Illinois opens practice on Monday, September 30.

Nothing new yet on the eligibility of Tomislav Isivic.

Still expecting Brandon Lee to commit this week. I think Seton Hall is still working on him, but I'd expect it to be Illinois barring a last minute surprise.

With the addition of Lee, they will be full up for 2025-26, but there will be attrition, whether it's the NBA Draft or the portal.

Illinois is trying to lock in visits with top 25 prospects Mikel Brown Jr. and Shon Abaev. Both are long shots, IMO. No. 84 ranked Treyvon Maddox will visit the weekend of October 18.

Australian guard Jacob Furphy is set to visit the weekend of October 4. I don't think Illinois is real serious about him, at least not yet. Seems to be Plan B / C.

Illinois will play Butler in a closed scrimmage in the preseason.

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Not sure why this statement was made (I know the full context makes it much less provocative, but it's being clipped like this.)

I haven't gone to many Illinois football road games but I did go to a "White Out" game in 2008 when we played at Penn State. I will never forget that game as it was the single most raucous crowd I have ever experienced in my life. Not only is it incredibly loud, the whole stadium shakes and some of their cheers are like an earthquake. I'm not sure how in the world I got a ticket to the game and I was sitting in the microscopic Illinois section but it took most of the first half for my heartrate to settle down just as a fan. The all-white is an incredibly striking visual too.

I don't know if it really matters to give fans "bulletin board material" but we are about to experience one of the most intense away game crowds that any of these players will ever witness.

Maybe Bielema is purposely poking the bear (lion, whatever) since he has a strong record of winning at Penn State, but I'm very curious to see how this plays out.