Basketball

After the first round of play at the 2025 […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 4, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois women’s basketball program has extended a scholarship offer to Quincy, Illinois, freshman Khloe Nicholson, already regarded as one of the top players in the country.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 4, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Depending on who you ask, the 2025-26 Illinois men's basketball roster might be finalized. Still, others feel it’s only early May, and the Illini have a history of adding star players late in the offseason.

But for now, let’s dive into the current roster and evaluate where Illinois stands compared to the rest of the Big Ten Conference.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

April 30, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Once again, Illinois men’s head basketball coach Brad Underwood has caught the attention of local and national college basketball analysts, gurus and sports commentators this week.

One of those analysts, The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman, referenced recent commit Andrej Stojakovic during a podcast, saying, “Stojakovic is a guy who gives Illinois a scorer on the perimeter that they desperately needed. It's fascinating to see the experiment that Brad Underwood has put together in Champaign. You would have thought he would have been the last coach on the planet who would have gone this route. He's gone all in with international guys. We know Illinois will be fun to watch, we know they're going to score, but can they guard?”

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting […]

Ben Humrichous will be fifth active player and sixth […]

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

April 28, 2025

The Illini added their top target in the portal Andrej Stojakovic on Monday when he chose Illinois over North Carolina for his junior season. With the roster now essentially set, here’s a look at what they have and where there may be some holes still.

There is no question that this team is older than a year ago, and they are more physically imposing in the frontcourt. Depth up front is greater than it has been in a long time and they have 3 bonafide playmakers on the perimeter. Here’s a look at each position.

The eldest son of former All-NBA sharpshooter Peja Stojaković […]

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular April 28, 2025 This […]

UCLA overtakes the Illini from an eight-shot deficit to […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – From the moment Shauna Green took over the Illinois women’s basketball program, she leaned into her recruiting ties, particularly from her days at Dayton. One of the most significant early results of that effort was the commitment of five-star forward Berry Wallace who she kept close tabs on.

While recruiting rankings often serve as coffee talk and message board speculation, Wallace, a 6-foot-1 forward from Pickerington, Ohio, more than validated the hype during her freshman season.

After two days of competition, Illinois is in a […]

Illinois sophomore Max Herendeen holds a three-shot lead at 7-under-par following a bogey-free 63.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

April 25, 2025

Despite every inconsistency Illinois head coach Mike Small said existed throughout the 2024-25 regular season, the Illini find themselves once again in a familiar position after day one of the Big Ten Championships - at the top of the leaderboard.

Illinois will sleep on a seven-shot lead after posting a 10-under-par opening round as Illini sophomore Max Herendeen has a three-shot lead at 7-under-par following a bogey-free 63. The Illinois second-year talent, who is currently ranked as the 30th best amateur player in the world, once again proved postseason play and major tournament is when his game shines the most. Herendeen, who turned 20 years old in January, matched a career-low round at the East Course of the Baltimore Country Club with a back-nine 30. He also matched the all-time low round in a Big Ten Championship in an 18-hole opening day that catapulted him into the leadership spot for the race for the medalist honors of the league title tournament.

Illinois head coach Mike Small knows that this part of the season is where his program has annually met the expectations of being nationally competitive.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

April 24, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When the Illinois men’s golf team arrives in Baltimore this week for the 2025 Big Ten Conference Championships, they’ll be the favorites to win, they’ll be a top 15 nationally ranked squad and they’ll be the owners of 13 of the last 15 league titles.

And the reason Illinois head coach Mike Small loves this time of the year is everything described in the previous paragraph, while very much true, is completely irrelevant once all 90 players representing 18 programs stick the tee in the ground on their opening hole of the tournament.

“You can’t get (players) all riled up and emotional and then tell them to go play golf because that’s when the hole shrinks on you and you can’t just go to place and expect to beat people because of who you are. You have to hit your standard,” Small said. “Hopefully our standard has increased over the last two or three months.”

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini women's […]