Basketball

Cockburn named preseason Big Ten Player of the Year

Cockburn named preseason Big Ten Player of the Year

Illini's Cockburn voted  Big Ten preseason Player of the […]

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Top 25 Incoming Freshmen Basketball Players (#25-16)

Top 25 Incoming Freshmen Basketball Players (#25-16)

Connor Cagley, IlliniGuys Basketball Writer October 26, 2021 Here […]

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Mike Cagley's Heat Checks and Hail Marys - The Double Feature Edition - Football's 9 OT Victory & a Stellar Basketball Exhibition

Mike Cagley's Heat Checks and Hail Marys - The Double Feature Edition - Football's 9 OT Victory & a Stellar Basketball Exhibition

Mike Cagley, IlliniGuy October 24, 2021 Today is a […]

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Trent Frazier’s Defensive Prowess Leads Illini in Exhibition Opener Blowout

Trent Frazier’s Defensive Prowess Leads Illini in Exhibition Opener Blowout

Illinois super-senior guard Trent Frazier’s leadership piece to this 2021-22 roster was evident early and often in the Illini’s 67-point win in an exhibition opener.

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

October 24, 2021

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- As far as this coaching staff and veteran players are concerned, Illinois accomplished every goal set out for this exhibition opener.

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Illini Welcome Return Of Fans To State Farm Center With Exhibition Game Rout

Illini Welcome Return Of Fans To State Farm Center With Exhibition Game Rout

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - For the first time in 593 days, fans were allowed in State Farm Center to root on their Fighting Illini team and they weren't disappointed.  Kofi Cockburn and Austin Hutcherson scored 14 points each as Illinois rolled to an exhibition win over St. Francis, 101-34 Saturday night.

For all but just a handful of players, this was the first time that most on the Illinois roster played a home game in front of fans as the arena was limited primarily to staff, family, and the media last season.  Illinois' last home game with a full house was back on March 8, 2020 for a win over Iowa.

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Illini-St. Francis (IL) Preview

Illini-St. Francis (IL) Preview

Connor Cagley, IlliniGuys Basketball Writer October 23, 2021 The […]

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Illinois transfer center has found his home

Illinois transfer center has found his home

Omar Payne, a 6-foot-10, 225-pound power forward from Kissimmee, Florida, started his career as a Florida Gator. But things did not go as planned for Payne.

Coming out of high school, Payne was considered as one of the country's top centers in the class of 2019. One recruiting service ranked Payne ahead of the current Illinois All-American center Kofi Cockburn.

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Recruiting: 2023 prospect Kylan Boswell recaps visit

Recruiting: 2023 prospect Kylan Boswell recaps visit

There are recruits, and then there are big-time recruits. The Fighting Illini have put themselves in a great position with one of the nation's top 20 basketball players in the class of 2023.

Kylan Boswell, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard from Chandler, Arizona, Prep School, is originally from Champaign. The family moved to California when Kylan entered his freshman year of high school.

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Underwood Believes Exhibition Games With Fans Will Be Valuable For Illini

Underwood Believes Exhibition Games With Fans Will Be Valuable For Illini

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Brad Underwood made it clear why his program chose the option of starting the 2021-22 season with two exhibition games against sub-Division I competition. 

The Illinois fifth-year head coach knows there will be a 594-day gap between the last time this program played a home game in front of fans. Only four players on this current Illinois roster (Trent Frazier, Da’Monte Williams, Kofi Cockburn and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk) has experience of playing at State Farm Center with thousands of fans in the stands. 

“Just the idea of getting 15,000 (fans) back in here excites me and I’m looking forward to seeing how our guys react to that,” said Underwood said Thursday morning.

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Recruiting: Quick notes from IlliniGuys Insiders Sturdy & Prince

Recruiting: Quick notes from IlliniGuys Insiders Sturdy & Prince

IlliniGuys.com Insider Brad Sturdy and Director of Recruiting Kedric Prince have been hard at work getting the inside scoop on the Illini's top targets.  Here are their notes posted earlier today on the IlliniGuys members-only message forums:

Ty Rodgers will take his final visit to Alabama this weekend and should be deciding within 7 to 10 days after that. Obviously, Illinois...

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Ayo Provides Solid NBA Debut in Bulls Season-Opening Win

Ayo Provides Solid NBA Debut in Bulls Season-Opening Win

Former Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu finished the Chicago Bulls’ […]

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Recruiting:  2023 Hot Board

Recruiting: 2023 Hot Board

It’s extremely early for the class of 2023, so right now the list of prospects is very long. The Ilini have had numerous players on campus this fall with more on the way. Here’s a look at many of the 2023 options we have a read on at this point.

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Recruiting:  Davius Loury has flown under the radar, but not anymore

Recruiting: Davius Loury has flown under the radar, but not anymore

Davius Loury is a 6-foot-7, 205-pound power forward from Chicago who Illinois fans will get to know a lot more about in the coming weeks. 

Loury was injured, according to sources, so he is not considered nationally ranked by the recruiting gurus, but several of those sites have missed the boat with Loury. A number of DI coaches could care less about a ranking system. They know talent when they see it; that is why he has a big-time list of DI offers in recent months: LSU, Purdue, Oklahoma and Nebraska to go along with the offer from his home state university. 

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Recruiting:  2022 Hot Board

Recruiting: 2022 Hot Board

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider October 14, 2021 […]

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Recruiting: One of the nation’s best visits Illinois

Recruiting: One of the nation’s best visits Illinois

Taylor is a throwback from Kevin Garnett, Magic Johnson, and former Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu. The tall multi-talented wing can do it all: he can put it on the floor like a guard, he is able to abuse opponents on the block, and he is amazing in the open court. When you see a player his size, naturally, one would think of sticking him in the post. My honest assessment: Taylor might be better at a guard spot. 

Rumor was the plan for Taylor to never to see a college floor, but he put that to rest last Saturday morning.

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