Basketball

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 […]

In his recent media conference, Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman produced two scenarios where Terrence Shannon Jr. can have his indefinite suspension from the basketball program immediately lifted.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

January 2, 2024

CHAMPAIGN — Two scenarios could potentially reverse the indefinite suspension of Terrence Shannon Jr. from the University of Illinois men’s basketball program.

Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman laid out the two options where Shannon Jr., who was arrested and charged with felony rape, could again be playing college basketball and they both involve the ‘Student-Athlete Conduct Panel’ formed through the university athletics department athlete conduct/discipline policy.

The panel is a three-person committee consisting of one faculty athletics representative, one representative from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs department, and one faculty member from the College of Law.

In the same sentence of an answer in his Dec. 28 media conference, Whitman suggested

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

January 2, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The Big Ten is here. The 9th ranked Illini will host Northwestern in their Big Ten home opener on Tuesday night at 8PM. Illinois will again be without Terrence Shannon as they look to navigate the gauntlet of 19 remaining Big Ten games without the star Guard. Illinois has won 3 straight since losing at Tennessee, and have been climbing up the rankings. 

The Wildcats come in with one of the best wins in the country in their home victory against #1 Purdue, and one of the worst losses in their home loss to Chicago State. 

It should be fun. 

Setting the Stage

#9 Illinois (10-2, 1-0 B1G) vs. Northwestern (10-2, 1-0 B1G) 

Jan. 2, 2024 // 8 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center 

TV: BTN – Connor Onion (Play-by-Play), Robbie Hummel (Analyst) 

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

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

Cover photo courtesy of Brandon Rowell, BGREAT Athletics

January 2, 2024

On Christmas 2023, Bryce Dixon a 6’4” SG from Deron Williams country (The Colony High School in north suburban Dallas) tweeted out that he had an offer from the University of Illinois. Coach Cleve Ryan, who was an assistant coach during Deron’s high school career noted that Deron won The Colony a lot of games.

After watching Dixon play in their holiday tournament, Dixon has a lot of strengths that show on the court. The first is his size. He’s only 15 years old but he’s 6’4” and still growing. He also has a big frame, and he will clearly be able to carry more weight as he grows. He is the definition of a big guard.