throughout the course of the new deal and therefore, the Illini head coach essentially took a $1.5 million total pay cut over the guaranteed six years ($27.9 million to $26.4 million) but that is before you add in an instant $1 million signing bonus, slight increase in Underwood's termination buyout and his annual incentive compensation for simply staying in the current job he has now, it's merely appears to be just a restructuring of money where DIA gets some cash back now to pay it back to Underwood with interest in the back portion incentives of the deal. 

The deal was approved by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees in its meeting in Urbana on May 22. 

In similar vague language

The 2024-25 Illinois men’s golf season is over after they fall below the top 15 team cutline after just 54 holes of competition at the 2025 NCAA Championships.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 25, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The 2024-25 season is over for the University of Illinois men’s golf team at least two days before their own expectations.

Illinois was eliminated Sunday from the 2025 NCAA Championships after just three days of the stroke play format as they failed to make the top 15 team cutline after 54 holes of competition. A 16-over-par 304 team score saw the Illini tumble down the team leaderboard for the second consecutive day and this fall led to Illinois leaving the national tournament before the 72 holes of stroke play were completed for the first time since 2019. The third-round team score on Sunday by Illinois was the fourth-worst number posted in the 30-team field.

Despite posting a 9-over-par team score on Saturday, Illinois can still find itself just three shots from the eighth and final qualifying spot into the match play of the NCAA Championships.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 24, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The view of where Illinois stood on the team leaderboard never looked as bleak on Saturday as it did after Ryan Voois sank his final putt early in the afternoon.

And then the Illinois team got the opportunity to sit back and watch 15 other teams finish its second round of the 2025 NCAA Championships at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

Following several hours of golf chaos on college golf’s biggest national stage, the 9-over-par team score for Illinois didn’t seem nearly as tragic and with two rounds remaining, the Illini still find themselves within striking distance of making the top eight cutline for the match play portion of the tournament.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 24, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Just think: in today’s world, people can pay bills through cell phones, drive cars that help them stay in lanes if they nod off, and hit golf balls 40 to 50 yards farther thanks to technology-enhanced drivers.

In the ever-evolving world of college basketball recruiting, the conversation has shifted dramatically as well. With the explosive growth of the NCAA transfer portal, high school gymnasiums, once sacred scouting grounds for coaches, are beginning to feel outdated.