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Ked's Recruiting Roundup

November 29, 2024

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Last Saturday, Fighting Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer notched his fifth fourth-quarter comeback victory, leading Illinois to a thrilling 38-31 win over Rutgers.

During our postgame podcast, a fan posed an intriguing question: How has Illinois football improved its ability to recruit top talent under head coach Bret Bielema?

This inquiry spurred interest among fans and led my colleague and podcast host, Mike Cagley, and I to discuss some of the high-profile recruiting victories Illinois has achieved since Bielema took the reins.

By IlliniGuys Staff November 28, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting November 28, 2024 […]

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

November 28, 2024

It’s finally here. After much hype and anticipation, the Illinois v Arkansas matchup on Thanksgiving Day in Kansas City has arrived. The matchup features a ton of storylines, brother v brother, coach v coach, etc., but most importantly this is a key non-conference matchup between two teams that have a great opportunity to go deep in March. A win on Thursday not only means that the turkey tastes better, but gives the winner a key win for seeding in the 2025 NCAA tournament.

Let’s look at the matchup.

Setting the Stage

Thanksgiving Hoops Showcase
Illinois (5-1) vs. #19/#21 Arkansas (5-1)
Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 // 3 p.m. CT // Kansas City, Mo. // T-Mobile Center
TV: CBS – Ian Eagle (Play-by-Play), Bill Raftery (Analyst), John Rothstein (Reporter) Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Deon Thomas

Notable

*Illinois (5-1) closes a stretch of four games in nine days across three different cities, with a Thanksgiving Day matchup against No. 19-ranked Arkansas (5-1) in the Thanksgiving Hoops Showcase at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. (3 p.m. CT/CBS).

*The Illini are coming off of the team’s two largest victory margins of the season – vs. UMES (+47, 87-40) on Saturday and vs. Little Rock (+58, 92-34) on Monday – to improve to 5-0 at home this season, with an average scoring margin of 38.8 points.

*Monday’s win over Little Rock marked the 148th victory of Brad Underwood’s Illini tenure. In his eighth season in Champaign, Underwood now ranks fifth on the Illinois all-time coaching wins list.

*Newcomers to the Illini roster have accounted for 90.1% of the team’s scoring so far (484 of 534 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 38.7% of those points (207).

*Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks among the top teams nationally in: scoring margin (7th in NCAA, +30.2), 3-point attempts per game (1st, 34.3), 3-pointers made per game (10th, 11.3), total rebounds per game (1st, 50.2), rebound margin (1st, +17.3), defensive rebounds per game (3rd, 34.5), and offensive rebounds per game (13th, 15.7)

By IlliniGuys Staff November 27, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema confirmed Wednesday fifth-year pass rusher Seth Coleman will be inactive for the regular season finale after suffering a shoulder/arm injury in the 38-31 win at Rutgers.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 27, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Seth Coleman will not get an opportunity to finish his collegiate career at Wrigley Field.

In his final media session before the regular season finale against Northwestern, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema confirmed Wednesday Coleman will not be on the 74-player travel roster. The fifth-year pass rusher suffered a serious shoulder/arm injury in the second half of the 38-31 win at Rutgers and Coleman has been inactive for practice sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

Illinois offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. was honored Tuesday […]

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

November 27, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

This Illinois team is battle tested, isn't it?  This staff has built a group that doesn't flinch in the big moments and its been great to see and enjoy through what figures to be a memorable 2025 season.  Saturday provided yet another example of the mental toughness of this group of Illini as they overcame some rough luck and tricky conditions to come back (twice!) in the last few minutes to beat a solid Rutgers squad.

I wanted to start off this week by highlighting an abnormal play that just happened to work for both teams this week: the draw on a running down. 

By IlliniGuys Staff November 26, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

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

November 26, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

To copy one of Brad Underwood’s favorite phrases, ‘That’s what they look like.’ The Illini dominated a solid Arkansas-Little Rock team on Monday night by a 92-34 score and looked like a team with huge upside starting to find their way.

Let’s look at the breakdown.

These 3 Things

Defense Worth Watching 

Ked's Recruiting Roundup November 25th, 2024 By Kedric Prince […]

Illinois gets its first win of the 2024-25 season […]

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois QB […]

Based on the calendar of when semifinalists and finalists are selected, the public campaign for The Biletnikoff Award by Illinois head coach on behalf of Pat Bryant will fall on deaf ears.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 25, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The unfortunate reality of the situation is Illinois head coach Bret Bielema is just never going to see the name of his lead wide receiver on the watch list for The Biletnikoff Award.

Following another career-best game for Pat Bryant that included a 40-yard game-winning touchdown reception in a 38-31 victory at Rutgers on Saturday, Bielema proceeded to politically stump one more time for the Illini fourth-year receiver who currently 11th among all receivers in a power conference program in yards (914) and is 12th in the Big Ten Conference in receptions (50).

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Kendall Bostic delivered […]