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By Larry Smith - Co-Host & Executive Producer, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

December 28, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - With the first postseason tournament title and thus the first championship banner in program history to be raised to the rafters at State Farm Center, 2024 will go down as the greatest season in Illinois women's basketball history. Here are the top 10 moments in 2024 for head coach Shauna Green and her squad:

Former Alabama head coach Mike Shula will call plays for South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl in his debut as Gamecocks new offensive coordinator hire. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 28, 2024

ORLANDO, Fla. — When the NCAA Division I Board of Directors officially agreed to a waiver for former junior college players, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema knew exactly where he was spending Christmas Eve. 

Immediately following the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, composed of university presidents, announcing a waiver had been granted for former junior college players who had exhausted their eligibility with this 2024-25 season, Bielema scheduled a private jet flight to Oakland Calif., to spend the day before Christmas with J.C. Davis and his family. 

Justin Stepp’s first season on Bret Bielema’s coaching staff will end with him going up against his most recent former employer in the 2024 Citrus Bowl matchup.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 27, 2024

ORLANDO, Fla. — Not likely in his wildest imagination would Justin Stepp believe that he’d be on the opposite sideline of his most recent former boss in the final game of his first season at Illinois.

However, this will be the exact situation as Stepp, who was hired as the new wide receivers coach in February by Illinois head coach Bret Bielema, and the entire No. 20 Illini squad will play No. 15 South Carolina on New Year’s Eve on Tuesday at 2 p.m. CST on ABC.

In his first Citrus Bowl media conference from inside the Smith Family Football Complex, Bielema made no secret about how much Stepp would love the opportunity, maybe more than anybody on this Illini staff, to knock off the Gamecocks to provide Illinois its 10th win in a season for the first time since 2001.

Illinois vs. Oregon Date | Time Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024 | […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

December 27, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois head football coach Bret Bielema has tapped into the Wisconsin football program to address key needs for the 2025 season.

Under Bielema and his coaching staff, the Illini have utilized the transfer portal strategically—not to rebuild the roster, but to fill critical gaps. When backup quarterback Donovan Leary entered the transfer portal, Illinois quickly secured a strong replacement in Northern Illinois quarterback Ethan Hampton.

Illinois guard Zy Crisler was one of two Illini players given a waiver by the NCAA to play in the 2025 season after being junior college transfers.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 27, 2024

ORLANDO, Fla. — Despite being in the transfer portal, Illinois offensive lineman Zy Crisler made the trip with the team to Orlando and is slated to play in the Citrus Bowl.

December 27, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy South Carolina Athletics)

#20 Illinois faces 15th ranked South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl at Orlando's Camping World Stadium next Tuesday. It's a matchup of 9-win teams and programs that haven't seen consistent success over the years. A win on New Year's Eve would give Carolina only its fourth 10-win season ever, while an Illinois victory would be just the fifth double-digit win campaign in Illini history.

Who are the Gamecocks?  Here's what the locals are saying about the team:

Steve Sturm, IlliniGuys Football Analyst

December 25, 2024

Regardless of what happens with Tomiwa Durojaiye (Du Ro Jie ee) in the future, let's all pause and appreciate this moment because Durojaiye will have completed the P4 Yahtzee once he joins the Illinois football team.

By Larry Smith - Co-Host & Executive Producer, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

Illinois coach Brad Underwood has used a number of high-pressure tests to form his roster into what he hopes will be a Big Ten - and national - championship contender. (Photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

December 26, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Six years ago, the Illini men's basketball team woke up on Christmas morning to find little more than coal waiting for them under the stat tree.

Illinois went into the 2018 holiday season with a paltry 4-8 record after a double-digit loss to hated rival Missouri in the annual Braggin' Rights game. They had been swept in all three games at the Maui Invitational a month earlier, were already 0-2 in Big Ten, and in a few days would drop their final "money game" when they lost to lowly-regarded Florida Atlantic - and a first-year coach named Dusty May - in overtime at State Farm Center.

James Thompson Jr., a two-year defensive lineman starter at Wisconsin, has elected to spend his final season of college football playing for Bret Bielema’s Illini as a graduate transfer in the upcoming 2025 season. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 25, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Christmas Day represented the biggest and most important gift for the Illinois football program. 

Steve Sturm, IlliniGuys Football Analyst

December 25, 2024

Illinois took its time before jumping into the transfer portal waters, but now that they're in, the portal commitments are coming rapidly.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

December 24, 2024

One of the glaring options on Illinois' offseason football shopping list was an additional wide receiver, and the Illini checked off that item when they took a commitment from Ball State wide receiver Justin Bowick on Saturday.  Bowick is a big and fairly fast wide receiver at 6'4, 200 and would make a nice target for Luke Altmyer in 2025.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

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

December 24, 2024

The Illini are Braggin’ again, which means the turkey will taste much better on Christmas Day. As we look back at this game, and the other 10, certain things begin to stand out and we can see this team growing.

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular and Big Sports Radio […]

The addition of Tomiwa Durojaiye continues the philosophy of finding developmental talent who have yet to reach their potential out of the transfer portal.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 23, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Ben Spicer/Warchant)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois football program continue to show the philosophy of being a developmental power conference program can and should also exist with transfer portal additions.

Illinois added to this ideology of slow, multi-year program building Monday with the reported addition of defensive lineman Tomiwa Durojaiye.