Football

Arizona hits four home runs in a 8-3 victory […]

Jonah Morris’ college football journey through seven seasons and four schools will conclude at Illinois for the upcoming 2022 season. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

May 20, 2022

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois added a 24-year-old wide receiver from the transfer portal ready to prove that his seventh season and fourth school will be his best situation. 

Jonah Morris announced his verbal pledge to the Illini program on Friday afternoon after announcing his intention to enter the transfer portal for his final season of college football. His arrival at Illinois for fall camp in August will complete a journey for the Akron, Ohio native that has seen him go from Indiana, Akron, Northern Colorado and now Illinois. 

Morris, who was primarily recruited by Illinois wide receivers coach George McDonald and Illinois head coach Bret Bielema, took an official visit to the Champaign campus last weekend and told IlliniGuys.com earlier this week that while he’d been contacted by several FBS schools, Illinois was the top option on his list. 

“I’ve talked a lot with Coach Geo, Coach B and the new offensive coordinator Coach (Barry) Lunney and I just think this offense is going to work out perfectly,” Morris said. “I can make plays when the ball is in the air. I’m not a primadonna wide receiver who doesn’t like to block for the solid running game Illinois is going to have and after talking with Coach Lunney, I believe Illinois is going to be set up to throw the football more than people think.”

Despite three unofficial visits to Illinois and the planning of an announced official visit for next month, three-star defensive line Roderick Pierce from Brother Rice H.S. commits to Wisconsin. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

May 19, 2022

Roderick Pierce’s verbal pledge struck a serious blow to Illinois’ plans for its 2023 recruiting class at a critical rebuilding position. 

The three-star defensive tackle prospect from Chicago’s Brother Rice High School announced his verbal pledge to Wisconsin on Thursday afternoon. This commitment comes less than a week after Pierce, who has toured the Illinois campus three times for unofficial visits including being at State Farm Center for a basketball game during the Illini Junior Day weekend on Jan. 14, announced he’d be taking his official visit to Champaign on the weekend of June 17-19. 

Pierce was seen by the Illini coaching staff, specifically Illinois defensive line coach Terrance Jamison, as a high priority prospect after sending out their offer to the 290-pounder last June. 

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

May 19, 2022

Jaheim Clarke is a three-star recruit from Riverdale High School in Ft. Myers, Florida. 

IlliniGuys caught up with the 6-foot-1, 165-pound defensive back from the class of 2023 to get the latest with his recruitment.

Illinois has a lot of offers out on the table, but nothing like several previous staff members. The philosophy appears to be to go after what their needs are and players the staff feels can help turn Illinois into a consistent winner each year and avoid long droughts after a successful season.

Clarke said, "The recruiting process is going great for me so far. I'm at 13 scholarship offers, and Illinois is giving 100 percent effort with me right now."

NCAA identifies private NIL “collectives” as part of the problem while programs can’t wait to run toward them for recruiting help.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 17, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy USA Today)

Three messages were sent out through the NCAA office last week. Two were subtle and the final one was not. 

Let’s take a moment to break down each of them through the past, present and future of what the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors stated in what they’re called “guidance”. 

NCAA Message No. 2 (A subtle one): All NIL collective organizations might be committing minor recruiting violations but they’re more interested in if the spirit of the law is being violated. 

Let there be no mistake. This “guidance” was sent out because the NCAA is concerned about NIL “collective” groups. At Illinois, that private NIL group is called Illini Guardians. That’s correct. The NCAA Division I Board of Directors are telling the public that Chicago-based attorney Adam Fleischer - the founder of the Illini Guardians - and the other people who have formed similar groups across the country in order to keep their athletics programs competitive in a billion-dollar entertainment industry are part of the problem across the country.  

“The guidance defines as a booster any third-party entity that promotes an athletics program, assists with recruiting or assists with providing benefits to recruits, enrolled student-athletes or their family members,” the statement written by the NCAA reads. “The definition could include ‘collectives’ set up to funnel name, image and likeness deals to prospective student-athletes or enrolled student-athletes who might be considering transferring. NCAA recruiting rules preclude boosters from recruiting and/or providing benefits to prospective student-athletes.”

This “guidance” is essentially asking the University of Illinois to distance themselves from Illini Guardians, which they won’t do and would be foolish to do. Why are they “guiding” them to do this? Because, as we addressed in part one of this series, the NCAA officials would prefer these groups had never been born.

In pretty clear English, the NCAA Board of Directors is attempting to tell the public that instead of its own outdated rules attempting to protect the guise of amateurism over several decades, it’s these NIL “collectives” that are making fans uncomfortable with the new world of college athletics. 

“The new guidance establishes a common set of expectations for the Division I institutions moving forward, and the board expects all Division I institutions to follow our recruiting rules and operate within these reasonable expectations," board chair Jere Morehead, president, University of Georgia, said in this NCAA release. 

In a statement sent to IlliniGuys.com, Fleischer simply disagrees with any assessment that his organization wasn’t operating within the current NCAA rulebook.

Illinois sophomore Piercen Hunt leads the individual medalist race […]

According to the latest agenda for the University of […]

We now know the NCAA is going to start investigating NIL “collectives”. IlliniGuys.com reporter Matthew Stevens looks into what this means for college sports and Illini Guardians in a three-part series.

May 12, 2022

Three messages were sent out through the NCAA office on Monday evening. Two were subtle and the final one was not. 

Let’s take a moment to break down each of them through the past, present and future of what the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors stated in what they’re called “guidance”. 

NCAA Message No. 1 (A subtle one): We didn’t want to be here in the first place but since we are now, a rulebook definition for “pay-for-play” and “improper inducements” is needed. 

By Monday evening, every school’s athletic department was sent what the Indianapolis office of the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors is calling “guidance to schools regarding the intersection between recruiting activities and the name, image and likeness environment”. 

In translation, the correspondence is/was to serve as a reminder that boosters and the money that comes with them are still strictly prohibited from being involved in any way toward recruiting or retaining a player to your roster.

In June 2021, The NCAA Division I Council voted to recommend the NCAA's interim name, image and likeness (NIL) policy to the same Division I Board of Directors to be used as a collective stopgap measure to eliminate the possibility of some athletes at Division I schools in certain states with more loose/liberal NIL laws having a competitive financial earning advantage over athletes at schools in certain states with more strict/conservative NIL laws on the books. 

Illinois senior Crystal Wang plays the final 36 holes […]

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

May 11, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Furman Athletics)

Illinois made an important but low-key addition to its offensive line depth chart last week when Furman transfer Dylan Davis pledged to the Illini.  The prior staff recruited Davis to Champaign as a defensive lineman but he chose Furman as his initial college choice.   Davis started two games last fall as a redshirt freshman and played well enough to earn a spot on the Southern Conference All-Freshman team.  However, Furman has two starting tackles returning so Davis entered the portal and Illinois decided to add him to the mix.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Illinois sits 11th in its 12-team NCAA Regional in […]

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

May 6, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Minnesota State Athletics)

Illinois added some quality depth to their secondary with the transfer of Terrell "Rello" Jennings.  Jennings is just about the most unlikely story for a transfer Illinois has ever had, so regardless of what you might think of him as a player, he's a heck of an interesting story:

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Multiple Illinois coaches have reached out to interest in Rutgers edge rusher Ryan Keeler.

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 6, 2022

CHAMPAIGN -- During his introductory media conference in Dec. 2020, Bret Bielema made a public plea to all college football players from Illinois not happy with their current situation.

“If you’re a player from the state of Illinois and you’re somewhere else and there’s a desire and an ability to be somewhere else, I’m listening,” Bielema said. “I think if we are built with a DNA of what we are as a university in the structure of our football program, we have a great chance to have success.”

This statement connected with not Illinois high school coaches but a highly regarded player who officially put his name in the transfer portal last weekend.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

May 3, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Bloomington Pantagraph)

Defensive back coach Aaron Henry is the Tim Anderson of the basketball staff. When Henry was hired, not a lot of people knew what he would bring to the coaching staff at Illinois.

My first encounter with Henry was last June during a media event held by head coach Bret Bielema.

Photo courtesy Illinois Athletics

Henry, along with executive director of personnel and recruiting Pat Embleton, did most of the touring. But Henry caught the eye of a lot of reporters that day. His charisma and easy flow to anyone who would talk to him kept our attention.

I was so impressed with Henry that I wanted to be the first media guy to interview him. I must admit, I did not go through the proper channels to talk to him, but I just wanted to pick his brain.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

May 3, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Miles McVay)

Four-star offensive tackle Miles McVay from East St. Louis, Illinois, attended the Illinois spring football game last week as a man who is in high demand.  The class of 2023 standout is wanted by 35 different colleges.

IlliniGuys.com caught up with the future high school All-American to get his thoughts on the current Illinois team as well as other recruits.

McVay said, "It was cool.  I got a chance to see and hang with all my St. Louis Metro guys and hang with and talk to Coach (Cory) Patterson and (Bret) Bielema."