Football

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

June 10, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illini aren’t stopping. They are building their brand and making it known that Illinois' recent success on the field wasn’t a fluke. Sure, coaching matters, but it certainly helps when you have a talented and deep roster, which is exactly what Illinois head coach Bret Bielema is assembling.

Nelsyn Wheeler, a 5-foot-9 running back from Millard South in Omaha, Nebraska, is the latest addition to an already impressive recruiting class built by Bielema and his staff.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

June 9, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's Hudl page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Bret Bielema continues to stay hot on the recruiting trail as the Fighting Illini builds momentum with their 2026 class. Tonight, Illinois received a commitment from three-star tight end Will Vala, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound prospect out of Downers Grove North High School in Illinois.

The new regulations being put in place following the House vs. NCAA settlement isn’t about creating a level playing field or fairness for Illinois or any other program. It’s just another attempt to restrict/cap athlete’s revenue while still avoid making them employees.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

June 9, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Just when you might think it’s impossible for college sports administrative leadership could make its governing system worse, they manage to always find a way to dig the hole even deeper.

The more I read the 76-page opinion of U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approving the House vs. NCAA settlement in California, I’m once again reminded to never underestimate how athletics directors and university athletics administrators never cease to make a situation more deplorable especially if their intention was to fix something.

Is the settlement historic? Obviously, yes. Athletes will now get a piece of the revenue they create in a way that should have happened decades ago and nothing about that is wrong or bad. This fact is undoubtably a step forward for the workforce (the athletes) that has been the backbone of creating these big brands in college sports to allow university administrators see millions of school revenue in ticket sales and donations while also see the total college sports dynamic reach billions of dollars in revenue in media rights contracts.

Is anything else in college athletics fixed? No, it most certainly is not.

Starting July 1, all Division I schools will have the opportunity to directly pay players for the first time in collegiate sports history.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

June 7, 2025

In just over three weeks, all Division I athletics departments will have the opportunity to directly pay players via revenue sharing for the first time in the history of collegiate sports.

Following the 76-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken detailed will offer $2.8 billion in damages to past athletes who did not have the opportunity to receive such revenue sharing payments during their time as athletes as well as allow all Division I schools to pay out as much as a reported $20.5 million annually to all the current players in their athletic departments.

College football coaches just like Illinois head coach Bret Bielema could have, at most, a few weeks to implement the roster implementations of the House vs. NCAA settlement terms.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

June 6, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Just 25 days.

This is the amount of time, less than one month before college sports head coaches of fall sports will have to implement the roster limitations agreed upon in the settlement of the House vs. NCAA case along with two other class action lawsuits (Hubbard vs. NCAA and Carter vs. NCAA) that currently has been submitted to Northern California District Court in San Francisco, California.

That is, if District Court judge Claudia Wilken approves the amended settlement terms. And at this point, that remains a very curious use of the word ‘if’.

Illinois slated to have a half dozen uncommitted prospects for the 2026 recruiting class on campus for official visits this weekend

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

June 6, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Nick Hankins' page on X)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The first weekend in June has always represented the most important recruiting time for Bret Bielema’s Illinois program.

The Illinois head coach, who is entering his fifth season, has repeatedly the called this weekend critical to the success of the recruiting victories Bielema and his staff have acquired over the last few seasons.

With the weather being warm and players still being campus for summer workout sessions with football strength and conditioning coach Tenarius ‘Tank’ Wright, northern programs such as Illinois need to have their June visits be the final sell for uncommitted prospects before other programs with weather advantages in the fall can have their shot at official visits.

In the 2024 recruiting class, Illinois signed 11 of the 16 high school prospects in the weeks following their June visits. In the 2025 class, seven prospects either gave their first and only verbal pledge to Illinois or flipped their decision to the Illini days after taking an official visit during the first two weekends in June.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

June 2, 2025

Illinois made a last-minute addition to the recruiting class of 2025 when Long Beach College cornerback Donovan Turner broke his commitment to Delaware State and flipped to the Illini.  As he related to IlliniGuys, the Illinois coaching staff reached out to him only a few weeks ago to ask about his willingness to break his commitment and he jumped at the chance to play high major football.  Turner is well-traveled in the college ranks.  He is originally from the Long Beach area, but he chose to attend UMass when he left high school.  However, he didn't earn much playing time in two years there, so Turner returned home to Long Beach College and played a year at home with some pretty good success with 30 tackles and 2 interceptions in nine games.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular June 2, 2025 No […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 30, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois football head coach Bret Bielema continues to mine the transfer portal for defensive line help and added another piece on Monday.

In true Bielema fashion, he hinted at good news with a tweet: "Just feels like some good news coming kind of day…. #ILL."

Later in the day, Illinois received a commitment from Division II Bemidji State transfer Eli Coenen

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 29, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The recruiting momentum in Champaign continues to build, and it’s turning heads around the Big Ten and beyond. For longtime Illinois fans, this type of recruiting success is unfamiliar territory, yet the direction feels sustainable. Some may be waiting for the other shoe to drop, because historically it has. But this time, it feels different.

When Bret Bielema was hired in December 2020, he made several of his goals clear.

“We want to win championships here, and one of our coaches will contact every high school head coach in the state of Illinois in the next several weeks,” Bielema said at the time. Those in the past didn't work hard to keep talent home.

The partnership between Illinois athletics director and Illinois head football coach Bret Bielema has contractual plans to be together for the better part of the next decade.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

May 29, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.  — With this third new contract of his five-year tenure, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Bret Bielema have never been more professionally married.

This new contract details the fact that the Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman and Bret Arnold Bielema intend to be a professional marriage for, at least, the better part of the next decade. With the new contract that was approved the University of Illinois Board of Trustees in its meeting in Urbana on May 22, Bielema gets an extra year of guaranteed length to this deal (5-year deal to a 6-year deal) and his salary increases a total of $2.3 million annually ($33 million to $46.8 million total) over the next six years of this deal.

According to the 2024 USA Today college football salary database, the $7.7 million annual salary would put Bielema’s pay, which is already the most in program history for an Illini head coach, in the Top 20 of all FBS head coaches but it wouldn’t break the $8 million annual figure. 

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

May 24, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

Chicago St. Rita's King Liggins joined the Chicago to Champaign pipeline when he committed to the Illini just hours before fellow Chicago-based recruit Nasir Rankin.  Liggins is a defensive lineman that projects to an end in Illinois 3-4 defense, but its easy to see a future where Liggins could put on some weight and be a dangerous nose tackle for Illinois as well.  Either way, Illinois beat out most of the middle section of the Big Ten in this recruitment and after looking into this a little further my only question is: why wasn't the top of the Big Ten involved as well?

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 26, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Junior college defensive back Donovan Turner quietly became one of Illinois football’s latest additions on a busy recruiting day that included headline commitments from in-state standouts Nasir Rankin (Morgan Park) and King Liggins (Brother Rice).

Later Wednesday evening, Turner, a 6-foot-1, 192-pound defensive back, made his pledge to the Illini. While Rankin and Liggins justifiably garnered most of the attention, Turner’s story is one of resilience and belief.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

May 25, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

It was a huge day for Illini football on May 21st.  First came the announcement that Illinois has sold all of the publicly available season tickets for the upcoming season, and then three(!) recruits pledged to the Illini within a series of hours.  I'm starting this run of recruits with the headliner though: Morgan Park's Nasir Rankin.  Rankin has been a priority recruit for the Illini this year because he's a Chicago Public League recruit at a position of need in the near future.  As we've all followed this recruitment though, there's been a lot of talk about things other than whether Illinois would win the battle over USC and others.  Instead, the talk is whether Rankin's talk of not only playing two positions... but two sports.... is accurate.  I'll get into that below, but for now, I found it very telling that Rankin's highlights were focused only on his best position: wide receiver.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

May 24, 2025

The Illini defense added a playmaker last week with the commitment of Elida, Ohio defensive lineman Parker Crim.  Crim is a 6'3, 235 pound end who put up video game numbers last year with 101 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 12 sacks and 3 forced fumbles.  He also had at least four high major offers (Iowa State, Boston College and Kentucky).  However, he's a tough kid to evaluate.  Take a peek:

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?