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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:

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 28, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

Over 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 Ty Rodgers and Gretchen Dolan.

Player Biography: Ty Rodgers, 6-foot-6 combo guard/wing, a redshirt junior from Saginaw, Mich. (Thornton Township, Ill.)

What we know:

After early exit in NCAA Championship, Illinois head coach Mike Small lamented about his team’s finish that will “leave a bad taste in our mouth for a long time”.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 27, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

While watching Max Herendeen finish his individual round of the 2025 NCAA Championships on Memorial Day, Illinois head coach Mike Small was still fuming about how his team’s season ended.

The finish on Sunday, a 18th place that saw the Illini multiple shots away from the Top 15 cutline after 54 holes of competition, is the earliest Illinois has exited the NCAA Championships since 2019.

And the 25-year head coach, who has made it publicly clear his one ambition as the leader of the men’s golf program at Illinois is a national team championship, didn’t mince words when describing his team’s three-day performance in California as “a total meltdown”.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

May 24, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

Chicago St. Rita's King Liggins joined the Chicago to Champaign pipeline when he committed to the Illini just hours before fellow Chicago-based recruit Nasir Rankin.  Liggins is a defensive lineman that projects to an end in Illinois 3-4 defense, but its easy to see a future where Liggins could put on some weight and be a dangerous nose tackle for Illinois as well.  Either way, Illinois beat out most of the middle section of the Big Ten in this recruitment and after looking into this a little further my only question is: why wasn't the top of the Big Ten involved as well?

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Illinois sophomore Max Herendeen completed a back-to-back Top 30 finish in the NCAA Championships as he completed his final round in California as an individual.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 26, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Max Herendeen’s 2024-25 college golf season ended with a 1-over 73 and a tie for 27th place at the 2025 NCAA Championships.

The Illinois second-year player finished the final round of tbe national tournament playing in front of his coaches and teammates as an individual after the Illini failed to make the Top 15 team cut on Sunday after 54 holes of competition.

Herendeen finished his 72 holes with a 2-over-par 290 total that saw him finish 13 shots behind individual medalist champion Mississippi’s Michael La Sasso. Like most of Herendeen’s tournament and the event for the rest of his teammates, the Bellevue, Washington, native had a roller coaster beginning to his round with a bogey-birdie-bogey-double bogey start on the back nine of the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood restructured his contract to give himself some long-term security and Illini officials got a national no-compete clause. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 26, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.  — Brad Underwood’s new contract shows a fair amount of give-and-take negotiating action where the Illini head coach took a small haircut in salary leading to the potential of more long-term money. 

Officials within the University of Illinois athletics (DIA), specifically Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman, was able to get his men’s basketball head coach to agree to a nationwide no-compete clause by giving Underwood a seven-figure signing bonus and the possibility of more automatic one-year extensions that would guarantee the Illini head coach stay in his current job until after the 2034-35 season. 

Underwood’s base salary of $4.4 million will not change annually throughout the course of the new deal and therefore, the Illini head coach essentially took a $1.5 million total pay cut over the guaranteed six years ($27.9 million to $26.4 million) but that is before you add in an instant $1 million signing bonus, slight increase in Underwood's termination buyout and his annual incentive compensation for simply staying in the current job he has now, it's merely appears to be just a restructuring of money where DIA gets some cash back now to pay it back to Underwood with interest in the back portion incentives of the deal. 

The deal was approved by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees in its meeting in Urbana on May 22. 

In similar vague language

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 26, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Junior college defensive back Donovan Turner quietly became one of Illinois football’s latest additions on a busy recruiting day that included headline commitments from in-state standouts Nasir Rankin (Morgan Park) and King Liggins (Brother Rice).

Later Wednesday evening, Turner, a 6-foot-1, 192-pound defensive back, made his pledge to the Illini. While Rankin and Liggins justifiably garnered most of the attention, Turner’s story is one of resilience and belief.

The 2024-25 Illinois men’s golf season is over after they fall below the top 15 team cutline after just 54 holes of competition at the 2025 NCAA Championships.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 25, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The 2024-25 season is over for the University of Illinois men’s golf team at least two days before their own expectations.

Illinois was eliminated Sunday from the 2025 NCAA Championships after just three days of the stroke play format as they failed to make the top 15 team cutline after 54 holes of competition. A 16-over-par 304 team score saw the Illini tumble down the team leaderboard for the second consecutive day and this fall led to Illinois leaving the national tournament before the 72 holes of stroke play were completed for the first time since 2019. The third-round team score on Sunday by Illinois was the fourth-worst number posted in the 30-team field.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

May 25, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

It was a huge day for Illini football on May 21st.  First came the announcement that Illinois has sold all of the publicly available season tickets for the upcoming season, and then three(!) recruits pledged to the Illini within a series of hours.  I'm starting this run of recruits with the headliner though: Morgan Park's Nasir Rankin.  Rankin has been a priority recruit for the Illini this year because he's a Chicago Public League recruit at a position of need in the near future.  As we've all followed this recruitment though, there's been a lot of talk about things other than whether Illinois would win the battle over USC and others.  Instead, the talk is whether Rankin's talk of not only playing two positions... but two sports.... is accurate.  I'll get into that below, but for now, I found it very telling that Rankin's highlights were focused only on his best position: wide receiver.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Despite posting a 9-over-par team score on Saturday, Illinois can still find itself just three shots from the eighth and final qualifying spot into the match play of the NCAA Championships.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 24, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The view of where Illinois stood on the team leaderboard never looked as bleak on Saturday as it did after Ryan Voois sank his final putt early in the afternoon.

And then the Illinois team got the opportunity to sit back and watch 15 other teams finish its second round of the 2025 NCAA Championships at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

Following several hours of golf chaos on college golf’s biggest national stage, the 9-over-par team score for Illinois didn’t seem nearly as tragic and with two rounds remaining, the Illini still find themselves within striking distance of making the top eight cutline for the match play portion of the tournament.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 24, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Just think: in today’s world, people can pay bills through cell phones, drive cars that help them stay in lanes if they nod off, and hit golf balls 40 to 50 yards farther thanks to technology-enhanced drivers.

In the ever-evolving world of college basketball recruiting, the conversation has shifted dramatically as well. With the explosive growth of the NCAA transfer portal, high school gymnasiums, once sacred scouting grounds for coaches, are beginning to feel outdated.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

May 24, 2025

The Illini defense added a playmaker last week with the commitment of Elida, Ohio defensive lineman Parker Crim.  Crim is a 6'3, 235 pound end who put up video game numbers last year with 101 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 12 sacks and 3 forced fumbles.  He also had at least four high major offers (Iowa State, Boston College and Kentucky).  However, he's a tough kid to evaluate.  Take a peek:

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Despite collectively falling off in the final holes once again, Illinois found itself inside the top eight after the first day of the 2025 NCAA Championships.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

While leaning on the talents of its star trio, Illinois managed to hang onto one of the top eight match play qualifying spots following the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Championships.

The Illini’s top three players of Ryan Voois, Max Herendeen and Jackson Buchanan managed to combine to post 2-under-par 286 to lead the Illini to a three-way tie for fifth place with after its first 18 holes at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.