BU in all his glory. | Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports Underwood is positioning the Illini to win — every single year. Happy Sunday, Illinois Land! My hiatus has withered away, much like the chances of Illinois beating UCONN in the Elite 8 about a month ago. It seemed plausible for a time. It wasn’t quite a 30-0 run that ended it. More like an entirely new basketball team, save returning junior Ty Rodgers and sophomore Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn. That previous sentence reads like a fictional basketball movie. Thirteen available scholarships. Two returning players. Both guards. Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sp ..read more

FightingIllini.com Four years in a row for the Illini. Illinois’ Big Ten title streak came to an end last week, but another streak lives on. Junior Jackson Buchanan was named Big Ten Golfer of the Year on Friday, making it four years in a row that an Illini earns that honor. It’s also the 15th Big Ten Golfer of the Year award in program history. According to FightingIllini.com, Buchanan is the conference’s top-rated golfer in the D1 individual rankings, 11 spots ahead of the league’s next best golfer. He’s posted a stroke average this season of 70.65 and recorded two individual tournament vict ..read more

Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images How can every Illini player making the leap to the NFL contribute? It was another eventful and successful draft for the Fighting Illini. After having four draft picks, including Devon Witherspoon No. 5 overall in 2022 (and 6 UDFAs), they followed up with another four draft picks and 6 UDFAs. What is the pathway to playing time for each player? Let’s take a look: Jer’Zhan Newton At first glance, one may think it will be tough for Newton to get early playing time, as the Commanders are stacked at defensive tackle with Da’Ron Payne and Jonat ..read more

TCR // Jack Jungmann Brad Underwood: The keeper of culture. Last Tuesday, when head coach Brad Underwood and new associate coach Orlando Antigua were made available to the media, much of the talk would be about the latter’s return to Champaign and the process behind it. As they spoke further, talk shifted towards roster construction and — you guessed it — the transfer portal. It’s not particularly surprising, as Antigua is a phenomenal developer of talent. Over the years, he’s coached NBA-level talents like Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns and DeMarcus Cousins, among others. He’s also been on ..read more

Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports Eighteen teams! Welcome to the 18-team Big Ten for basketball. The Big Ten on Tuesday revealed the breakdown of conference opponents for the 2024-25 men’s season. Illinois will play a 20-game slate, which includes three home-and-home matchups (Michigan State, Northwestern and Wisconsin). At home, the Illini will only play Iowa, Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, UCLA and USC. Meanwhile, the Illini will only travel to Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Rutgers and Washington. I’m not sure what to make of any of this, since literally every team ..read more

Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports Don’t worry. Coleman Hawkins entered the transfer portal on Tuesday while keeping his name in the NBA Draft. But he doesn’t want you to worry. Relax, lol pic.twitter.com/FfOAf7VeQV — Coleman Hawkins (@colehawk23) April 30, 2024 “Relax, lol” he wrote on X. In the post, Hawkins said he remains “100% set on the 2024 NBA Draft,” while also putting his name in the transfer portal “to make sure I take every opportunity to protect myself in case of injury or any other unforeseen circumstances down the road.” Hawkins said entering the portal by Wednesday’s May 1 dea ..read more

Evansville Athletics A big man. Illinois needs some size in the worst way, and it picked up a big frontcourt presence. Evansville’s Ben Humrichous (pronounced Hum-Rick-House) committed to the Illini with one year of eligibility remaining, according to an Instagram post Tuesday night. The 6-foot-9 forward began his collegiate career at Huntington University (NAIA) in Indiana before transferring to Evansville last season. He’s a native of Tipton, Ind., just north of Indianapolis. Take a look at some highlights below: Humrichous averaged 14.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game last season for the ..read more

Tight end Tip Reiman’s physical traits propelled him to being selected on Day Two. | The Champaign Room It was a fantastic week for the Fighting Illini’s draft class. This week on the “Oskee Talk” podcast I’m joined by TCR’s Brandt Dolce to recap NFL Draft weekend and how each former Illini fits with their new teams and play Illinois draft trivia. We also discuss hoops happenings in the transfer portal, #SevenFigureShauna, an historic streak ending, and I acknowledge a national championship team you’ve likely never heard of. Make sure to download & subscribe wherever you get your podcasts ..read more

TCR // Jack Jungmann The redshirt freshman will have a new home next season. After a season and a half in Champaign, Niccolo Moretti will finish his college career somewhere else. Per Jonathan Givony of ESPN, Moretti has officially entered the transfer portal as of Monday afternoon. He is now the fifth Illinois player to enter the portal this offseason. The redshirt freshman joined Illinois right after the end of the 2022 fall semester. He redshirted in the spring and did not suit up for the program at all last season. He made his Illini debut in the first game of this season against Eastern I ..read more

Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images The former Flyer reunites with Shauna Green. Weeks after ending the season with the program’s first-ever postseason title in the inaugural WBIT, Shauna Green and her dug through the transfer portal in an effort to boost a 2024-25 push for the Big Dance. Just two days after announcing the pickup of Mississippi State transfer guard Jasmine Brown-Hagger, the program announced the addition of graduate transfer Tenin Magassa from Rhode Island on Sunday. Welcome to the FamILLy, Ténin #Illini | #HTTO | #OneWay pic.twitter.com/ChdoMcqqiz — Illinois Women's Basket ..read more