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Illinois slated to have a half dozen uncommitted prospects for the 2026 recruiting class on campus for official visits this weekend

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

June 6, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Nick Hankins' page on X)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The first weekend in June has always represented the most important recruiting time for Bret Bielema’s Illinois program.

The Illinois head coach, who is entering his fifth season, has repeatedly the called this weekend critical to the success of the recruiting victories Bielema and his staff have acquired over the last few seasons.

With the weather being warm and players still being campus for summer workout sessions with football strength and conditioning coach Tenarius ‘Tank’ Wright, northern programs such as Illinois need to have their June visits be the final sell for uncommitted prospects before other programs with weather advantages in the fall can have their shot at official visits.

In the 2024 recruiting class, Illinois signed 11 of the 16 high school prospects in the weeks following their June visits. In the 2025 class, seven prospects either gave their first and only verbal pledge to Illinois or flipped their decision to the Illini days after taking an official visit during the first two weekends in June.

Illinois reportedly adds premier home non-conference battle against Texas […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

June 5, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – IlliniGuys, it's been a tad slow, but things are about to pick up again for the Illinois men's basketball program.

Here are a few updates to get the blood flowing for Illini Nation in June, so let’s dive right into it.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

June 4, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The silence from former Illinois freshman Will Riley at the NBA Draft deadline last week made it clear: the former 5-star recruit isn't coming back to Champaign as a player. Maybe to visit, but that’s it.

The NBA Draft process is still unfolding, but Riley's camp remains focused. According to his mother Tracy, “Will is still going through the process. He's currently in Los Angeles training. I was with Will at the Combine in Chicago, it was well-run and effective. I think Will did well at the combine, in the gym, and in the interview process. When he was in Los Angeles, part of his training was to prepare him mentally and physically. Will is locked in, focused, and spending countless hours in the gym and recovery.”

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

June 3, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

For the next several days, I will break down one current men’s and women’s basketball player each day and discuss what expectations might be for the upcoming season.

Today’s Double Dribble 2-1 Focus will be Berry Wallace and Andrej Stojakovic (both former McDonald’s All-Americans).

Player Biography: Berry Wallace is a 6-foot-1 combo/wing from Pickerington Central High School in Pickerington, Ohio. A five-star recruit, she was ranked No. 20 nationally by ESPN HoopGurlz and became the third signee in Illinois women’s basketball history to be named a McDonald’s All-American. She was also named the 2024 Ohio Capital Conference Buckeye Division Player of the Year and finished third in Ohio’s Miss Basketball voting.

What we know:

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

June 3, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Cal Athletics)

For the next several days, I will break down one current men’s and women’s basketball player each day and discuss what expectations might be for the upcoming season.

Today's Double Dribble 2-1 Focus will be Andrej Stojakovic and Berry Wallace (Both Former McDonald’s All-Americans).

Player Biography: Andrej Stojakovic is a 6-foot-7 wing and transfer from California. A 2023 McDonald’s All-American, he graduated from Jesuit High School (Carmichael, Calif.) and was ranked a four-star recruit by ESPN and On3 at No. 22 and No. 24, respectively.

Stojakovic started his collegiate career at Stanford during the 2023-24 season, where he made 34 three-pointers, ranking 10th all-time among freshmen in school history, and scored 18 points in back-to-back games against Santa Clara Nov. 14 and Eastern Washington Nov. 17. During his sophomore season at Cal, he led the team in scoring (17.9 PPG, sixth in the ACC), blocked shots 1.2, and also averaged 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 33.4 minutes per game.

What we know:

Jackson Buchanan, a former All-American and four-year starter at Illinois, finishes a 36-hole sectional qualifying round in his home state to qualify for his second United States Open Championship.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

June 2, 2025

Jackson Buchanan has survived what is commonly nicknamed ‘golf’s longest day’ to advance through sectional qualifying into the 2025 United States Open Championship.

The former Illini star player, who recently turned professional following the Illini’s finish in the 2025 NCAA Championships, will play in his second consecutive U.S. Open after making it through local and sectional qualifying stages.

Buchanan fired an 18-under par total over the 36-hole sectional qualifying round with back-to-back 63s at Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta, which is approximately 35 miles from his hometown of Dacula, Georgia. Buchanan finished in second place on Monday in the 84-player field where only five qualifying spots were available.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

June 2, 2025

Illinois made a last-minute addition to the recruiting class of 2025 when Long Beach College cornerback Donovan Turner broke his commitment to Delaware State and flipped to the Illini.  As he related to IlliniGuys, the Illinois coaching staff reached out to him only a few weeks ago to ask about his willingness to break his commitment and he jumped at the chance to play high major football.  Turner is well-traveled in the college ranks.  He is originally from the Long Beach area, but he chose to attend UMass when he left high school.  However, he didn't earn much playing time in two years there, so Turner returned home to Long Beach College and played a year at home with some pretty good success with 30 tackles and 2 interceptions in nine games.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular June 2, 2025 No […]

May 31, 2025

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

For the next several days, I will break down one current men’s and women’s basketball player each day and discuss what expectations might be for the upcoming season.

Today's Double Dribble 2-1 Focus will be Cearah Parchment and Zvonimir Ivisic.

Player Biography: Cearah Parchment is a 6-foot-2 wing from Fort Erie International Academy (CAN).

May 31, 2025

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

For the next several days, I will break down one current men’s and women’s basketball player each day and discuss what expectations might be for the upcoming season.

Today's Double Dribble 2-1 Focus will be Zvonimir Ivisic and Cearah Parchment.

Player Biography: Zvonimir Ivisic,

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 30, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois football head coach Bret Bielema continues to mine the transfer portal for defensive line help and added another piece on Monday.

In true Bielema fashion, he hinted at good news with a tweet: "Just feels like some good news coming kind of day…. #ILL."

Later in the day, Illinois received a commitment from Division II Bemidji State transfer Eli Coenen

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 29, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The recruiting momentum in Champaign continues to build, and it’s turning heads around the Big Ten and beyond. For longtime Illinois fans, this type of recruiting success is unfamiliar territory, yet the direction feels sustainable. Some may be waiting for the other shoe to drop, because historically it has. But this time, it feels different.

When Bret Bielema was hired in December 2020, he made several of his goals clear.

“We want to win championships here, and one of our coaches will contact every high school head coach in the state of Illinois in the next several weeks,” Bielema said at the time. Those in the past didn't work hard to keep talent home.

The partnership between Illinois athletics director and Illinois head football coach Bret Bielema has contractual plans to be together for the better part of the next decade.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

May 29, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.  — With this third new contract of his five-year tenure, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Bret Bielema have never been more professionally married.

This new contract details the fact that the Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman and Bret Arnold Bielema intend to be a professional marriage for, at least, the better part of the next decade. With the new contract that was approved the University of Illinois Board of Trustees in its meeting in Urbana on May 22, Bielema gets an extra year of guaranteed length to this deal (5-year deal to a 6-year deal) and his salary increases a total of $2.3 million annually ($33 million to $46.8 million total) over the next six years of this deal.

According to the 2024 USA Today college football salary database, the $7.7 million annual salary would put Bielema’s pay, which is already the most in program history for an Illini head coach, in the Top 20 of all FBS head coaches but it wouldn’t break the $8 million annual figure. 

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 28, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

For the next several days, I will break down one current men’s and women’s basketball player each day and discuss what expectations might be for the upcoming season.

Today's Double Dribble 2-1 Focus will be Gretchen Dolan and Ty Rodgers.

Player Biography: Gretchen Dolan, 5-foot-11, combo guard/wing, a redshirt sophomore from Buffalo, N.Y. (Williamsville South High School)

What we know: