Basketball

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

March 7, 2025

The Illini are solidly in the NCAA field but have a chance to move up at least a seed line, and possibly more next week. They have lost 5 in a row in this series and need this win to show how good they can be when healthy. The Illini dominated Michigan on Sunday, but the Boilers are coming off a beat down of Rutgers and appear to be gaining steam.

It should be a good one.

Setting the Stage
Illinois (19-11, 11-8 B1G) vs. #18 Purdue (21-9, 13-6 B1G)
Friday, March 7, 2025 // 7 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center
TV: FOX – Jason Benetti (Play-by-Play) & Bill Raftery (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play) & Deon Thomas National Radio: Compass Media Networks – Wayne Larrivee (Play-By-Play) & Danny Green

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

March 7, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Lincoln Williams, the 6-foot-4, 180-pound junior shooting guard from Kankakee, is no stranger to Illinois fans in terms of recruiting. According to him, he has visited Champaign eight or nine times this season.

Illinois head coach Shauna Green will now have 10 days to evaluate why the final 10 minutes of games has been the achilles heel for this 2024-25 group in late February and March.

By Matt Stevens' - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 6, 2025

INDIANAPOLIS — Now it’s becoming a nasty trend.

The first game of the 2025 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament served as a second straight game in which Illinois saw a disastrous fourth quarter lead to a loss.

Shauna Green’s mood turned drastically in the final 10 minutes of play as the Illinois head coach watched her squad get outscored by Nebraska 25-14 in the final quarter to pull off a 74-70 upset win and send the Illini home from Gainbridge Fieldhouse earlier than they obviously hoping to stay.

“This game just comes down to, again, the fourth quarter and really our last five minutes again,” Green said. “It's something that we've struggled with the last few games. Their best scoring run was in the fourth. That can't happen. We gave up whatever it was in the fourth, and then again, everything we've been talking about was finishing plays, getting those rebounds. It's why we lost really the Michigan game, and we did the same thing tonight.”

Two of the best centers in the Big Ten and all of women’s college basketball will face off as 7-seed Illinois draws 10-seed Nebraska in the second round of the league tournament tonight.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 6, 2025

INDIANAPOLIS — In her return to her home state for her final Big Ten Tournament, Kendall Bostic has drawn the other center in the conference receiving so much attention this season.

When the ball is tipped at 5:30 p.m. CST tonight on Big Ten Network, the Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd will immediately see the league’s two best centers in the circle when Bostic and Nebraska’s Alexis Markowski are matched up one time. The duo represents two players selected to the league’s first team all conference selections by the league’s media contingent and rank No. 3 (Bostic’s 53) and No. 4 (Markowski’s 52) among active players in career double-double performances.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting 

March 5, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After almost three years under head coach Shauna Green, the Illinois women's basketball program appears to be in great hands. This past Sunday marked Senior Day, as the team bid farewell to a significant portion of its scoring. This year's graduating class includes Genesis Bryant, Makira Cook, Adalia McKenzie, Brynn Shoup-Hill, and Kendall Bostic, who all played special roles in resurrecting the Illinois women's program.

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Following a […]

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular and Big Sports Radio […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

March 3, 2025

(Photo courtesy FIBA Basketball) 

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Late last week, talented shooting guard Dame Sarr, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound prospect from Italy, announced his top three schools: Illinois, Arizona, and Creighton.

IlliniGuys learned early Monday morning that Illinois has positioned itself well to land Sarr, but the Bluejays and Wildcats remain in strong contention.

For the first time in the 2024-25 season, Illinois saw a fourth-quarter lead evaporate thanks to a team with more depth, more energy and more poise in the final minutes.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 2, 2025

CHAMPAIGN — The final three and a half minutes of the last regular season home game produced the nightmare scenario that the Illinois women’s basketball program has been desperately trying to avoid.

With a 65-59 lead, Illinois simply ran out of energy, offense and the will to stop a Michigan run that felt like it would’ve continued to get worse if the clock hadn’t run up of time. Michigan turned a six-point deficit into a 78-69 win on the momentum of a 19-4 run to finish the spoiling of a Senior Day celebration and State Farm Center.

By IlliniGuys Staff March 2, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

By IlliniGuys Staff March, 2, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Brad Sturdy, IlliniGuys Insider & Co-Host of the IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

March 2, 2024

The Illini are in Ann Arbor on Sunday when we find out what a semi-healthy Illini team with 3 full days of practice and a little rest looks like.

Illinois will host Michigan today for a Senior Day game at State Farm Center to honor the five remaining players in their final season with the Illini. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 2, 2023

CHAMPAIGN — Even Shauna Green admits she was naive to believe her first roster at Illinois would all see the Senior Day celebration like they're about to experience. 

Kendall Bostic turned down recruiting overtures from Shauna Green twice, once out of high school and once in the transfer portal. So Green eventually came to Bostic’s team so she couldn’t say no.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 1, 2025

NOTE: This is the final part of a four-part series on the four active Illini women’s basketball players who will be honored Sunday in their final home game inside State Farm Center.

CHAMPAIGN — Normally when a new head coach at power conference women’s basketball program sees her star returning post player is barely stands over 6-foot-1, the immediate reaction is to recruit over her in the portal.

March 1, 2025

(Photo courtesy Detroit Free Press)

The Illinois Fighting Illini are in Ann Arbor to face No. 15 Michigan Sunday afternoon (2.45pm CST, CBS) in a series they have dominated.  Illinois has won eight straight in the series, dating back to 2019, including the last four meetings in Crisler Arena.

Here's a peek at what they're saying about the Wolverines: