basketball recruiting

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

December 14, 2024

The top ranked Tennessee Volunteers are invading Champaign on Saturday as the Illini look to grab another signature win in what should be a rocking State Farm Center. The Illini are coming off of a win over #20 Wisconsin this week and are looking for another signature win in their difficult non-conference schedule.

Here are the particulars.

Setting the Stage

Illinois (7-2, 1-1 B1G) vs. #1ap/1 Tennessee (9-0)
Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024 // 4:30 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center
TV: FOX – Jeff Levering (Play-by-Play) & Robbie Hummel (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iy8WFzhS-k    

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) Illinois vs. Bradley - […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

December 11, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Monday was the start of an official visit for Alexander Constanza, one of the nation's top 25 basketball prospects in the class of 2026. During Illinois’ Big Ten home opener against the Wisconsin Badgers on Tuesday night, Constanza shared his thoughts on the visit and his future.

Constanza, a five-star recruit, discussed the possibility of reclassifying to join college basketball earlier than anticipated.

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst

December 10, 2024

The Illini are back at the State Farm Center for the first time in two weeks in their Big Ten home opener against #20 Wisconsin. Following their loss to Northwestern, this is almost a must win game for Illinois as they host #1 Tennessee Saturday and have an improved Missouri team in St. Louis along with a game at Oregon in the next month.

Let’s look at the particulars.

Setting the Stage

Illinois (6-2, 0-1 B1G) vs. #20/22 Wisconsin (8-2, 0-1 B1G)
Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024 // 8 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center
Stream: Peacock – Noah Eagle (Play-by-Play) & Robbie Hummel (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas

Notable

-Illinois is 5-0 at home this season. Illinois is No. 12 in the NCAA NET rankings through games played Dec. 8. The Illini rank first in the Big Ten.

-Illinois’ matchup vs. #20 Wisconsin is the first of back-to-back games against ranked opponents this week. Illinois also hosts #1 Tennessee on Saturday (4:30 p.m. CT/FOX) at State Farm Center.

-The Illini rank third in the nation with a scoring margin of +23.8. Illinois’ 13-point win vs. #19 Arkansas was the largest by an unranked Illinois team over a top-25 foe under head coach Brad Underwood. Before the matchup with the Razorbacks, the Illini were coming off of the team’s two largest victory margins of the season – vs. UMES (+47, 87-40) and vs. Little Rock (+58, 92-34).

-Kasparas Jakucionis has scored 20+ points in three consecutive games, becoming the first Illini freshman to do so in program history. Jakucionis is the fifth freshman of the Brad Underwood Era to record at least three total 20-point games in his rookie season, joining Ayo Dosunmu (7 in 2018-19), Trent Frazier (5 in 2017-18), Giorgi Bezhanishvili (5 in 2018-19), and Kofi Cockburn (5 in 2019-20).

By IlliniGuys Staff December 10, 2024   Here's what […]

By IlliniGuys Staff

December 9, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Stock Risers)

CHAMPAIGN, IL – The Illini are off to a strong start this season with a 6-2 record, but while the games are underway, recruiting efforts are relentless. Illinois is hosting a big-time prospect, four-star wing Alexander Constanza, a 6-foot-8, 190-pound small forward from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on an official visit starting today.

Illinois late-game execution - especially defensively on Northwestern’s leading scorer Nick Martinelli - showed the Illini’s lack of experience and cohesion early in this 2024-25 season.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 7, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

EVANSTON, Ill. — Sometimes sports is as simple as letting your opponent walk themselves right into defending your best player over and over and over again.

This is how Northwestern head coach Chris Collins described the overtime period on Friday night that saw his leading scorer, Nick Martinelli score seven straight points in a two-and-a-half minute stretch to lead Northwestern to a 70-66 upset win over No. 19 Illinois in overtime.

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst

December 6, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

The Illini have enjoyed their week off but they begin what is a high major gauntlet on Friday night as they head to Evanston to take on Northwestern for their Big Ten opener. The Cats are coming off a heartbreaking loss in their Big Ten opener at Iowa, while the Illini are coming off of a big win over Arkansas on Thanksgiving and have seen their national profile explode.

Let’s look at the particulars.

Setting the Stage

#19/17 Illinois (6-1, 0-0 B1G) at Northwestern (6-3, 0-1 B1G)
Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 // 8 p.m. CT // Evanston, Ill. // Welsh-Ryan Arena
TV: BTN – Kevin Kugler (Play-by-Play) & Robbie Hummel (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Doug Altenberger

Notable

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

December 3, 2024

The Illinois basketball team is off to a 5-1 start after their win over Arkansas on Thanksgiving Day and now will take the week to prepare for a daunting upcoming schedule and the beginning of Big Ten play. The Illini will travel to Evanston on Friday evening to take on the always tough Northwestern Wildcats before heading home to take on one of the biggest surprises in the country in the #11 Wisconsin Badgers on Tuesday in a key matchup of top 25 teams. Then #3 Tennessee comes to town on Saturday December 14th. A week off for finals and the Illini head to St. Louis to face a much improved Missouri team in a rivalry tussle at noon on December 22. All before Christmas.

By IlliniGuys Staff December 2, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

By IlliniGuys Staff December 2, 2024 The Illinois men's […]

(From Illinois Sports Information Office)  #19/19 Illinois at […]

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) December 1, 2024 CHAMPAIGN, […]

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

November 28, 2024

It’s finally here. After much hype and anticipation, the Illinois v Arkansas matchup on Thanksgiving Day in Kansas City has arrived. The matchup features a ton of storylines, brother v brother, coach v coach, etc., but most importantly this is a key non-conference matchup between two teams that have a great opportunity to go deep in March. A win on Thursday not only means that the turkey tastes better, but gives the winner a key win for seeding in the 2025 NCAA tournament.

Let’s look at the matchup.

Setting the Stage

Thanksgiving Hoops Showcase
Illinois (5-1) vs. #19/#21 Arkansas (5-1)
Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 // 3 p.m. CT // Kansas City, Mo. // T-Mobile Center
TV: CBS – Ian Eagle (Play-by-Play), Bill Raftery (Analyst), John Rothstein (Reporter) Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas

Notable

*Illinois (5-1) closes a stretch of four games in nine days across three different cities, with a Thanksgiving Day matchup against No. 19-ranked Arkansas (5-1) in the Thanksgiving Hoops Showcase at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. (3 p.m. CT/CBS).

*The Illini are coming off of the team’s two largest victory margins of the season – vs. UMES (+47, 87-40) on Saturday and vs. Little Rock (+58, 92-34) on Monday – to improve to 5-0 at home this season, with an average scoring margin of 38.8 points.

*Monday’s win over Little Rock marked the 148th victory of Brad Underwood’s Illini tenure. In his eighth season in Champaign, Underwood now ranks fifth on the Illinois all-time coaching wins list.

*Newcomers to the Illini roster have accounted for 90.1% of the team’s scoring so far (484 of 534 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 38.7% of those points (207).

*Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks among the top teams nationally in: scoring margin (7th in NCAA, +30.2), 3-point attempts per game (1st, 34.3), 3-pointers made per game (10th, 11.3), total rebounds per game (1st, 50.2), rebound margin (1st, +17.3), defensive rebounds per game (3rd, 34.5), and offensive rebounds per game (13th, 15.7)