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

November 27, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Brent Zinkmann/IlliniGuys)

Brad Underwood loves his marquee matchups in the non-conference and loves to head to New York City as well, so he will get both out of the way on Friday when the Illini play the Connecticut Huskies. UConn is a perennial championship contender, and this year appears no different. The Illini are trying to get healthy heading into this one and hope to be closer to full strength than they were just over a week ago against Alabama.

Here’s a look at the particulars.

Setting the Stage
#13 Illinois (6-1) vs. #5 UConn (5-1)
Friday, Nov. 28, 2025 // 11:30 a.m. CT/12:30 p.m. ET // New York // Madison Square Garden
TV: FOX – Kenny Albert (Play-by-Play) & Steve Smith (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play) & Deon Thomas

Notable
*No. 13 Illinois (6-1) closes a stretch of four games in 10 days across three different cities, facing No. 5 UConn at Madison Square Garden on Black Friday (11:30 a.m. CT / FOX). • In taking on No. 5 UConn, Illinois is in search of its highest ranked win since a 72-69 win over No. 4 Iowa State in the Sweet 16 round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament (March 28, 2024). Brad Underwood has led the Illini to five wins over top-5 opponents since 2019-20, sixth-most in the NCAA.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

November 27, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — On Thanksgiving Day, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood and his staff secured a key in-state commitment from Quinton Kitt, a 6-foot-7 power forward from East Peoria, Ill., who made his decision public on his Twitter page.

Kitt announced his pledge with a brief holiday message: “forever thankful to represent to put on for my state, go Fighting Illini, and Happy Thanksgiving.”

A few weeks ago, IlliniGuys’ Kedric Prince and Brad Sturdy learned that Kitt was leaning heavily toward Illinois. The Peoria native hasn’t hidden his connection to the program since late summer.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

November 27, 2025

(Cover photo player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — If you’re an Illinois fan, Thanksgiving delivered a double dose of good news. Earlier in the day, Brad Underwood and the men’s basketball program secured a commitment from Quinton Kitt, a 6-foot-7 forward from East Peoria, Ill. Not long after, Bret Bielema made sure the football program joined the celebration when cornerback Jakwon Morris decommitted from USC and pledged to Illinois.

Morris, a 6-foot-0, 175-pound cornerback, is exactly the type of player Illinois needed in its secondary. Considered one of the nation’s top 3 junior college cornerbacks, he will suit up for the Illini after originally committing to the Trojans. He comes from Northwest Mississippi CC, a program known for producing defensive backs.

By IlliniGuys Staff

November 27, 2025

Like a surprise pecan pie you might discover behind the serving dishes of green bean casserole and cranberries, IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst Brad Sturdy delivered some eye-popping goodies this week on the premium message boards.

An under-the-radar campus visitor this week, who NBA scouts have their eye on and why this might be a December we'll remember come March.

Here's what he said:

By Zeno Jo - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 27, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Standing at 6-1 with the season in full swing, the 13th-ranked Illinois basketball team has picked up its first commitment of its 2027 recruiting class. With the staff’s 2024 and 2025 classes bringing in flavors from all around the world, the first name on the 2027 class will be an in-state guy.

6-foot-6, 215-pound forward Quinton Kitt has committed to play for the Illini. Hailing from Peoria and playing for East Peoria High School, Kitt has been a frequent traveler to Champaign in recent months. He was on campus for his fourth visit for Illinois’ November 7th matchup against Florida Gulf Coast, and he has spoken with the IlliniGuys team several times before.

By Zeno Jo - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 26, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Zeno Jo/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – We’ve all heard of “two birds, one stone,” but the Illini coaching staff may be looking to take down three birds with one Illinois-shaped stone.

Head coach Bret Bielema has taken a liking to in-state recruiting since arriving in 2021, and as of late has also been heavy in recruiting players who have family ties to the program. His next target? A player playing football right out of Northwestern’s backyard.

Illinois forces 25 turnovers and holds Western Kentucky to […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

November 26, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois’ most recent loss to Wisconsin left a sour note across Illini Nation, but the future of the program remains steady. The recruits who have pledged themselves to the Orange and Blue are standing firm, none more than quarterback Michael Clayton.

Clayton, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound quarterback from Edison High School in Miami, Fla., is slated to arrive on campus in 2026. Even with the ups and downs of the current season, he’s excited to get his college career going.

Clayton said his commitment is rooted in his belief in the staff and the direction of the program. "Coaching and development that I know I’ll get there, and I believe we’ll be able to bring Big Ten championships to Champaign," he said.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

November 26, 2025

Bart Miller and Bret Bielema love their offensive line play, and with four of five starters leaving this offseason, we've seen quite a few recruits coming through Champaign this season to make sure there are enough quality options to ensure that the Illini have the quality line play in 2026 to which we've become accustomed.  To that end, Northeast Mississippi tackle Alfred Washington flipped his commitment from Marshall to the Illini last week after a prior visit to the Illini.  I like what I see from Washington, but I'd hold off on buying this jersey because he's a real wild card.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

IlliniGuys.com uses a film review this week to show how the scheme wasn’t necessarily the problem but a lack of execution and effort was the culprit in Wisconsin.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 26, 2025

MADISON, Wis. — In the midst of the obvious disaster that was Illinois’ 27-10 loss at Wisconsin, the two most troublesome items of concern were likely offensive line play and the defense’s inability to get third-down stops. Therefore, we’ll attempt to address both of those issues in depth in this film review piece.

Let’s start with the offensive line issues that allowed Wisconsin to generate five sacks and pressure on Luke Altmyer in 22 of the quarterback’s 42 dropbacks on Saturday night. Illinois head coach Bret Bielema painted the picture on Saturday night that Wisconsin’s edge rushers (Darryl Peterson and Mason Reiger) just flew around and won way too many 1-on-1 battles on the outside against the Illini’s tackles and tight ends. Of course, a further in-depth look at what transpired realizes that, as is usual, it’s not at all that simple.

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

November 25, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Brent Zinkmann/IlliniGuys)

The Illini beat UT Rio Grande Valley 87-73 on Monday night as they prepare for UConn on Friday, but they also showed they are far from a finished product. The ups and downs are normal for early season basketball, but this is different. The Illini have played 7 games but literally have only had a full roster available (sans Ty Rodgers) for three of those games and five practices. And even then, they are far from 100% and do not have conditioning up to speed.

So it makes sense that there are inconsistencies, some communication issues and even a coaching staff struggling to figure them out.

Things We Know:

Stojakovic Can Score 

While the talent, creativity and moments of athleticism from Mihailo Petrovica re impossible to ignore, Brad Underwood remains baffled on what to do with his 22-year-old point guard.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 25, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The biggest mystery for Illinois’ 2025-26 season continues to be 22-year-old Mihailo Petrovic.

Following what the layman might perceive as an uplifting effort from a player who was the last Illini option used off the bench, Petrovic remains this unlocked talent that his own leader admittedly doesn’t know how to properly use already seven games into this campaign.

“I don’t know. If you want me to be honest, we’re still working through all of that,” a perplexed Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said following the 87-73 win over Texas-Rio Grande Valley. “He was the first player off the bench on Saturday (in the 98-58 win over Long Island) and I think we have depth. It’s nice to have him and be able to go to him.”

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

November 25, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Every loss is tough when you've built a good football program. The Ohio State and Indiana losses hurt because they were the program's best chance to take a big leap forward, yet Illinois wasn't up to the task. The Washington loss hurt because the Illini probably had more talent but had some coaching mishaps and some bad luck. However, this loss hurt even more, because the thing Bret Bielema could really hang his hat on this year was that this was a physically and mentally mature group that came to play in every game and wasn't going to lose an easy one...or so we thought. The Illini players and coaches both came out flat on Saturday and, despite having the more talented and experienced team, lost by 17 points in Madison. There's no real excuse for this loss either, and even if there were, this is the one that has the potential to hurt the program more than the others.

I'm going to start with the offensive highlights this week, and while we spent a lot of time talking about the poor pass blocking that led to 5 sacks on Saturday night, on re-watch I have to say a couple of these sacks were the result of Luke Altmyer getting confused both because of good defensive scheming and Altmyer's own indecision. We saw Luke double and triple pump on plays on Saturday like we haven't seen before and that was the result of Wisconsin disrupting his passing lanes and flooding short zones with defenders. On this first play Altmyer has four seconds before he starts to run outside and you can see Cole Rusk come up just before Altmyer looks for him. You can see Altmyer start to dump it off to Rusk but Daryl Peterson, who would go on to deflect two passes and get two more sacks Saturday night, gets his hands up and causes Altmyer to hold the ball. Wisconsin had Altmyer off schedule all night and they deserve credit for the scheming. I marked this down as a coverage sack after re-watching.

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular Cover Photo Courtesy Wisconsin […]

By IlliniGuys Staff November 24, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]