Featured

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

June 18, 2022

(Cover file photo courtesy Journal & Topics)

(EDITOR'S NOTE:  IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst Brad Sturdy and Director of Recruiting Kedric Prince were both in attendance on Friday.  Brad posted updates throughout the day on the IlliniGuys message forums on Friday and Kedric's notes are posted below.)

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood and assistant Tim Anderson were in Riverside, Illinois on Friday watching several potential athletes. Underwood was able to see some really good players. Some already have offers and Terrance Smith from West Aurora was extended a visit to the Illinois campus.

The Illini Showcase Camp on June 16 featured a nationally-rated kicker, the son of a Illini Hall of Famer offered and Illinois OC Barry Lunney Jr. eyeing a quarterback from his old stomping grounds.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

June 17, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Matt Stevens)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Bret Bielema wasn’t about to let Kevin Hardy leave his alma mater without his son knowing how much he was cherished by this Illinois football staff. 

Following his participation in the second Illini showcase camp on Thursday afternoon, Camden Hardy, a 2024 pass rusher prospect from Atlantic Coast High School in Jacksonville, didn’t just leave the Illinois campus with some instruction and a t-shirt. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound outside linebacker/edge rusher who will be entering his junior season of high school got a scholarship offer from second-year head coach Bret Bielema to play at the college where both his father and mother graduated. 

As a sophomore last fall, Hardy had 57 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and five sacks while leading Atlantic Coast High School to the Class 7A playoffs while his famous father was the position coach. 

June 17, 2o22 (Cover photo courtesy Chicago Sun-Times) It's […]

Steve Sturm, IlliniGuys Football Analyst

June 16, 2022

Jamarrion Harkless was the biggest, and best, catch of the recent recruiting weekend. 

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said Wednesday he feels new forward Matthew Mayer has yet to reach his potential development despite being a highly attractive transfer portal signing. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

June 15, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today Sports)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Whether it’s been while recruiting him years ago as a high school prospect, seeing him on the opposing sideline two years ago in Indianapolis or now, Brad Underwood says he’s always been convinced of two things about Matthew Mayer. 

Illinois' newest signing out of the transfer portal is a player Underwood has coveted for several years going back to when he was a Top 100 prospect out of Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. However, despite being on preseason All-Big 12 teams along with preseason Naismith and Wooden Award watch lists before the tip of the 2021-22 season, the Illini head coach is convinced the 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward still has the potential to improve his overall game in his final season of college basketball in Champaign. 

“I think it’s about continuing to become that guy who is a consistent 40 percent from three,” Underwood said. “I think we have the opportunity to get him those looks and him potentially being a focal point of what we want to do on that end will help him grow in those areas as well.”  

Steve Sturm, Football Analyst

June 15, 2022

Illinois' football staff had fans roaring with delight with their first three additions in their recent recruiting weekend.

Illinois officials have pointed toward the newly opened Atkins Golf Club as a future Big Ten Championship and NCAA Regional host facility. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

June 14, 2022

URBANA, Ill. -- Mike Small has experienced as a player the feeling of winning a championship on a home course and now has the opportunity to pass that along to his current players. 

Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting 

June 16, 2022

Illinois football recently picked up four verbal commitments, keeping them among the nation's best in 2023. 

Nathan Guinn, an unrated 2023 tight end prospect from Vero Beach (Fla.) High School, receives scholarship offer after an impressive showcase camp performance.

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

June 13, 2022

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- It’s not typical for a player entering his senior season to travel over 1,000 miles to an open college camp in the hopes of securing a scholarship offer from that program.

Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting 

June 13, 2022

The big man search for Illinois is not over.

Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting 

June 12, 2022

St. Rita High School in Chicago is loaded with basketball and football recruits these days.

Zain Bando, IlliniGuys Student Correspondent June 12, 2022 The […]

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

June 11, 2022

Bret Bielema and his staff put together a huge recruiting weekend last week and it produced a bumper crop of commitments.  The first one pulled the trigger just about as soon as he got off the plane in Champaign, so I'll start with him.  Rico Jackson of Fort Lauderdale is the first offensive lineman from the area to choose the Illini, but taking a player of this caliber is a no-brainer.  Jackson is early in the recruiting process yet already has at least ten high major offers, including a reported offer from Michigan.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

June 10, 2022

Former Illinois basketball coach Nancy Fahey and her staff knew their lack of size was a problem for them. Assistant coach John Patterson left the states to find one.

Liisa Taponen is 6-foot-5, strong with a great upside, but, more importantly, she will be able to rebound and make layups.

Patterson shared with IlliniGuys previously, "It's not a secret we need size badly. We recruit players in the states; we do well, but in the end they pick other programs. I spent a lot of time out of the states, and found Taponen. She's strong, and doesn't really know how good she can be."

By Steve Sturm -- IlliniGuys Football Analyst

June 10, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Pittsburgh Sports Now)

Illinois has worn a path to the Hun School in New Jersey for recruits since Bret Bielema took over and they dipped into that talent pool again this week when offensive linemen Zachary Aamland pledged to the Illini.  One of the first articles I wrote for IlliniGuys was about Owen Anderson from the Hun School, and I'm having flashbacks because once again I'm having a hard time evaluating their players because of the distinctly different type of competition they're facing.  You see, the Hun School has become a football hotbed because it takes guys with low major offers and turns them into high major recruits while in prep school.  However, it is still playing the prep school circuit on the Eastern seaboard and the low enrollment and talent level of those schools leads to some crazy results.  The Hun School went 9-0 this year with a combined score of 374-63, so when you see the Hun players sometimes winning 11-on-11 battles on some of these highlights, you should keep in mind that they did that virtually the entire season so part of the reason for their success is that they're playing woefully undermanned competition.  However, as with my piece on Owen Anderson, I can hardly contain my excitement about this guy because I see the type of athleticism and strength that should translate to the next level regardless of whether he's facing underwhelming competition now.