Basketball

6-foot-10 forward Carey Booth’s one-year tenure at Illinois has […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

March 27, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Fighting Illini's head coaches, Brad Underwood of the men's basketball program and Bret Bielema of the football team, appear to be teaming up to land the state's top football recruit, Nasir Rankin. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound athlete, who stars as a wide receiver, is also one of Illinois' top five basketball prospects in his class.

March 27, 2025

The transfer portal continues to heat up.  We call it "Portal Kombat" as coaches battle to land the best talent within their NIL budgets. 

IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst Brad Sturdy has this update from recent conversations regarding the Illini program:

March 26, 2025

It has begun!

The transfer portal officially opened on Monday and coaches, players, parents, agents, handlers, reporters, etc. are burning up the phone and text lines as everyone scrambles to find their new homes, find players that fit their rosters, and gobble up their share of what feels like hundreds of millions of dollars on the table among the power conference programs.

Our insiders Kedric Prince and Brad Sturdy have been non-stop as well since Illinois' season ended Sunday night in Milwaukee. Kedric starts us off with this report filed earlier this morning on the IlliniGuys premium boards, starting off with a couple of surprising updates:

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

March 25, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – As the NCAA transfer portal heats up, Illinois fans shouldn't forget about the talented freshmen joining the program next year: Brandon Lee and four-star recruit Keaton Wagler, a 6-foot-4, 175-pound shooting guard from Shawnee, Kansas.

Lee, a 6'5" shooting guard from Hillside, New Jersey, currently attends The Patrick School and arrives at Illinois with a scorer's mentality. We caught up with his father, Butch Lee, to get the latest on his son's journey.

Illinois forward Ben Humrichous has the possibility for a waiver to gain eligibility for the 2025-26 season but neither he nor Illinois coaches are currently being definitive in the future.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 24, 2025

(Editor's note - there have been reports that an NCAA waiver has already been submitted and approved. We are working to confirm those reports.)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A Vanderbilt quarterback has likely paved the way for Ben Humrichous to be eligible to play at least one more season of college basketball.

Only three questions remain: One, does the 6-foot-9 forward want to play another year of college basketball. Two, if he does want to play another year of college basketball, does Humrichous want to play that season at Illinois. Three, if he does want to play another year of college basketball at Illinois, do the Illini coaching staff want Humrichous to return to the 2025-26 roster.

By IlliniGuys Staff March 24, 2025 AUSTIN, Tx. - […]

In what was likely his last game at Illinois, Kasparus Jakucionis commits four first-half turnovers to dig Illini into early deficit in 84-75 loss to Kentucky in second round of NCAA Tournament.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 24, 2025

MILWAUKEE — If Sunday night marked the last time Kasparus Jakucionis takes off an Illinois jersey, he isn’t likely to have fond memories of the NCAA Tournament.

Following the 84-75 loss to Kentucky, the 18-year-old had plenty of self-awareness to know the major talking point of the evening and likely subsequent days would surround his six turnovers, four of which came in the first 10 minutes of the contest.

“I’m mad at myself that I let the team down today,” Jakučionis said while sitting in his post-game locker room stall inside Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. “We lost tonight because of turnovers and I’m the one that turned the ball over.”

After securing its first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years, Illinois goes for arguably the program’s biggest March Madness upset in program history.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 24, 2025

When asked her immediate thoughts on trying to take down a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in their own building, Illinois head coach Shauna Green had the response anybody who’s met her would think she’d have.

Been there and already done that before.

Two Illini starters declare after the NCAA Tournament second-round loss that they would like to return for another year of college basketball in Champaign-Urbana.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 23, 2025

MILWAUKEE — And now the attention for Illinois coaches, players and especially fans gets immediately focused on roster building for the 2025-26 season.
In the losing locker room of the Fiserv Forum following the 84-75 to Kentucky in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, Kylan Boswell and Tre White verbally declared they would prefer to ignore the lure of the transfer portal with an intent to return to the 2025-26 Illinois roster.

Boswell, who transferred back to his hometown of Champaign after two seasons at Arizona, detailed how he planned to handle this offseason amongst his current Illini teammates.

Kentucky outscored Illinois 29-10 before the first media timeout of each half in the NCAA Tournament second round matchup.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 23, 2025

MILWAUKEE — An extensive film session certainly wasn’t going to be necessary for Illinois head coach Brad Underwood to determine when this NCAA Tournament game was lost.

The 2024-25 season is ending the Illini because they were outscored by Kentucky 29-10 before the first media timeout of each half of this 84-75 victory for the 3-seed Wildcats.

By IlliniGuys Staff March 23, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Illinois forward Ben Humrichous is still considering a return to Champaign-Urbana decision for the 2025-26 season.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 23, 2025

MILWAUKEE — On the night before his NCAA Tournament debut with Illinois, Kylan Boswell could be seen on his tablet watching copious amount of film of his Xavier opponent - Ryan Conwell.

“I may have watched three or four hours of film on him the night before because I know I watched his last 12 games and the cutups that the guys on our staff put together for me,” Boswell said. “I also have learned what about using [Synergy Sports Technology] can be helpful for me to know where a player likes to operate on the floor and where he likes to shoot it. It’s not just about having the information but how it can help me learn.”

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

March 23, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – During the 1984 NCAA Tournament, Illinois faced Kentucky in a game played at Rupp Arena, where the Wildcats won a narrow 54-51 victory. However, controversy surrounded the game due to a missed traveling call that many believed favored Kentucky and helped lead them to the win.

With so many preseason matchups and holiday tournaments, it is surprising that Illinois and Kentucky have not faced each other since that game.

Today, that changes, but with several new narratives intertwining the two programs. Let’s take a look at some of the key storylines surrounding this long-awaited rematch.

No particular order of importance:

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

March 23, 2025

For Orlando Antigua it’s a battle between his past 2 employers, but it’s not quite the same as a typical homecoming game. You see, Kentucky has no returning players outside of walk-ons and 1 player, guard Travis Perry who was recruited by Antigua. Other than that, it’s all new. The connection with administration, boosters, managers and Lexington neighbors is obviously there, but this college basketball world is different.