Basketball

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 15, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy MadeHoops.com)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The NCAA transfer portal has become the focal point of college basketball roster building in recent years, and few have adapted to that trend as efficiently as Illinois head coach Brad Underwood. Since the NCAA relaxed its transfer rules, Underwood and his staff have utilized the portal to bring in experienced talent and fill roster needs.

However, despite their success in the portal, Illinois is now making a return to high school recruiting, a more traditional, long-term approach that has started to reappear in the Illini’s strategy. The staff is making it clear that high school recruiting still has value, and they are actively offering scholarships to promising underclassmen.

By Larry Smith - Co-Host & Executive Producer, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

July 11, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Kasparas Jakucionis turned his nine months on the University of Illinois campus into becoming the 17th Illini to earn a first round selection in the NBA Draft and the 25th to be picked among the top 30 players in the annual dispersal of talent.

But with that lofty status comes expectations and, of course, criticism.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 10, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – IlliniGuys confirmed Thursday morning through multiple sources that Destiny Jackson, the 2025 Illinois Ms. Basketball and Gatorade Player of the Year, has suffered a minor thumb injury that will require surgery.

Jackson, a nationally ranked guard who starred at Whitney Young High School in Chicago, is part of Illinois’ heralded 2025 recruiting class. She averaged 21.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.8 steals per game during her senior season. ESPN ranks Jackson at No. 29 nationally, and she headlines a class ranked 9th in the country and 1st in the Big Ten.

By IlliniGuys Staff

July 10, 2025

The annual NBA Summer League in Las Vegas will have plenty of reasons for Illini fans to rune in, as five former Illinois players will be in uniform during the midsummer tournament, featuring recent draft picks and free agents.

Leading the way is 2024 Minnesota Timberwolves first round pick Terrence Shannon Jr., who came off the bench to score 35 points in 37 minutes in the T'wolves' final three games in the Western Conference finals against eventual NBA champion Oklahoma City. The spurt raised eyebrows and caused sports writers and broadcasters across the country to ask why the 24-year old hadn't seen more playing time prior to that stretch.

The former All-Big Ten performer is expected to dominate the summer tournament, after averaging 17.7 points in three games last summer and scoring an eye-popping 36.5 points per outing on 55 percent shooting during a four-game stretch with the G-League's Iowa Wolves last winter.

Shannon is projected to play a much larger role in his sophomore season in Minnesota, while last month's first rounders - Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley - look to make their mark for their respective Miami and Washington squads.

Former UNLV head coach Kevin Kruger has been added […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 9, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Austin Souvanarath)

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 features Illinois guard Kylan Boswell and women's center Naomi Benson

Player Biography: Naomi Benson, a 6-foot-2 wing from Streetsboro, Ohio, may be one of the most underrated preps in the country. According to ESPNW, Benson closed out the 2025 recruiting cycle ranked No. 96. But judging by the offers she received and the caliber of schools in her final 10, it’s clear Illinois head coach Shauna Green saw something special early. Green had been recruiting Benson since her sophomore year of high school.

Benson’s final 10 schools were: DePaul, Alabama, Cal, Virginia Tech, Michigan, Penn State, Wake Forest, Memphis, Mississippi State, and Illinois.

What we know:

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 9, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

During the course of this summer, 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 features Illinois guard Kylan Boswell and women's center Naomi Benson

Player Biography: Kylan Boswell is no stranger to Champaign. The 6-foot-2 guard becomes the third player in recent years from the area to suit up for his home-state university, joining former Centennial High School standouts Rayvonte Rice and Trent Meacham.

Boswell, born in 2005, lived in Urbana-Champaign through eighth grade before moving out west and eventually starring at AZ Compass Prep in Phoenix. He reclassified in the summer of 2022 and went on to play two seasons at Arizona before transferring to Illinois this offseason.

What we know:

Brian Campbell, a former Big Ten Player of the […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 6, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Last week, the Illinois women’s basketball program hosted one of the top 45 recruits in the country, according to ESPNW. Gigi Battle, a 5-foot-11 guard from DME Academy in Florida, is ranked No. 42 in the 2026 class.

Illinois has become a destination for elite talent under head coach Shauna Green. The program recently secured one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, and sources close to the program note that in just four years, the Illini have gone from building a roster to selecting from a deeper talent pool, its fueled by a winning culture and roster stability, it's why players like Battle are making Champaign a stop on their recruiting journeys.

After declining the invitation last summer to stay in Champaign to work out with his Illini teammates, Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer returned to the Manning Passing Academy last weekend.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

July 4, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

As a native Mississippian who began his college career at the University of Mississippi, Luke Altmyer understood one of the unwritten rules of his home state is you don’t tell Archie Manning ‘no thanks’ twice in your lifetime.

Therefore, when the Illinois starting quarterback got the phone call invitation from the College Football Hall of Fame recipient, Altmyer knew his answer in 2025 needed to be drastically different than one year ago.

Altmyer attended the Manning Passing Academy last weekend in Thibodaux, Louisiana, which has become not only one of the largest quarterback training overnight camps in the country but also a rite of passage over several years for highly touted college quarterbacks to serve as camp counselors.

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

July 3, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Happy Independence Day. Let's dig into some practice notes before we light up the grill for some holiday eats!

We all expected Brandon Lee to have the physical strength and ability to play early, and he has been better at handling the pressure from guards like Boswell early on than expected.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 2, 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 features Lety Vasconcelos and Ben Humrichous

Player Profile: Lety Vasconcelos is a 6-foot-7 sophomore center and will be one of the tallest players in the Big Ten Conference this season. A product of Montverde Academy in Florida, she began her career as a top-40 national recruit at Baylor University before transferring to Illinois. After missing last season with a major ACL injury, Vasconcelos now enters a pivotal year where her health and presence in the paint could dramatically change the trajectory of Illinois’ season.

What We Know:

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 2, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

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 Ben Humrichous and Lety Vasconcelos

Player Biography: Ben Humrichous is a 6-foot-9 graduate student from Tipton, Indiana. Prior to Illinois, he played at Evansville. Known for his outstanding shooting ability, Humrichous arrived in Champaign with a reputation as a high-level scorer. There was speculation that he might not return this season, but ultimately, he decided Illinois was still the best fit.

What we know:

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 1, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – During Will Riley’s AAU Nike Summer sessions, NBA chatter was already beginning to follow him. The talk of being a potential one-and-done prospect was real. At 6-foot-8 and 185 pounds, the combo wing quickly earned a reputation as a natural scorer.

When Illinois associate head coach Orlando Antigua first saw Riley in action on the Nike AAU circuit, he immediately alerted head coach Brad Underwood to prioritize the recruitment. The Illini staff recognized early on that Riley was a difference-maker, and so did programs like Arkansas, Kentucky, Arizona, Michigan, Texas Tech, and Villanova.

A native of Kitchener, Ontario, Riley made an instant impact at Illinois. In his freshman debut, he poured in 31 points against Eastern Illinois, setting a school record for the most points by a freshman in a debut. It also marked the first time a Big Ten freshman had scored at least 30 points in a season opener since Nov. 12, 2007.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

June 29, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Since the moment Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis stepped foot on the Illinois campus, talk of his NBA future was unavoidable. Scouts, analysts, and coaches alike touted the Lithuanian guard as a potential lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

But when June 25 arrived, the one-time projected lottery pick slid to the No. 20 overall selection.

After the draft concluded, a source with NBA ties shed light on why Jakucionis went from lottery lock to a late first-rounder.