Basketball

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 17, 2021

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Do not expect to see Andre Curbelo playing in games before the end of the Christmas holiday season.

While still holding details back from the public on the nature of the ongoing condition of his sophomore point guard, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood did make it clear his staff is not aware of a current timeline for Curbelo’s active return to not only games but practices.

December 14, 2021

This past weekend it was easy to be caught up in one of the biggest non-conference basketball games at the State Farm Center in decades.

If ever there was a time to have one of the nation's top prospects on campus, this was it. Akil Watson, a 6-foot-9, 200-pound forward from Roselle, New Jersey, saw one of the best college basketball games at the State Farm Center in a while.

IlliniGuys Staff December 14, 2021 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Put […]

December 13, 2021

Oct. 19, 2017, is the date Illinois basketball changed for the better in the late 2000s. Former All-American guard Ayo Dosunmu committed on that date to the Fighting Illini.

Dosunmu, the five-star recruit, picked Illinois over Cincinnati, Florida State, Butler, Iowa State, Kansas, Marquette, Missouri, Oklahoma State, USC, Texas A & M, and Xavier.

Everything about Dosunmu, from my first conversation to my last, has been nothing but first-class; you do not expect an 18-year-old young man to have that kind of charisma and professionalism at the same time.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The word soft being thrown around after games at State Farm Center is becoming a little too common for Illinois head coach Brad Underwood to handle.

Following a 83-79 loss to No. 11 Arizona Saturday, the Illini fifth-year head coach found himself calling his team that four-letter word to describe his basketball team in clearly the most frustrated Underwood looked and sounded since the loss to Missouri in the 2019 Braggin’ Rights Game.

“Put it in all caps. Softness. Soft,” Underwood stated. “Have you guys ever known my teams to be that? And that I have a hard time with. When people are taking your ball and we’re not tough enough to get a stop on a good player when we need to, that’s something I gotta get right.”

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst

December 12, 2021

The State Farm Center was rocking and Trent Frazier was rolling, but the Illini fell to #1 NET ranked Arizona 83-79 in a high level basketball game. Frazier led Illinois with 27 points and 5 steals, while Alfonso Plummer continued his hot shooting with 25 points, but Ben Mathurin scored 30 to lead an Arizona team that moved to 9-0 on the season.

These 3 Things...

Mike Cagley, IlliniGuy December 12, 2021 The Arizona Wildcats […]

IlliniGuys Staff December 11, 2021 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Trent […]

Illinois sophomore point guard Andre Curbelo continues to categorized as inactive with the reasoning for his absence being publicly withheld. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 11, 2021

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois will likely be, once again, without one of its star pieces for a matchup against a Top 15 opponent this weekend with the reason and timetable being a mystery. 

By Kedric Prince – IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

December 10, 2021

Akil Watson, a 6-foot-9, 200-pound small forward from Roselle, New Jersey, is one of the nation's top forwards, ranked nationally in the top 60 in the 2023 class. It is no longer a secret that the Illinois basketball staff has put themselves in the best position in over a decade when it comes to recruiting. They are consistently landing top four or five recruits, which will pay dividends on the court. 

Watson is a recruit Illinois has put the hard press on and is a prospect this staff would love to land.  This weekend, it is Watson who will take a very hard look at Illinois with a visit to campus and a deeper dive into all that this program - and the U of I community - has to offer.

IlliniGuys Staff December 9, 2021 AUSTIN, Texas -- The […]

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting 

December , 2021

Kris Parker courtesy newsbreak.com

Kris Parker, a 6-foot-6, 170-pound shooting guard from Quincy, Florida

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) December 8, 2021 Champaign, […]

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst

December 7, 2021

The Illini backed up their home win last week with a big road win in Iowa City. The Illini got 21 points apiece from Alfonso Plummer and Jacob Grandison, 18 from Trent Frazier and a dominant 17 and 18 from Kofi Cockburn to move to 2-0 in league play and 7-2 overall. The nation’s leading scorer, Keegan Murray, finished with 19 points but only had 2 in the first half and took 15 shots to do it.

Illinois struggled with 18 turnovers, and Iowa got 26 points off of those turnovers, but dominated the offensive glass 52-23 and won the second chance points battle 24-11.

Here’s a look at what we saw:

Mike Cagley, IlliniGuys December 7, 2021 Tonight, the Illini […]