Basketball

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 […]

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The “California cool” mentality that Jacob Grandison has mastered as a 23-year-old college basketball player was learned in his kindergarten gym class. 

Following a 21-2 run in a first half where everything was going wrong for Illinois and the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd was alive for the first time Monday night, Grandison stood around unphased, unrattled and calm to lead the Illini to its first true road win of the 2021-22 season. Grandison, who finished with a team-high 21 points off the bench in the 87-83 win at Iowa, let his athletic ability do the talking - something he learned from his father James before a memorable sprint race among kindergarten-age athletes in the Oakland, Calif. area. 

Kedric Prince, Mike Cagley, and Matt Stevens break down […]

IlliniGuys Staff December 6, 2021 IOWA CITY, Ia. -- […]

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting
December 4, 2021

Morez Johnson courtesy IlliniGuys Mike Cagley

Morez Johnson, a 6-foot-9, 210-pound power forward, committed orally Oct. 2 to the Fighting Illini.

IlliniGuys Staff December 4, 2021 (Cover photo NCAA.com) LEXINGTON, […]

Brad Sturdy, IlliniGuy

December 4, 2021

Dom-I-Nation

The Illini got off to a great start in Big Ten play with an 86-51 drubbing of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the conference opener.

Mike Cagley, IlliniGuy December 4, 2021 The Illini stopped […]

Illinois sophomore forward Coleman Hawkins has his best game on the defensive end to lead to 86-51 victory over Rutgers.

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 3, 2021

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- There had to be a moment this week where Coleman Hawkins just got sick of hearing the name Ron Harper Jr. 

IlliniGuys Staff December 3, 2021 (Cover photo courtesy Joe […]