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Purdue will have five former Illinois coaches on its staff when the Boilermakers play at Illinois on Oct. 12 at Memorial Stadium in Walters’ first return to Champaign.

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

July 23, 2024

INDIANAPOLIS — At 7:30 p.m. CST on Jan. 11, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema sent out of the media release confirming the firing of linebackers coach Andy Buh and cornerbacks coach Antonio Fenelus.

Mike Farrell, IlliniGuys & Big Sports Radio National Football Recruiting Expert

July 23, 2024

(Mike Farrell also has his own website: https://mikefarrellsports.com/)

In this edition of the Farrell Files Illinois, I’ll have a few more 2026 notes and see how the 2025 WR group compares to the Big Ten. Hint: It’s not that bad.

Illinois fills final assistant/analyst roles for the upcoming 2024 season with the additions of Dana Dimel and Myers Hendrickson.  

July 22, 2024

CHAMPAIGN — The final additions of Bret Bielema’s coaching staff for the upcoming 2024 season are former head coaches at the Division I level. 

The Illini’s fourth-year head coach announced Monday the hiring of Dana Dimel as a senior offensive assistant and Myers Hendrickson as a senior analyst. 

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 22, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After overcoming a few technical but common issues, Illinois' freshman center Tomislav Ivisic, a 7-foot-1, 230-pound jack of all trades, has finally made it to Champaign from Vodice, Croatia.

Ivisic, despite being a freshman, brings a unique skill set to the center position that Illinois has never had. Former All-American center Kofi Cockburn also stood at 7-foot-0 but weighed 300 pounds, using his sheer size to dominate opponents. Ivisic, however, will present a different look.

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 22, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini football team is just six weeks away from opening night at Memorial Stadium against the Eastern Illinois Panthers. While much of the off-season hype has surrounded the men’s and women’s basketball recruiting, head coach Bret Bielema and his staff have made significant strides in football recruitment as well.

University of Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman, who is also the NCAA’s Division I Council chairperson, is still promoting the idea of governance. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

CHAMPAIGN  — When asked if prominent power conference university athletics departments want to be governed, University of Illinois Josh Whiman needed a few seconds to pause, breath and sigh before responding. 

Whitman spent several minutes during his annual roundtable discussion in June promoting the idea that some governance will be required to stabilize what can only be described as a chaotic era of collegiate athletics. However, Whitman, who has taken over as the chairperson of the NCAA’s Division I Council, wasn’t naive or unaware of the contrary recent evidence to suggest his plea for stability might be falling on deaf ears when the alternative is a more competitive present and future. 

“I don’t expect enforcement to happen through the existing mechanism that we’ve all known through the last decades. So, it must be a new mechanism and a new structure needs to be put in place to try and monitor this environment,” Whitman said.

Despite numerous recent examples of power conference programs working in their best interest without regulations and perceived historical ethics being considered, Whitman is still publicly advocating for some sort of governing body to put in place that all university presidents/chancellors, athletics directors and coaches can see as a sense of fair play. 

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting July 21, 2024 […]

Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 20, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois basketball has retained two key players after an impressive Elite Eight finish: sophomore Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn and junior Ty Rodgers.

By Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 19, 2024

Champaign, IL - Just over two weeks ago, the Fighting Illini women's basketball team received exciting news from the nation's fifth-ranked prospect, Divine Bourrage, who announced that Illinois made her final cut. Bourrage's list includes LSU, Baylor, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Arizona.

Destiny Jackson, a 5-foot-11 guard from Whitney Young, released her top five schools this week.

Mike Farrell, IlliniGuys & Big Sports Radio National Football Recruiting Expert

July 19, 2024

(Mike Farrell also has his own website: https://mikefarrellsports.com/)

In this edition of the Farrell Files Illinois, I’ll take a look at some 2026 news and rank the RB recruits vs the Big Ten as 2025 has slowed down.

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 18, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — One of the most prolific scorers on the Illinois roster next year is Ben Humrichous, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound small forward from Tipton, Indiana. The Indiana prep was the third NCAA transfer to commit to Illinois head coach Brad Underwood in the 2024 class.

Illinois Athletics July 17, 2024 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini […]

Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 17, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - To say Illinois wanted Kylan Boswell on their team would be a major understatement. Boswell, originally from Urbana, knew a lot about the Illinois program growing up. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound guard has been impressive recently in workouts.

Mike Farrell, IlliniGuys & Big Sports Radio National Football Recruiting Expert

July 16, 2024

(Mike Farrell also has his own website: https://mikefarrellsports.com/)

In this edition of the Farrell Files Illinois, I’ll I’ll look at how the current WR situation could continue their impact on the trail at that position and how the Illini stack up in the Big Ten at QB in recruiting.

Illinois right-handed starting pitcher Jack Crowder was selected during […]