Football

Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 23, 2022

Mason Muragin made the visit to Champaign, Illinois, a visit which has been different from other schools recruiting Muragin.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

May 23, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy Dante Barone's Twitter page)

Illinois has been very successful when it comes to landing high-profile linemen as of late. The Illinois staff and track record of player development and NFL products is an easy sell and they're hoping that continues this summer.

The Illini are in a battle for the services of Dante Barone, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound defensive lineman from Princeton, New Jersey.

Barone already has a great relationship with Illinois linebackers coach Andy Buh and defensive line coach Terrance Jamison.

"I'm grateful for all my offers. When Illinois did, I wouldn’t say I was surprised, I expected it. I had been talking to coach Buh and Jamison for a little while; they let me know I was very high on their radar so I was definitely hopeful," Barone said.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting 

May 22, 2022

(Cover photo courtesy TJ McMillen's Hudl page)

The Illinois football program is light years ahead of the recruiting game compared to recent years. The Illini are no longer the team waiting until the spring to get commitment from players.

TJ McMillen is a 6-foot-3, 270-pound strong-side DE from Wheaton, Illinois, who verbally committed to Illinois on Friday, but made it official Saturday on his Twitter account. 

We caught up with McMillen to find out what made Illinois so special to him considering all the offers he was able to choose from; for example, Arizona State, Boston College, Duke, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, and Texas Tech.

Here is our Q and A session with the three-star in-state commit Saturday afternoon:

Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year Steffany Dickerson tosses an 82-pitch complete game shutout to eliminate Illinois softball from the NCAA Columbia Regional. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 21, 2022

The 2022 season is over for the Illinois softball program. 

The commitment of three-star offensive lineman TJ McMillen continues the trend of in-state prospects pledging to the Illini’s 2023 class. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

May 21, 2022

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The commitment of TJ McMillen continues the rebuild of in-state relations and the rebuild of the offensive line room at Illinois. 

McMillen, who is a 6-foot-3 and 270-pound interior offensive lineman and defensive tackle at St. Francis High School in Wheaton, announced his verbal pledge to the Illini’s 2023 class on Saturday afternoon. McMillen now joins four-star tailback Kaden Feagin from Arthur and three-star Antwon Hayden from East St. Louis as the three commitments to the Illini’s 2023 class.

“From a young age, I’ve always dreamed of playing college football - it’s in our blood,” McMillen wrote in his commitment announcement on social media on Saturday. “So many people have helped me reach this goal.” 

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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.

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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?