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IlliniGuys.com addresses five issues and/or topics that Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and/or his three players (Luke Altmyer, JC Davis and Xavier Scott) might want to address in Las Vegas.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

July 21, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy MGM Hotels)

LAS VEGAS — After Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti steps off the podium for his introductory address and media Q&A session, the very next face you’ll see at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas for the league’s football media days will be Illinois’ head coach entering his fifth season leading the program.

Bret Bielema follows Petitti as the first Big Ten head coach to take the mic Tuesday at the main stage's press conference. Bielema's appearance will be live on Big Ten Network at 1:30 p.m. CST.

Bielema will then be on Sirius XM B1G Radio at 4:00 p.m. CST and then will finish his day on the Big Ten Network studio set joined by a host of panelists including former Illini tailback Howard Griffith at 5:45 p.m. CST.

We at IlliniGuys.com thought we’d detail five pressing storylines that we’d like to hear from Bielema and/or the three All-Big Ten players (quarterback Luke Altmyer, left tackle JC Davis and defensive back Xavier Scott) the Illini fifth-year leader brought with him to Las Vegas.

After a lot of public talk from the Southeastern Conference since late May, Big Ten Conference commissioner Tony Petitti will get his chance to present his public case in Las Vegas.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

July 21, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Big Ten)

LAS VEGAS — To steal most of this line from the late radio host Paul Harvey, after Tuesday we’ll know the rest of the story.

Last week, the Southeastern Conference - led by its commissioner Greg Sankey and a parade of football head coaches made their way through the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta to make its position very well understood on two critical issues currently holding up an approved proposal for a future College Football Playoff format.

As per tradition, Big Ten Conference commissioner Tony Petitti will have the first opportunity to address issues and take questions likely surrounding his viewpoint on a CFP playoff format that is drastically different than the rest of his conference commissioner colleagues. At 1 p.m. CST, Petitti will address media on the first day of his league’s football media days from the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in the Big Ten’s first visit to the Las Vegas Strip since accepting the four West Coast programs (Southern California, UCLA, Washington and Oregon) into the conference membership.

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular July 21, 2025 The […]

Illinois head coach Shauna Green still doesn’t have a fully healthy and active roster to work with in July. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

July 20, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.  — Shauna Green must eventually believe there will be a time where she’ll actually get to coach a healthy roster at the University of Illinois. 

One might think that time would be the summer months where athletes are supposed to be part of offseason workouts. Well, Green’s answer right now would be: think again. 

As Illinois conducts on-campus workouts with a new 2025-26 season roster that has removed four graduated key starters, Green has already acknowledged she will likely still be learning the nuances of her new team once classes begin in August. 

“This is almost like the first year (at Illinois) for me because you know what you have when you watch a recruit but until you get them in our system, it’s about constantly learning things,” Green said. “It’s all about how they learn, how they adapt and how they then go put that into a live situation. Those answers don’t always come in the summer.” 

Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 19, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A question that continues to surface in recruiting circles and among Illini-Nation is: Will Illinois return to building through high school recruiting or continue leaning on the transfer portal?

That answer, as IlliniGuys learned

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

July 19, 2025

Illinois has had a strong start to its Class of 2026, but after a couple of painful misses on in-state tight ends Mack Sutter and JC Anderson, the program really needed to close the deal on its last big priority for 2026: Jacob Eberhart of Kirkwood (Missouri).  The four-star St. Louis area product is the son of former Illini Jason Eberhart, but with a strong offer list Jacob was far from a lock and in fact had not let the Illini staff know which way he was leaning until the morning of his commitment date.  I'm sure there was a massive sigh of relief in the Smith Football Offices that day as the 6'3, 205-pound athlete chose to follow in his father's footsteps.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 18, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Just when you thought another dominant big man may never roam the court of State Farm Center like former two-time All-American Kofi Cockburn, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood is searching for the next force in the paint.

There’s a new name to keep an eye on: Marcis “The Big Show” Ponder.

By IlliniGuys Staff 

July 17, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun)

Earlier today on our message forum, IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst Brad Sturdy identified for premium members some of the key players to watch as the annual Peach Jam tips off in North Augusta, South Carolina:

Here is a link to the Peach Jam live stream...

EYBL Livestream — Nike EYBL

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood says he and his staff have done everything required for David Mirkovic and Mihailo Petrovic to arrive in Champaign-Urbana in August.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

July 17, 2025

When it comes to getting his final two international pieces on campus, Brad Underwood is in the vulnerable position of playing the waiting game.

The 61-year-old, who just finished his eighth season leading the University of Illinois men’s basketball program, acknowledged there is nothing more he and his coaching staff can do in order to ensure Montenegrin forward David Mirkovic and Serbian point guard Mihailo Petrovic arrive on campus in time for when classes are set to begin on Aug. 25.

While speaking to local media at the 2025 Kendall Gill Golf Benefit at the University of Illinois Golf Course Blue Course in Savoy, Underwood said he and his staff have done everything possible from a paperwork and application process to assist in Mirkovic and Petrovic receiving admission to the university and an F-1 student visa from the U.S. Department of State.

For the fifth straight year, Illinois’ Friday night starting pitcher has been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

July 16, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The streak has stretched to five consecutive years.

Since 2021, the guy who Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb has sent out to the mound for the first inning of a Friday night series has been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft.

Tyler Schmitt turned his one and only season at Illinois into being a 17th round selection in the 2025 draft by the San Diego Padres. Schmitt, who transferred to the Illini after being a first team all-conference selection at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, made 15 starts for the Illini totaling a team-best 58 strikeouts and posted 11 outings with three earned runs or fewer.

Schmitt, a 6-foot-3 and 190-pound right-hander who will turn 21 years old in August, follows the likes of Jack Crowder (ninth round by Baltimore in 2024), Riley Gowens (ninth round by Atlanta in 2023) and Nathan Lavender (14th round by New York Mets) of Friday night starters to hear their name called in the draft the following summer.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 16, 2015

(Cover photo courtesy Lob Sport)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Just when it seemed the 2025-26 Illinois men’s basketball roster was finalized, rumors have begun to circulate that the Illini could be adding another overseas player before the summer ends.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 15, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy MadeHoops.com)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The NCAA transfer portal has become the focal point of college basketball roster building in recent years, and few have adapted to that trend as efficiently as Illinois head coach Brad Underwood. Since the NCAA relaxed its transfer rules, Underwood and his staff have utilized the portal to bring in experienced talent and fill roster needs.

However, despite their success in the portal, Illinois is now making a return to high school recruiting, a more traditional, long-term approach that has started to reappear in the Illini’s strategy. The staff is making it clear that high school recruiting still has value, and they are actively offering scholarships to promising underclassmen.

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular July 14, 2025 The […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 12, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois football continues to build momentum on the recruiting trail, this time heading to the Show-Me State to land its latest commitment. Jacob Eberhart, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound safety/wide receiver from St. Louis, Mo., announced his commitment to the Fighting Illini.

Illinois wide receivers coach Justin Stepp was instrumental in the commitment. Stepp, who has developed a reputation for connecting with high-level talent at the wide receiver position, helped sway Eberhart from a near pledge to Oklahoma. With Illinois building one of its best classes in recent history, Eberhart now becomes the 23rd commitment in the 2026 class.

Less than a month after Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman’s comments on the matter and less than two weeks into the CSC’s existence, resistance to the regulations has already begun.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

July 12, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy David Craan/Illinois Athletics)

Despite it resembling many things of the previous NCAA’s enforcement department, Josh Whitman insists the new College Sports Commission will be drastically different.

The athletics director at the University of Illinois, who was elected the chairperson of the NCAA Division I Council in May 2024, stressed last month to local media the CSC’s enforcement wing designed to investigate and punish programs in violation of the new regulations put in place starting July 1 will have more qualified personnel and complete autonomy to “investigate swiftly and punish hard”.