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By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

March 7, 2026

Last but not least among the Class of 2026 recruiting spotlights is Caden Considine from Byron. The son of former Iowa safety and 8 year NFL veteran Sean Considine, Caden was one of the most impressive high school players I've ever seen. He carried the load on both sides of the ball for Class 3A state champion Byron, with 2,119 yards on 175 carries and 40 touchdowns as a fullback on offense as well as 84 tackles and 3 interceptions on defense as a sort of hybrid linebacker/ safety on defense. Illinois announced Considine as a defensive back rather than a running back, which makes sense to me based on everything I can see. He also reports just a few top FCS offers as well as some MAC interest, which unfortunately also makes sense based on everything I see. However, I do like this addition at the very end of the recruiting cycle.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?
Like I mentioned above, Illinois is looking at Considine as a defender rather than a running back. So, while the majority of this highlight set involves Considine running past defenders who not only have a hard time getting a hand on him, they also have a hard time bringing him down, try to look past that. Byron was a dominant Class 3A team that was only challenged in one game this year, the state championship against Tolono Unity. I watched that game live and came away very impressed with Considine. He was unstoppable on offense, and the best chance Byron had to stop Tolono was if Considine was involved in the play. Byron is a very well-coached team though, and Considine's gaudy rushing numbers are not only a function of a great scheme and great blocking but also the fact that Byron was ahead by three touchdowns early in nearly every game so they were able to simply run, run, and run some more. If Considine is going to be seen on the offensive side of the ball though, it will be taking inside handoffs similar to the bread and butter play that you'll see again and again in these clips. He doesn't have the speed or quickness to be a regular running back in the Big Ten. As a power guy who runs with some determination and gets the ball in short yardage? Maybe. But put a pin in that because Brett Bielema has never employed a two play player at Illinois (at the same time) and I don't expect that to change with Considine.

http://www.hudl.com/v/2T5q6G

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

March 7, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy FIBA)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – As the college basketball season winds down, attention across the country begins shifting toward recruiting and roster building for the future. For Illinois, the coming months could be especially important as the program evaluates remaining targets in the 2026 class.

With the transfer portal expected to become active and uncertainty surrounding what the Illini roster will ultimately look like next season, the coaching staff continues to evaluate players who can help Illinois compete at a high level. Some recruits who are currently committed elsewhere could reopen their recruitment, while others remain uncommitted and are approaching decisions.

IlliniGuys insider and analyst Brad Sturdy, co-host of the IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular, joined me in breaking down several high school prospects we believe Illinois has the best chance to land in the 2026 class.

Illinois already has three commitments secured in the class. Lucas Morillo, a 6-foot-7 guard from the Newman School in Boston, Massachusetts, Ethan Brown, a 6-foot-4 combo guard from Rolla Senior High School in Missouri, and Landon Davis, a 6-foot-8 power forward from Waukee Northwest High School in Iowa have already pledged to the Illini.

Below is a look at several remaining targets Illinois is heavily pursuing.

Illinois head coach Shauna Green feels two wins in the Big Ten Tournament and at least two weeks in between a NCAA Tournament game could be exactly what her team needs.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 7, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

INDIANAPOLIS — Two more wins and a two-week break before playing again has Illinois coaches and players leaving Gainbridge Fieldhouse feeling energized about an upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Illini head coach Shauna Green watched her extremely veteran team limp figuratively and literally to the finish of a 2024-25 campaign with injuries and a frustrating one-and-done experience in the Big Ten Tournament. Two weeks later, Illinois did earned its first NCAA Tournament win since 2000 but Green was leaving Indianapolis with more questions than answers about how her team would react to a national postseason experience.

On Friday night following a 64-58 loss to No. 9 Iowa, Green sees a completely flipped script with her youthful Illini squad that completed three games in three night that included a tight 71-69 win over No. 18 Michigan State on Thursday evening.

“The understanding what it takes in a win or go home environment, the understanding how to have quick turnarounds and still be able to get a scout in, and again, with a team that has never been through a lot of this stuff together,” Green said on Friday night about what she quickly learned about her Illinois team this week. “A ton of things we can learn from it. A ton of things we're going to carry into the (NCAA) Tournament with us, and a ton of things that can really propel us into next year.”

A furious fourth-quarter was not enough to knock off […]

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

March 6, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

Illinois is bringing in Bobby Hauck as the defensive coordinator and that they'll be shifting to the 3-3-5. That means different responsibilities for the linemen, linebackers and safeties, leaving only one position where the responsibilities will be unchanged: the cornerbacks.

Newcomers
This list starts with the transfer from Deuce Fillmore from Georgia State. Georgia State was the worst team in one of the worst conferences (Sun Belt), but Fillmore managed to put up a solid junior season in his only year there after two prior seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College (the same school alma mater as Zy Crisler). Fillmore is a tough player who works hard, but he's short and his long speed will be a weakness in the Big Ten. I'd rather he play as a nickel safety than a corner, but as long as the Illini give him safety help over the top he should be ok. However, my preference for the starter opposite Juice Clarke next year is....

Closing out a 71-69 victory over No. 18 Michigan State in the second round of the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, should remove the age and experience excuse from this Illinois squad.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 5, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

INDIANAPOLIS — The core group of this University of Illinois women’s basketball team would like for you and anybody else from now on to tag off any tag that uses the words ‘youthful’, ‘inexperienced’, ‘raw’ or ‘immature’.

Following a 71-69 win over No. 18 Michigan State in the second round of the 2026 Big Ten Tournament, the perceived baby Illini, who arrived at Gainbridge Fieldhouse this week, have announced to the college basketball world they’re wearing their big girl pants from now on.

“They're just learning,” Illinois head coach Shauna Green said Thursday night. “Probably my favorite moment of the game was walking into a timeout and seeing them pointing (at the dry erase board) and talking to the point for me to have to say, be quiet, listen to me. It's an amazing, beautiful thing that, as a coach, I knew right then, okay, we're growing. We’re getting better.”

Throughout the four months of regular season play, Illinois has worn the moniker of being the third-youngest power conference roster and youngest roster in the Big Ten Conference. No more after Thursday night.

With spring practices slated to begin on March 23, the Illinois new defensive coaches have begun to tutor and mentally install the unique 3-3-5 defensive scheme to players and returning coaches.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

March 5, 2026

CHAMPAIGN — In his introductory media conference, Roger Cooper wasn’t about to try to convince the public that the defensive scheme Illinois is trying to install this offseason isn’t going to be a different experience for these players.

Cooper, who has brought to Champaign-Urbana from the Montana coaching staff that new Illini defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck left less than a month ago, knows this 3-3-5 style is a drastically different look than anything these Illini players and returning coaches from the 2025 season have been tasked to learn.

“It’s a different version of defense. We say it’s like the triple option version of defense,” Cooper said Thursday in his media conference inside the Smith Center in Champaign.

Cooper knows what these players and, more specifically, the returning Illinois defensive coaches are dealing with trying to understand a scheme they’ve never been associated with before. Before the 2022 season,

By IlliniGuys Staff March 5, 2026 (Cover photo courtesy […]

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

March 5, 2026

As I was leaving the game on Tuesday night we somehow got into a conversation about Disney and Star Wars and so I couldn't resist using that in my title. Illinois guard Andrej Stojakovic Was The Phantom Menace against Michigan but was exceptional against Oregon with 21 points in a career high 12 rebounds, not to mention to assist for good measure. We could have gone with the Return of the Stoja or The Stoja Awakens, or maybe even the Attack of the Stoj. Regardless, it was good to have the good Andrej back against Oregon as he led the Illini to an 80-54 drubbing of the Ducks.

-Stojakovic can be a difference maker for this team. Yes, they want to play at a slow pace and that really doesn't fit his game, but they have to have a balance and they have to be able to take advantage of Fast Break opportunities. Stojakovic is the one player that can take advantage and get out and transition and finish on the break. The odd part about Andre is that it seems his defense and rebounding only come about when he gets opportunities on offense. Yes, Illinois wants to play through Keaton Wagler and that makes sense. But as we saw on Tuesday Illinois can score by playing through Stojakovic in isolation situations. He essentially won the Texas Tech game and if he can continue to share the ball when the defense collapses as he did on Tuesday it is huge for the Illini.

-Tomi is 2 for his last 15 from 3. Big Z is 2 for his last 16. Underwood wants Tomi especially to keep shooting, but he needs to start making some. Z looked like the old shot blocking Z, and he rebounded well, but he is so inconsistent from game to game, and even minute to minute.

-How did Oregon get so bad so fast? And how did they beat Wisconsin?

-David Mirkovic continues to impress. In many years he is a Freshman All-American. He is now shooting 41% from 3 in Big Ten play and continues to rebound at a high clip. His defense is actually a little underrated as well. He is going to be a star next season.

-AJ Redd stole the show on Senior night, but how about the pass from Mihailo Petrovic? It’s easy for players to be selfish late in blowouts, but Petro understood the assignment.

Illinois freshman point guard Destiny Jackson has spent the last four months trying to prove she doesn’t act or play like a first-year player. These next few day of a Big Ten Tournament might prove it.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 5, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

INDIANAPOLIS — There was a point during the second half of its Big Ten Tournament opening round win Wednesday night where Illinois players and coaches would’ve wanted the basketball in the hands of one person and one person only.

And it should come as little to no surprise that the person who Shauna Green and company wearing orange and blue feel the most comfortable minute to minute, possession to possession, dribble to dribble executing everything precisely. The destiny of Illinois’ postseason fate literally and figuratively resides in the fate of a 5-foot-6 guard playing in her first collegiate postseason inside an NBA/WNBA arena.

Illinois center Lety Vasconcelos provided her best game of the 2025-26 season in the Illini’s first round league tournament victory on Wednesday night.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 4, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

INDIANAPOLIS — As they took the elevator ride up a couple floors of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Illinois head coach Shauna Green joked with Lety Vasconcelos that she likely didn’t believe the 6-foot-7 center would be joining her for this post-game media conference.

Sure, the Brazilian native, who has battled multiple knee injuries in her collegiate career, hasn’t had a double-figure scoring output throughout the 2025-26 season and hadn’t produced more than six rebounds in Big Ten Conference play. However, what might have made it a safe bet that Vasconcelos could be a non-factor in this Big Ten Tournament opening round contest was a coach-player blowup in the practice on Tuesday inside Ubben Basketball Complex in Champaign before the Illini left for Indianapolis.

“I just lit into her,” Green said Wednesday night. “I'm like, I know you want to be great I know you want to be elite. It needs to be better. I'm telling you that there was that practice and (in the game Wednesday night) she's up there flying in for rebounds. It was so different.”

By IlliniGuys Staff March 4, 2026 (Cover photo courtesy […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

March 4, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Yahoo! Sports)

Illinois football added another piece to its future recruiting class with a commitment from in-state defensive back Justin Johnson. The 2027 prospect becomes the second player to pledge to the Illini in the class, joining quarterback Kamden Lopati from Utah.

Johnson chose Illinois over several Big Ten programs, including Northwestern, Rutgers, Michigan State and Iowa State. Landing the in-state defensive back continues a recent emphasis for the Illini on keeping top Illinois talent at home.

Illinois cornerbacks coach Corey Parker led the recruitment for Johnson, a three-star prospect from Evanston Township. Parker has been active on the recruiting trail, building relationships with defensive backs across the Midwest and prioritizing versatile players who can fit the Illini secondary in the coming years.

Maddie Webber, who has scored 1,000 points in her collegiate career, will be a key bench element to Illinois’ run through the month of March as they begin postseason play tonight.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 4, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN — With Illinois struggling so much to find consistency in their starts after two-day preparations, Shauna Green hopes the schedule postseason play is the solution to this problem.

Essentially, from a layman’s perspective, more games and less practice might just be the best thing for this team to concentrate on.

“The honest answer is we’ll see, right? Maybe it’s about us just telling them to go play and not worry about so much. I really don’t know at this point,” Green said. “What I do know is March is about executing and being able to perform and it’s really not so much about preparation and practice time anymore.

By IlliniGuys Staff March 3, 2026 (Cover photo courtesy […]