I’ve heard the visit went very well. (They always do). I believe there were more meetings this morning.

The ICON collective has obviously been involved and discussing terms with Stojakovic’s agent.

If we hear something today it’s more likely to be good news than bad.

The last thing you want to hear is that he’s setting more visits.

Florida has been thought to be the strongest competition. Kentucky, North Carolina involved, among others.

TEAM LEADERBOARD | PLAYER LEADERBOARD | TEE TIMES

BALTIMORE, Md. – The 13th-ranked Fighting Illini men's golf team opened play at the 2025 Big Ten Championship on Friday at historic Baltimore Country Club, carding a team score of 270 (-10) to build a seven-shot lead behind a strong team effort led by Round 1 leader Max Herendeen's career-best-tying 63 (-7).

Herendeen's 63 not only matched his career best – which he first set in the opening round of his win last season at the NCAA Stanford Regional – but also tied the Big Ten Championship record for the lowest opening round set by former Illini Dylan Meyer here at BCC in 2017. He enters Round 2 with a three-shot lead over Indiana's Clay Merchant and UCLA's Omar Morales, whose teams are in second and third place behind the Illini with opening scores of 277 (-3) and 278 (-2), respectively.

"The performance was solid," head coach Mike Small said of his team's start. "I told the guys after the round that when I come and tell them that was a solid day, that's a big compliment coming from a coach. We could all make improvements in certain areas, we can all get better at certain things but for most part, it was really solid. On this golf course, being the opening round, the look we had, the energy we had, it was really good."

"Max had a solid back nine. He had two birdies on the front and five on the back. He played solid - and could have birdied the last hole. He played solid golf. But, like I told the guys, this is a three-day championship. If this is a basketball game, we're only 13 minutes into the game."

Behind the Illini (-10), Hoosiers (-3), and Bruins (-2), Oregon (-1) and Maryland (E) round out the top five in the team race with 36 holes remaining.

Junior Ryan Voois (T4) and freshman Jake Birdwell (T8) – making his Big Ten Championship debut in only his second-career tournament in the Illini's scoring lineup – were nearly blemish free in their rounds as well.

Voois led at the turn with birdies on Holes 1, 3, and 5, before his lone bogey of the day on No. 10. He answered just two holes later with a birdie on No. 12, then closed with six straight pars to finish at 3-under.

Birdwell, coming off his win last week in the individual tournament at Purdue's Boilermaker Invitational, remained poised following a bogey on No. 2 that put in an early hole. He birdied his next hole, the Par-5 fourth, and was even-par at the turn, then posted birdies on 11 and 17 to finish one shot behind Voois at 2-under.

Senior Jackson Buchanan, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and a finalist for the 2025 Byron Nelson Award, carded the Illini's fourth score of the day with a 2-over 72 to sit in a tie for 41st in the 90-player field, while freshman Trey Marrion (T82) opened with a 76 (+6).

Round 2 is set for Saturday morning with tee times beginning at 9 a.m. ET/8 a.m. CT. Illinois, paired with Indiana and UCLA, will open Round 2 starting at 10:40 a.m. ET/9:40 a.m. CT. Live scoring is available via Clippd Scoreboard. For more information, visit the 2025 Big Ten Men's Golf Championship Central.

Off Topic but just read that Steve McMichael died after a long battle with ALS- Lou Gehrig's Disease. I hadn't heard he was stricken. Football related. What a super player he was on a super team.

Staring a new portal thread. The window is open until April 25, 2025.

All 2025 season content goes here.

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Cooper declares for the NBA Draft !

Any doubts that he is # 1 pick ?

Contract $ ?

A long article on the state of NIL Punchline is 24 teams have access to 8-10 million for basketball NIL and other schools could enter this rarefied territory. To save you the time, here is their list:

• Arkansas
• BYU
• Duke
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Louisville
• Michigan
• North Carolina
• St. John's
• Texas Tech
• Auburn, Connecticut, Florida, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Miami, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, USC, Villanova, Virginia

Schools make a lot of money off of men's basketball and we are in a new era so I'm finally adjusted my fandom to accept all of this. I'm glad I have O&B News to track the Illini and Illinois has been doing pretty well in this brave new world.

What are the chances we get a second commit? That would be awesome!!!

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini women's basketball head coach Shauna Green has announced the hiring of Jackie Alexander as an assistant coach. Alexander joins the Illinois program after one season on Toledo's staff.

"I am so excited that Jackie is joining our famILLy," Green shared. "She brings a wealth of experience, both as a recruiting coordinator and on the court. Jackie has been an offensive and defensive coordinator at different institutions and has had success. She is a proven winner and has been a part of two major turnarounds in different programs. She understands what impacts winning! I can't wait to have her here and get to work!"

"I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to join Coach Shauna Green's elite staff and become part of the Fighting Illini family," began Alexander. "I have immense respect for what Coach Green and her staff have accomplished over the past three seasons at Illinois, as well as the remarkable track record she's built throughout her career. Shauna is not only a proven winner, but also an exceptional leader and person. I'm excited to help build on the foundation of success and contribute to the continued rise of the Illinois women's basketball program."

Alexander joined the Rockets' staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in May 2024. Prior to Toledo (2024-25), Alexander held positions at East Tennessee State (2021-24), Eastern Kentucky (2019-21), Albany (2018-19), and Air Force (2017-18).

During the 2024-25 campaign, Toledo posted a 24-9 record, including a 13-5 mark in MAC play. The Rockets earned an at-large bid to the WBIT after securing a second-place finish in regular-season MAC action and a runner-up nod in the tournament.

Prior to her time in the Glass City, Alexander spent three years at ETSU as the assistant coach/recruiting coordinator, a group that registered a 21-win turnaround in just two seasons with a 25-10 record (9-5 SoCon) in 2022-23. The Buccaneers played in the postseason as part of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) and had first-team, second-team, and all-defensive conference selections. ETSU followed up that success with an 18-12 season in 2023-24, going 7-7 in league play.

Prior to ETSU, Alexander coached at Eastern Kentucky from 2019-2021, serving as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator with the Colonels. EKU had the fourth-biggest turnaround in the country from 2018-19 to 2019-20, improving by nine wins from two to 11.

Alexander served as the director of basketball operations at Albany in 2018-19 while also holding an interim assistant coaching role with the Great Danes in 2018. She began her coaching career in women's basketball as the video coordinator for the United States Air Force Academy during the 2017-18 season.

Alexander has participated in the Top Connect Symposium the last three years (2022, '23, '24) in addition to attending the WBCA Next Generation Institute in 2024. She was named to the 2021 WBCA Thirty Under 30 List.

A native of Broadhead, Ky., Alexander played one season at Army West Point (2010-11) before transferring to the University of the Cumberlands (2011-14), where she was a two-time All-Mid South Conference selection and two-time NAIA Academic All-American. She graduated from Cumberlands in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in biology before earning her master's degree from ETSU in sport management in 2023.

Following her undergraduate career, Alexander served as an Army officer for three years, reaching the rank of captain. She served at Fort Campbell in Kentucky and was deployed to Iraq while in the Army.

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It's that time of year. All basketball transfer portal news will go there.

The men's basketball transfer window runs Monday, March 24 - Tuesday, April 22.

From what I can tell, Riley didn’t put his name in the Portal, suggesting it’s either the NBA or Illinois next year. Does anyone know, or is willing to guess, on what kind of draft feedback that would cause him to withdraw and return to Champaign (assuming there’s money to pay him)?

Georgia.

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Also, I would like to apologize in advance if this post is inappropriate. If so, please remove it.

I woke up this morning and I am seeing several You Tube videos online articles about the possibility of Tennessee targeting Altmyer for their next QB.

I am sure much of this is fan speculation, but should we be concerned? If the Vols offer the NIL money, would he flip?

Still on campus? Were his parents here as well? How did things go? Really quiet around here.

All Illinois basketball recruiting content goes here.