Featured

Even before the transfer portal opened Monday morning and was flooded with players, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema had already evaluated the film of hundreds of players. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 8, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Ron Johnson/USA Today Sports)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Before the transfer portal window officially opened Monday, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and his coaching staff had a lot of homework already done. 

Bielema and his recruiting staff led by Patrick Embleton, who is completing his 10th season on the recruiting staff at Illinois, had monitored, identified and cross-checked hundreds of players by Thanksgiving who could be offered by the Illini to play starting in the 2023 season. 

Despite the fact that practically every Football Bowl Subdivision coaching staff knew what was about to transpire in the transfer portal when the calendar flipped to Dec. 5, Illinois was able to do homework on several possible player fits already in the portal coming from FBS programs or from lower divisional programs (FCS, Division II or lower) that would be ready to contribute to Bielema’s operational roster starting this coming spring. 

Illini women's basketball coach Shauna Green talks after getting […]

Adalia McKenzie had a double-double in the third quarter […]

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 7, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Shauna Green needed to take the mental and emotional temperature of her basketball roster following a close loss at No. 5 Indiana.

In the Monday afternoon film review and short practice just over 24 hours after the loss in Bloomington, Ind., Green asked her team what they were feeling following the most competitive game that Illinois has played against the Hoosiers in several years.

“They kept telling me that they were mad,” Green said Tuesday. “They were saying words like disappointed. And I want them to be that way. I don’t want to coach a team that is happy to be in it because our expectation was to go there and win.”

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst

December 7, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Brad Penner/USA Today Sports)

Horns Down

The 17th ranked Fighting Illini trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half before battling back to beat the #2 Texas Longhorns in overtime in the JimmyV Classic at Madison Square Garden by an 85-78 score. Matthew Mayer scored a career-high 21 points, keeping Illinois alive in the first half, before Jayden Epps (11 points) made big plays down the stretch and Terrence Shannon took over with 12 points in overtime (16 overall) to give the Illini the win over the previously unbeaten Longhorns. 

The Illini move to 7-2 and now have another big non-conference win over a national program heading into Big Ten play. 

Here’s what we saw.

Mike Farrell, IlliniGuys National Football Recruiting Expert

December 7, 2022

(Mike Farrell also has his own website: https://mikefarrellsports.com/)

The transfer portal has opened for FBS prospects and its complete chaos across college football.

By IlliniGuys Staff December 6, 2022 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Jimmy V Classic // #17/17 Illinois (6-2) vs. #2/2 Texas (6-0)
Dec. 6, 2022 // 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) // New York, N.Y. // Madison Square Garden
TV: ESPN – Dan Shulman (Play-by-Play), Jay Bilas (Analyst), Holly Rowe (Reports)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas (Analyst) // SiriusXM 134/195, SXM App 957

• No. 17 Illinois returns to the East Coast on Tuesday night, facing No. 2 Texas in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).

• Illinois’ two losses are away from home to undefeated teams: 7-0 Virginia in Las Vegas and at 8-0 Maryland. No. 2 Texas is Illinois’ fourth ranked opponent in nine games to open the season, and third top-10 Kenpom foe. Illinois is 1-2 versus ranked opponents this season and has won 12 of its last 20 games against Top 25 teams.  Illinois is 11-5 in their last 16 games versus top-10 teams. Illinois is a combined 7-40 all-time against teams ranked in the top 2 of the AP poll.

Steve Sturm, IlliniGuys Football Analyst

December 6, 2022

Illinois filled up much of its recruiting class late in the Spring or early in the Summer, so I thought it would be fun to check back for any new videos of the current Illini commitments to see if there was any great improvement in their senior seasons and I found a lot of interesting changes.

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting 

December 5, 2022

For the Fighting Illini football program, the roster for the class of 2023 is nowhere near set, so stay tuned; but like all good college athletic programs that are successful, recruiting never stops. This time Illinois is looking to tap into the Show Me State (Missouri) looking to add to its roster. 

Mike Farrell, IlliniGuys National Football Recruiting Expert

December 2, 2022

(Mike Farrell also has his own website: https://mikefarrellsports.com/)

As we inch closer to the Early Signing Period for Illinois, we continue to monitor some top targets and see as others emerge.

IlliniGuys Staff

December 5, 2021

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Long before our Larry Smith was an IlliniGuy, he was a sports anchor for CNN and more recently an award-winning news anchor in Washington, D.C.  So, the Illini's game at Maryland Friday night gave him a chance to not only cover his favorite team for us, but engage in a wide-range of conversations from the BTN broadcast team to Jayden Epps' family to Maryland's legendary national championship-winning coach Gary Williams.

He offered his thoughts the day after the Illinois loss to our premium members on the IlliniGuys' message forum, the site of countless insider nuggets and expert observations.  You can read Larry's contributions as well as those of our team of experts and analysts by signing up for your free 7-day trial right here on IlliniGuys.com: https://illiniguys.com/subscribe/

Illinois will play in the 2023 Reliaquest Bowl on […]

(From Illini Sports Information Department)   BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Illinois […]

The Hoosiers have claimed the last 13 meetings of this series and in order to make it a rivalry again, Shauna Green's first meeting with Indiana has to set a tone.

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 4, 2022

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Big Ten Conference office isn’t going to allow Shauna Green to settle into her league schedule and in her mind that’s why she came to Illinois.