Basketball

IlliniGuys Staff January 25, 2022 (Cover photo courtesy Joe […]

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting 

January 25, 2022

Barring a transfer at the end of the season, which is always possible, Brad Underwood and his staff will shift their focus to the class of 2023.

Connor Cagley, IlliniGuys Basketball Writer January 25, 2022 Essentials […]

Take 1 - Illinois head coach Brad Underwood’s message […]

January 24, 2022

Seven weeks until Selection Sunday.  Let's take care of a few things:

Resetting The Illini

Last week wasn't what Illinois fans were expecting a week ago.  A chance to prove they are the best team in the Big Ten followed up by another conference road win at lowly Maryland.  Neither happened.

Get over it.

Step back and look at the big picture.  With everything that's happened this season, Illinois enters the week one game out of first place in the Big Ten and that can be rectified with a home win Tuesday night over frontrunner Michigan State.  That's incredible and beating the Spartans is very doable.

Maybe you no longer believe that the Illini should be in the conversation as a national championship contender and maybe you're right.  But for me, it's far too early to write them off.  Few teams find extreme success without their two All-American caliber players getting the chance to play together.  AND potentially the nation's top defensive player gutting it out through a shoulder that needs surgery

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

January 22, 2022

Getting student-athletes on campus to see what you have to sell is a big part in recruiting—Monday's instant classic between Purdue and Illinois

2021 Hall-of-Fame Class Honors Pre-1950s Legends DIA Press Release […]

Mike Cagley, IlliniGuy January 22, 2022 The Illini went […]

IlliniGuys Staff January 21, 2022 COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- […]

Connor Cagley, IlliniGuys Basketball Writer January 21, 2022 Essentials: […]

For the first time since returning to action, Illinois sophomore guard Andre Curbelo described the feelings of his two-month absence that included physical, mental and emotional pain. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

January 20, 2022

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- While several people around him speculate and have questions about the difficulty of what he’s attempting on the basketball court now, Andre Curbelo believes the hard part is over. 

The sophomore point guard returned to the active lineup Monday in a 25-minute session during the double-overtime loss to Purdue but nothing he did in that afternoon was as taxing to his mind and body as trying to figure out the recovery from a long list of consistent symptoms from a severe head injury. 

“It’s scary when you don’t really have a lot of answers and you don’t have a lot of knowledge of what’s going on,” Curbelo said. “There was a time where I was like, ‘This seems like it’s going to be forever. This seems like I’m never going to be back.’ Typical college athlete mindset when you get an injury like this, you start thinking about the worst because you don’t want to be in shock when you get the news that either you can’t play or you can’t do this, you can’t do that for this long.”

By Larry Smith - IlliniGuys Staff January 20, 2022 […]

Mike Cagley, IlliniGuy January 19, 2022 There's a lot […]

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst

January 18, 2022

Close, But No Cigar

The Illini fell in a double overtime thriller to #4 Purdue by a score of 96-88. The Illini battled for 50 minutes, battling back at the end of regulation and the first overtime, but Purdue pulled away in the second overtime as the Illini fatigued against the greater Purdue depth. Andre Curelo returned to score 20 points and Alfonso Plummer added 24, but All American Kofi Cockburn battled foul trouble and scored just 10 points against the deep Purdue frontline. 

Here’s what we saw. 

January 18, 2022

I usually don't have much to say (waits for the guffaws to subside) or at least I wait until the next episode of the Sports Spectacular to say it.  But I thought I would jot down a few random thoughts about the Purdue game.

You Have To Be On The Floor To Score

There's a reason Kofi Cockburn posted season-lows in points, rebounds, and minutes played.  Just 22 minutes of action for the junior All-American center, resulting in his worst overall stat line since late in his freshman year (6 points, 3 rebounds in 23 minutes in loss at Ohio State on March 5, 2020).