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Illinois safety Kerby Joseph was taken by the Detroit Lions in the third round with the 97th overall selection of the 2022 NFL Draft.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

April 29, 2022

Kerby Joseph’s draft moment included hearing his name called by an NFL Hall of Famer.

The Illinois safety was selected late on Friday in the third round with the 97th overall selection by the Detroit Lions. The man who announced Joseph’s selection at the draft in Las Vegas was arguably the most decorated player to put on a Lions jersey as former Heisman Trophy winner and Lions all-time leading rusher Barry Sanders.

Joseph finished the 2021 campaign with 57 tackles and tied for first in the nation in interceptions (five) in the 12-game regular season. He was honored by the league’s voting media members as the first-team all conference selection following his fourth season at Illinois that included being the only player in the nation with at least five interceptions and three fumble recoveries during the regular season. The Orlando native was No. 1 graded defensive back in the nation by Pro Football Focus evaluators during this 2021 regular season that saw an Illini defense see an improvement of 16 points per game and 101 yards per game from last season.

Former Texas Tech star Terrence Shannon Jr. joins Illini […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting April […]

By Larry Smith - IlliniGuys Staff

April 29, 2022

These are special times to be an Illini fan.

At this moment, there are only two Illini players who have ever started a game for the Orange and Blue.  And Coleman Hawkins and RJ Melendez have a total of 15 career starts between them.

So, get ready to see a lot of new faces getting a lot of playing time this upcoming season.

And that's not even the half of it.

The deadline for players to enter the transfer portal is midnight Sunday night and, with Illinois coach Brad Underwood sitting with at least three vacant scholarship spots, the conversations are non-stop.

The information flies so fast and moods change so often that we sometimes get conflicting info within the hour.

This much we know:

This winter's Fighting Illini basketball team will be the most athletic roster we've seen since the famous Flyin' Illini of 1989...and it very easily could surpass that!

We also know this --- there's one place to be for the very latest Illini inside stuff and that's IlliniGuys.com.  Our Brad Sturdy posted an update just hours ago this morning and there are some name on the potential future Illini list that will make you say 'wow!'

Unfortunately, I can't give away more than that at this moment.  But...you need to get in here.  It appears that something is about to go down...!

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

April 29, 2022

(Cover photo Justice Ugo's Twitter page)

The Fighting Illini football program is looking to improve its stock on the defensive side of the ball.

Justice Ugo is looking to be added to the class of 2022 roster. Ugo is 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds; he is big, strong, and very athletic.

The Illini have stepped up their recruiting game, and are now battling the big boys from the Big Ten and other top Power Five programs, including former powerhouse Florida State. Ugo just visited Tallahassee where the visit went well.

But where does the Blinn (Texas) Junior College star stand with the Illini?

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting 

April 28, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Ty Perkins' Twitter page)

Illinois is looking to add more quality depth to its wide-receiver department. Ty Perkins is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound wide receiver from Lucasville, Ohio, who visited Illinois recently. IlliniGuys.com caught up with Perkins to get an update on his visit and recruitment. 

Right away this visit appeared to have gone much better than Perkins thought would happen.

"My visit...was amazing! My family and I had a great time in Champaign. It was so much better than my original expectations for it," Perkins said.

But it was so much more than that; the excitement from Perkins and his views on Illinois is trending upward. It is safe to say a lot of potential football recruits just have not paid much attention to what Illinois has to offer.

By Zain Bando - IlliniGuys Student Correspondent April 28, […]

Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins says he hasn’t yet had his final season-ending meeting with Illini head coach Brad Underwood and gives a non-committal answer on his future with the program. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

April 27, 2022

CHAMPAIGN -- By every definition of the word, miscommunication currently exists between Coleman Hawkins and the Illinois coaching staff. 

In his first media availability since the end of the 2021-22 season, Hawkins conveyed a different picture about the clarity to his future with the Illini program than the one portrayed by Brad Underwood - the program’s fifth-year head coach. 

Hawkins, who just finished his second season at Illinois and averaged 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 14 starts and 33 games, said Wednesday he has yet to have his exit interview with the Illini coaching staff about his future role as a upperclassman on this team. 

“I’ve talked to them a little bit but things have been, it’s kind of been hard to communicate in a way,” Hawkins said Wednesday. “I haven’t seen them that much. I’ve been with (strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher) a lot but we haven’t had a true exit meeting so hopefully that will come soon so we can figure whatever the future is out.”

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting 

April 27, 2022

The rankings for the class of 2024 are right around the corner, but one thing you can be sure of - Illinois will have two of the nation's top 50 in the class:  Morez Johnson and now ZZ Clark, who recently committed to the Illini.

I talked to ZZ while he was in Champaign last week.

"This is a great feeling for me; words can't explain how I feel right now. I just committed to the University of Illinois. I'm with my family right now, my brother Skyy is on his official visit, but for me, this an unofficial. But I get to see how it's all done," said Clark.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

April 26, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Prep Hoops)

Photo courtesy Quad City Times

Quad City high school basketball fans have bragged about the talent level in the area for years. So many times that if there was a major Division I prospect, it was certain that they would end up at Iowa, Iowa State or UNI. Especially if they played football.

The last two great Rock Island Rocks who had a chance to play for the Illini went elsewhere. Brea Beal, a consensus high school All-American, picked South Carolina, where she just won a national title.  At the time of her decision, Beal said, "Illinois was my second choice; they did a great job of recruiting me, and it's my home state."

Chasson Randle, who was Mr. Basketball in the state of Illinois, picked Stanford over his favorite team growing up, the Fighting Illini. Randle finished his college career as the all-time leading scorer in Cardinal history with 2,375 points. Randle did not have a great visit to Champaign which sent him to Stanford.

Now comes Amarion Nimmers, an outstanding 6-foot-3, 170-pound guard who plays for the Rocks. The soon-to-be Class of 2022 graduate played his AAU basketball for the Illinois Wolves and is just now making it on the scene with all the top programs.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

April 26, 2022

Quarterback Belay Brummel has recently picked up some big-time interest from this state university.

With many of the state of Illinois' top prospects now committing to the Illini, that culture head coach Bret Bielema talked about is starting to form, just like he had hoped.

Brummel is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound class of 2023 signal caller who has an interest in Illinois.

"Haven’t received an offer yet. They’ve brought it up in conversation very frequently, but I believe they would like to watch me throw a little more before offering. That's the feeling I got on my unofficial (earlier this month)," Brummel said.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

April 22, 2022

Courtney Ramey, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound point guard from Webster Groves, Missouri who played his collegiate basketball for the Texas Longhorns, entered the transfer portal a couple of weeks ago.

Illinois jumped on the Ramey train early along with several other schools: UConn, Missouri, Marquette, Kentucky, Villanova, DePaul, Maryland, Gonzaga, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, and Wisconsin.

According to IlliniGuys.Com insider Brad Sturdy, Illinois is still in play with Ramey when it appeared the ship might have sailed.

April 25, 2022

IlliniGuys.com's Brad Sturdy spent the weekend watching Illinois prospects at the EYBL event in Indianapolis.  The entire Illini coaching staff was in Nap City as well, pursuing the talent and even handing out some new offers to kids in the class of 2023,

Upon his return home Sunday night, Sturdy opened up for questions from IlliniGuys members and the following is the exchange.  Sturdy also adds some additional notes from the weekend.  What Illinois coaches think about transfer center and Kofi Cockburn replacement Dain Dainja and what makes the Illini's class of 2022 commits so special and unique?

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

Apil 18, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Vanderbilt Athletics)

The Fighting Illini added some size and experience to the defense line when Vanderbilt defensive tackle Rashaan Wilkins, Jr. decided to come to Champaign.  Wilkins was a two-year starter at Vanderbilt and figured to remain the starter at the SEC school but decided to enter the transfer portal when Vanderbilt made a coaching change.

Wilkins has taken a very unlikely route from Chicago to Champaign.  He started high school at Mt. Carmel in Chicago as a 6'2, 180 pound wide receiver.  He grew to 6'3, 240 pounds and excelled at both outside linebacker and tight end, but only showed enough to earn Division III offers coming out of high school.  Wilkins took the offer from nearby Wisconsin-Stevens Point.  Wilkins played two games at tight end and caught two passes, but injured his ankle and decided to save that year of eligibility and transfer to Monterey Peninsula Junior College in California.  Wilkins excelled at Monterey and ate his way to a sturdy 300 pounds. That brought the attention of several Division I programs and Wilkins selected Vanderbilt.  Wilkins earned steady playing time in his two years at Vanderbilt but decided to finish his career closer to home in Champaign, and Illinois is quite fortunate that he did.

April 24, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy ID Prospects)

IlliniGuys' Brad Sturdy is watching it all at the EYBL this weekend in Indianapolis.  He posted this on the IlliniGuys.com message forums late last night with more nuggets to come later today:

I was able to watch Meanstreets 16U (2024) squad twice today, they are playing up at 17U. Some thoughts. Illinois was the only school to watch them.