Mike Cagley, Co-Host IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular and Big Sports Radio

June 24, 2024

It has been a crazy time for those enjoying Illini sports. We’ve seen the Illini football team land two critical players in the portal in WR Zakhari Franklin (UTSA via Ole Miss) and DB Terrance Brooks (Texas) while keeping WR Brayden Trimble at home. This is not your father’s Bret Bielema.

Illini football has improved their recruiting results, and they now must maintain their player development reputation. Good for Illini fans, this is a strength of the staff.

Over on the men’s basketball side, the rebuilding of the roster is essentially complete with the addition of Will Riley to the team. This was a huge win as Riley’s electric EYBL performance meant that the Illini had to beat out the likes of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas and Kentucky.

When one considers the recruiting streak the Illini have been on recently with Ayo Dosunmu, Kofi Cockburn, Terrence Shannon Jr, and Marcus Domask finding their way to suit up for Illinois, the program’s foundation has been rebuilt.

The future is even brighter when considering Riley, Boswell, Johnson, Jakucionis, Ivišić, White and Booth are all on campus and playing. Add in that a player like Jeremiah Fears is already committed and other USA Basketball players like Jasper Johnson are kicking the tires on the Illinois program. When you put it all together, the Illini are approaching a new high in basketball recruiting.

Heat Check #1 – What Does Will Riley Mean for Illinois

The signing of Will Riley is a big deal for two reasons:

• Riley as a player – at 6’8” he plays on the wing, but proved in AAU that he can thrive at the 1 and 2 guard positions as well. He can bring the ball up, though the coaches in the Big Ten will find a way to challenge him when he attempts this. He can run the high ball screen game very well – not just scoring but passing if the defense dictates. While his shot is a bit unorthodox, his release is quick and he can shoot not just the three, but the deep three. He is a true contributor on the floor.
• Riley as an example of what could be – Will Riley shows high school players across the country that Illinois is now a spot that elite players can now categorize as a destination. Morez Johnson and Riley represent a big one-two recruiting combination for the Illini. There are no guarantees in basketball or athletics in general, but some scouts have predicted Riley could be a one-and-done player. We will see if that is true. Riley is acknowledged as an NBA-level talent and that is the type of player that Brad Underwood wants to attract to Illinois with his exciting brand of up and down basketball. When Illinois beats out Kentucky, it’s kind of a big deal.

In any event, it's a great time to be an Illini basketball fan. Both the men's and women's programs are moving up the ladder in college basketball. It's fun to watch!

Heat Check #2 – Times of High Change Offer the Opportunity for the Illini to Disrupt the Status Quo

With elements like conference realignment, Name Image & Likeness rules, the Transfer Portal, NCAA lawsuits and increasing television money, this represents the opportunity for the Illini to upset the status quo in the Big Ten and collegiate sports overall.

The Illini are led by an Athletic Director, Josh Whitman, that sees this time of gargantuan change as a time to make gains, not as a time to “turtle shell” the situation and hide inside until the winds of change have died down.

As events speed forward, the football program and the men’s basketball program must be healthy to fund the athletic department and to anchor the Illini future in the Big Ten. To fail to compete in these two sports might leave the Illini on the wrong side of a red line if consolidation were to continue. No one wants to be the Washington State or the Oregon State of the future.

There are no guarantees – even for founding members of the Big Ten. The old days of running a program that is in the black, stays away from crossing the NCAA and is competitive (without a clear definition of that word) is no longer good enough. The Illini must have head coaches who have a plan to win and can implement their plan successfully.

Whitman picked a good time to invest in facilities (pre this hyper-change era). Now that the football and basketball teams are in excellent facilities, the athletic department won’t have to worry about playing catch up in that area in a time when they are figuring out how to pay an annual $22 million dollars in revenue sharing to players which is coming soon. If you want to win, you have to spend money.

Whitman's decision to put the new wrestling facility on hold is a good one. It supports the goal of winning in the key sports. The wrestling program might put this up for debate, but the Illini cannot afford to be distracted from finding a way to win in football and basketball. Money has to be spent well in today's competitive collegiate sporting world.

Brad Underwood has resurrected the men's basketball program from a dark place (at least for the Illini program) and he has demonstrated that being aggressive and finding any way possible to acquire talent can work. Even at Illinois.

Bielema is starting to see that happening in the Smith Center as well. Football recruiting in the both the portal and in high school ranks is looking up. That’s a good thing.

Most importantly, Josh Whitman appears to be planning with and pushing his coaches to find a way to make a difference by winning. That is a refreshing change. No more providing excuses as to why losing is ok.

Nothing happens overnight, but this is a culture change and that’s the hardest type of change to pull off.

Heat Check #3 – Binge-Worthy TV Shows – Dark Matter and the Acolyte

I have been enjoying two shows recently. One is Apple TV’s Dark Matter, and the other is Disney’s The Acolyte.

Dark Matter has been a fantastic watch for the first six or seven episodes. It stars Joel Edgerton as Jason Dessen, a high school teacher who chose to marry his pregnant girlfriend (played by Jennifer Connelly) 16 years ago as opposed to focusing all his energy on becoming an Elon Musk-style tech entrepreneur.

The problem is that an alternate reality Jason (call him Jason #2) has found a way to travel to this “happily married” reality because he hates being a lonely billionaire who never married and ultimately lost his girlfriend. The billionaire uses technology to travel to Jason #1’s reality and switch places with him to steal his life.

It was a great show until multiple Jasons started showing up – because every choice spawns a different reality. The confusion reached unreal levels. With one episode to go, I can’t tell at most moments which Jason is on screen. They dress the same and act the same - because they’re almost the exact same person.

Overall, it’s been an entertaining show, but in the end, Jason #1 could win and live happily ever after. Or, another Jason or Jason #2 could win, and I would depend upon the show to clarify what happened – because they all look the same to me. We will see how it all wraps up but alternate reality story telling is like walking a tight rope. One wrong step and down you go!

Pivoting to the Acolyte, the latest Star Wars television show, I need to tell folks three things:

• I loved Star Wars as a kid.
• I have the collector gene, so it’s hard to not watch all the live action shows and movies.
• I haven’t truly loved an entire Star Wars show or movie since the Empire Strikes Back.

I have watched the first four episodes of the Acolyte and it’s been shockingly good. That doesn’t mean that our friends at Disney won’t find a way to make me angry that I watched these episodes with a bad ending or a non-sensical plot twist. For now, it’s been entertaining.

I have read how “woke” it is. I’m not really seeing it. The offending part seems to be how a community of female force users who figure out how to create life and have a child without a male. This doesn’t offend me any more than Anakin being a force-spawned person who was created by Emperor Palpatine’s master (and predecessor).

To be clear, I think both ideas are kind of stupid and the whole offspring of a virgin birth isn’t very original. Why a bunch of women doing it is “woke” while no one complained about two old men executing the same plan mystifies me. My guess is many people are reacting to headlines, tweets or posts without watching the show.

I am surprised I like a Star Wars show. Didn’t think that would happen after the Boba Fett series effectively destroyed one of the coolest characters of my youth, the Acolyte is looking really good in comparison.

Of course, I’m waiting for the whole show to come crashing down around me, but for now, it’s been a fun ride. I guess it’s like living in an Indiana Jones adventure. I’ve got the golden idol in my hand; I’m just trying to see where the boulder is coming from!