Basketball

A restraining order/injunction filed by Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. against the University of Illinois for an immediate removal of Shannon’s suspension will be heard in federal court on Friday.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

January 10, 2024

Terrence Shannon’s hearing against the University of Illinois in federal district court has been set for a Friday afternoon in the form of a video conference appointment. 

The graduate senior guard, who filed for a temporary restraining order Monday in Champaign County Court in order to immediately return to the University of Illinois basketball team, has seen his case moved to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. According to federal court filings, the initial judge assigned to the case, Colin Stirling Bruce, recused himself on Tuesday and judge Colleen R. Lawless was assigned Tuesday morning. 

The representation for Shannon, which includes attorneys Mark P. Sutter, Rob Lang, Steve Beckett and Mark Goldenberg, apparently didn't need to refile the motion for the restraining order in federal court, as it was attached to the removal notice and the judge decided to take up the motion as is based on the limited info available. Lawless ordered the representation for the University of Illinois, University of Illinois Board of Trustees and University of Illinois System president Timothy L. Killeen - which includes attorney Peter G. Land - to file a response to Shannon’s temporary restraining order request by Thursday, and set a hearing date for Friday at 1:30 p.m. CST to be done by video teleconferencing. 

Brad Sturdy, Co-Host IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular & Big Sports […]

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

January 8, 2024

Typically, the Illinois men's basketball program does not bring in a large number of recruits during the season. Why? Illinois head coach Brad Underwood allows his coaches a more hands-on approach when it comes to coaching responsibilities. 

A year after qualifying for the 2023 NCAA Tournament, […]

Brad Sturdy, Co-Host IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular & Big Sports Radio, Illini Uber-Insider

January 7, 2023

The Illini lost on Friday evening at Purdue by an 83-78 after trailing by as many as 21 points in the second half. Clearly, losing by 5 on the court of the #1 team in the country isn’t a bad loss, but some issues did come up in this one that Illinois will need to fix moving forward. Let’s look at a few areas where Purdue was able to expose some things against Illinois. 

Whether defending National Player of the Year Zach Edey was on the floor or not, Purdue physically handled an overmatched Illinois squad inside Mackey Arena Friday. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

January 6, 2023

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — As he entered the visiting locker room of Mackey Arena Friday night, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood looked at his boss and repeated one of his favorite go-to sayings. 

“That was a Pizza Hut parking lot beating tonight,” Underwoods said looking at Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman. 

By IlliniGuys Staff January 5, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Brad Sturdy, Co-Host IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular & Big Sports Radio, Illini Uber-Insider

January 5, 2023

The Illini are into the top 10 and now head on the road to take on the #1 ranked Purdue Boilermakers. The Boilers have been on a roll outside of one road hiccup at Northwestern and Illinois has been playing like a top 10 squad, with their only recent loss a tough one at #5 Tennessee. 

Illinois will be without leading scorer Terrence Shannon Jr. for the 3rd straight game as the All-American Guard is still on suspension, but it hasn’t fazed the Illini in dominant wins over FDU and Northwestern. Now, they get a much stiffer test in West Lafayette against #1 Purdue.

Here’s a breakdown. 

Setting the Stage

#9/8 Illinois (11-2, 2-0 B1G) at #1/1 Purdue (13-1, 2-1 B1G) 

Jan. 5, 2024 // 7:30 p.m. CT (8:30 p.m. ET) // West Lafayette, Ind. // Mackey Arena 

TV: FS1 – Brandon Gaudin (Play-by-Play), Robbie Hummel (Analyst) 

Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas 

Illinois graduate senior guard Justin Harmon has suddenly found rhythm in his new role after transferring from Utah Valley but it’s not a feeling that came quick in this 2023-24 season. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

January 4, 2023

CHAMPAIGN — Upon his arrival at Illinois, Justin Harmon learned his new secondary role at Illinois will be more difficult as previously being a primary option at Utah Valley. 

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

January 4, 2024

Illinois men's basketball top recruiting target Jeremiah Fears will not play college basketball until the fall of 2025

That's according to his dad Jeremy Fears Sr., who broke the news to IlliniGuys Thursday morning.

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular & Big Sports Radio

January 4, 2023

Jaylon Dean-Vines immediately makes an impression upon those watching his games for Dallas Kimball. He is an athlete extraordinaire and at 6’3”, he plays both SG and SF. He can demonstrate his athleticism in dramatic ways. Quite frankly, he gets up, up and away. His quickness at leaping is evident in blocked shots as he gets off the floor immediately and has that ability to jump quickly for a second time as well.

“My athleticism and ability to facilitate the ball.” is Jaylon’s response to what defines his game, “Most people don’t have the ability that I have, so I try to make the best out of it.” This athleticism has been a key to averaging 14.5 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, 2.5 assists per game, and 2.1 steals per game.  

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

January 3, 2023

The year 2024 appears to be off to a great start for Illinois freshman phoneme Jaxon Davis, a 6-foot-0, 160-pound guard from Gurnee, Illinois, home of former Illini guard Brandon Paul (Warren Township HS.)

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

January 3, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

Enjoy it Illini fans, because 30-point wins don’t happen very often in conference play The Illini were clicking on all cylinders on Tuesday night as they dominated Northwestern by a score 96-66. Marcus Domask had 32 points and 6 assists to lead Illinois as they moved to 11-2 and 2-0 in Big Ten play. Northwestern falls to 9-3 and 1-1 in the Big Ten. 

Here’s a recap of what we saw. 

These 3 Things

Booty Ball and More - Yes, Illinois used the dreaded booty ball from Domask and Rodgers to create double teams and then hit cutters and shooters when it came, but they did more than that.

By IlliniGuys Staff January 2, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]