CARLSBAD, Calif. – The Fighting Illini men's golf team advanced to match play at the 2024 NCAA Golf Championship led by individual runner-up performances from Tyler Goecke and Max Herendeen. The Illini posted a team score of 1146 (-6), running away with first place by a 16-stroke margin after four rounds of stroke play,

Illinois secured the No. 1 seed in the eight-team bracket that will determine the team title. The Orange and Blue will match up Tuesday in the quarterfinals against No. 8-seeded Georgia Tech, whose Hiroshi Tai edged out Goecke, Herendeen, and four other competitors by just one stroke to claim the individual championship.

Illinois' match play berth marks the program's ninth in the last 15 NCAA Championships since the current format was adopted in 2009, moving the Fighting Illini into a tie with Oklahoma State for the most by a single program. It is the second time the Illini have been the No. 1 seed (2015).

"We just continued our solid play all week," head coach Mike Small said of his team's impressive stroke play performance. "We hit a little lull in the morning due to some frustrations and agitations from a couple things. We settled back down, [the team] did a good job of that, and then they played solid through the back nine again."

Goecke posted a 1-under 71 to climb five spots into a tie for second place with a 72-hole total of 286 (-2). Herendeen matched Goecke for the week, posting a closing round of even-par 72. Each finished the back nine 1-under including birdies on 18. Goecke also birdied 11 to offset a bogey two holes later, on No. 13. Herendeen was bogey-free over his last 11 holes and, playing in the last threesome on the course, came up just short on a chip-in attempt for eagle on 18 that would have forced a playoff with GT's Tai.

Sophomore Ryan Voois posted the team's lowest score in Round 4, a 3-under 69, to finish his week at even-par 288 in a tie for 11th. Voois' performance, and top-15 finish along with Herendeen and Goecke, gave the Illini three golfers on the All-Championship Team for the second consecutive season.

Junior Jackson Buchanan posted the Illini's fourth score of the day with an even-par 72 for the third consecutive round. He closed stroke play in a tie for 31st at 294 (+6). Senior Piercen Hunt finished tied for 53rd with a four-round total of 299 (+11).

The Illini's quarterfinal match vs. the Yellow Jackets will tee off beginning at 8:20 a.m. CT/6:20 a.m. PT off No. 1, with the winner advancing to a semifinal contest against either No. 4 North Carolina or No. 5 Florida State. Other quarterfinal matchups include: No. 2 Vanderbilt vs. No. 7 Ohio State, and No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 6 Auburn. Semifinals are schedule for Tuesday afternoon with tee times beginning at 2:45 p.m. CT/12:45 p.m. PT.

Live scoring is available throughout the day via Golfstat.com, and GOLF Channel coverage is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. CT/10 a.m. PT for the quarterfinals and 5 p.m. CT/3 p.m. PT for the semifinals.

CARLSBAD, Calif – The No. 11-seeded Fighting Illini men's golf team is tied for fifth in the 30-team field after opening the NCAA Championship on Friday afternoon with a 5-over 293 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa's North Course.

With birdies at a premium on the newly renovated course, the Illini came out strong and were steady through the middle of the round before a tough stretch on the back nine. But a a combined 2-under finish on No. 18 – with birdies from senior Piercen Hunt and freshman Max Herendeen – helped the Orange and Blue remain in the hunt, just three shots behind co-leaders Virginia and Arizona.

"It's our first time playing this golf course," head coach Mike Small said. "The conditions got a little tough there at the end - the wind picked up, and it got colder. The hardest holes on this golf course are that back nine, so everything was stacked up against us as we tried to finish, and I think maybe a little fatigue set in. But we had a couple birdies on that last hole, which was huge."

"There are a lot of positive to take away, but we also got loose in some areas, so we have to talk about those and put those behind us. We've got to be ready to go tomorrow morning because we're going to see the back nine first, again tomorrow when it's chilly. We can't come out flat."

Three Illini – Hunt, Herendeen and fifth-year senior Tyler Goecke – each carded rounds of 73 (+1) to sit inside the top 25, while sophomore Ryan Voois rounded out the scoring with a 74 (+2) to grab a tie for 41st.

Hunt carded par on 15 holes, including 12 straight to open his round. Bogeys on 13 and 17 moved him to 2-over before dropping his birdie putt on 18. Herendeen's birdie on 18 was part of a 1-under finish after the turn for the freshman. He started 2-over on the front nine before tallying his first birdie of the day on No. 11. Despite the tough conditions late in the round, his bogey on 17 was his only blip after making the turn.

Goecke and Voois tied for the team-lead with three birdies on the day. Goeke's all came on the front nine. He opened with red numbers on Holes 1 and 3 to offset bogeys on 2 and 5. His final birdie of the day on No. 8 moved him to 1-under at the turn, before he closed with seven pars surrounding a pair of bogeys on Nos. 15 and 16. Voois was 1-over at the turn with birdies on Holes 3 and 6. His third birdie of the day came on No. 10 to move him to even par before bogeys on 11 and 14. The sophomore steadies himself, however, finishing his round with four straight pars to give the Illini a solid fourth score.

Junior Jackson Buchanan, who finished as the individual runner-up at last year's NCAA Championship, is tied for 112th in the 156-player field. He was even through 13 holes, with a birdie on 11 matching an early birdie on No, 5. But the reigning Big Ten Golfer of the Year had a tough finish to the round with a string of double-bogey on three of his final five holes to slip down the leaderboard.

"The afternoon waves are always the hardest," Small added. "It's a long day teeing off as late as we did. Couple that with our best player having tough day, and you still finish the round in fifth place, in the afternoon, in tough conditions. I think that's a lot of positives."

Round 2 is slated for Saturday morning. The Illini tee off – again paired with Florida and Arizona – on No. 10 beginning at 9:57 a.m. CT/7:57 a.m. PT. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com.

For all you Bears fans, this is a fun watch. Maybe even if you're not a Bears fan.....

Bears Path to the Draft

This kid is on campus today. He visited Arkansas on Monday.

Francis is originally from the Peoria area (Princeville).

Illinois hasn't yet decided if they would take him. We'll see.

Backup lineman who would add depth at tackle.

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In Baseball news Illinois beats Iowa by a score of 4-2 at the Big Ten Conference Tournament. Illinois won it in the 10th inning.This follows an opening round loss to Penn State. Illinois played small ball in today’s matchup in what was a close contest. Iowa is now eliminated.

Illinois will play again tomorrow. This is Illinois’ first win in the Big Ten tournament since 2018.

Has former University of Michigan Strength and Conditioning Coach Jon Sanderson established a practice in C-U? Will he be a consultant for the U of I as once mentioned? If so, do you know what his role/function will be? With Juwan leaving AA, I was curious if that changed Coach Sanderson's plans.

Combined with our trainer and coaching staff, that would be a super talented group to help prepare collegians to play in the NBA.

Dear Fellow Illini:

This week, the governing bodies of the five Autonomy 5 conferences, along with the NCAA, voted to settle three pieces of federal antitrust litigation – cases commonly referred to as House, Hubbard, and Carter. By all accounts, this settlement will precipitate the most comprehensive reform in the history of collegiate athletics.

We have much work still to do; it will be many months before the settlement is finalized and officially sanctioned by the Court. But we know today the primary elements of the agreement, which will result in a reshaping of our traditional scholarship system and the opportunity, but not the requirement, for programs like ours at Illinois to share revenue directly with select student-athletes. We also expect a new enforcement regime that will permit only true, market-rate name-image-likeness appearance and endorsement opportunities for student-athletes.

The University of Illinois joined our colleagues from across the Big Ten in voting to support the settlement. For many years, our University leadership team has been a proponent of a new model in college athletics – a model that provides student-athletes with more direct financial benefits. For some in our program, these financial benefits will supplement the extensive investments DIA has already made in the experience of all Illini student-athletes, including first-in-class academic support, programming, staffing, facilities, health care, and nutrition.

We applaud this change philosophically, but the timing, form, and details of the settlement came about very quickly. Our staff is working actively to understand the new landscape and to develop our future strategy. We have limited time to prepare for these changes, which we anticipate will take effect in the fall of 2025. All athletic programs, including those in the Big Ten, face very real financial constraints. On our campus, we must determine what we can afford, who will receive these new scholarship or revenue sharing benefits, and in what amounts. This analysis will inevitably lead to an important discussion with others at the University regarding institutional expectations for competitive excellence and how those expectations intersect with student-athlete opportunity, experience, and equity.

As the model of intercollegiate athletics modernizes, our approach to the business of Illinois Athletics must modernize as well. Your expectations, on the scoreboard and in the stands, have never been higher. And with the changes now on the horizon, our ability to meet those expectations – to drive your active participation and support – has never been more important. For nearly a year, we have been studying our strategy around fan engagement, including ticket sales, donor activation, parking, and more. On June 5, we will launch an exciting new approach to supporting your Fighting Illini, which we believe aligns well with this new era of college athletics.

We face many important decisions in the months ahead – decisions with far-reaching implications for our program and our student-athletes. As has been our tradition with Illinois Athletics, we will endeavor to communicate publicly as we have additional information that would be appropriate to share.

We are grateful for your patience, understanding, and unflagging support as we navigate these uncharted waters. Change has been the constant during recent years, and we will continue to view change as an opportunity for our program to grow and improve. Together with you and our many loyal famILLy members, we will make decisions that best position Illinois Athletics for a championship future.

With gratitude,

Josh Whitman
Director of Athletics

In the spring of 2021, attorneys for the NCAA, appearing before the U.S. Supreme Court, argued vehemently against providing each college athlete with additional cash annually.

The amount: $5,980.

Three years later, in a landmark agreement that will transform the course of major college athletics, the organization left behind its archaic rules, shook off its long-time amateurism argument and thrust the industry into an era of direct athlete compensation.

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OMAHA, Neb. -- [1] Illinois baseball (34-18) defeated [5] Iowa, 4-2, in a 10-inning thriller to stay alive in the 2024 Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament Presented by IFS.ai, today at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.

Coltin Quagliano went 1-for-4 with three RBI, coming up clutch in the 10th with his go-ahead two-run single. Jacob Schroeder and Brody Harding each had two hits and scored twice, with Camden Janik also picking up two hits in the ballgame.

Joe Glassey got the win out of the bullpen for the Illini. The right-hander tossed 2.0 shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out four. Cooper Omans turned in a solid start, working 5.1 innings, allowing one run, unearned, on four hits to go along with five punchouts. Ben Plumley also turned in a dominant relief outing, spinning 2.2 frames, yielding one run, also unearned, on two hits with one strikeout.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Illinois took a 1-0 lead in the third when Cal Hejza drew a walk with the bases loaded.

Omans cruised through the first five innings of his start, holding Iowa to 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

The Illini doubled their lead when Quagliano brought home Harding with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

The Hawkeyes tied the contest in the sixth, plating two runs on a single to make it 2-2.

Plumley held Iowa scoreless in the seventh and then turned in a quick 1-2-3 eighth. Illinois nearly took the lead in the ninth when Janik and Westcott singled and doubled, respectively, but were left on second and third.

Glassey emerged from the bullpen in the bottom half of the frame and punched-out the side in order to send the game to extras.

Schroeder singled with one out in the 10th and Harding followed with his second double of the day to put runners on second and third for Quagliano. The Kewanee, Ill., native, singled through the left side, bringing in two runs and giving Illinois the 4-2 lead.

Iowa loaded the bases to begin the bottom of the 10th, but Glassey got out the jam unscathed to give Illinois the 4-2 victory.

UP NEXT

The Fighting Illini will be back in action tomorrow night, where they will face either [4] Michigan or [8] Penn State. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. CT.

GAME NOTES

» Brody Harding went 2-for-4 with two runs, two doubles and a walk.
» Extended his hitting streak to four games...has three-straight multi-hit games, including two-straight two-hit games in the Big Ten Tournament.
» Has gone 9-for-18 (.500) during that span with five doubles and three RBI.
» Jacob Schroeder went 2-for-4 with two runs, a double and a walk.
» Extended his hitting streak to four games...has three two-hit games during that span.
» Has gone 7-for-16 (.438) during that span with a double.
» Camden Janik went 2-for-4 with a walk.
» Has reached base safely in 31-straight games.
» Coltin Quagliano went 1-for-4 with three RBI.
» Leads the team with 55 RBI.
» Has at least an RBI in three-straight games...has a total of six RBI during that span.
» Has gone 4-for-8 (.500) with a double and four RBI during the Big Ten Tournament.
» Cal Hejza went 1-for-5 with a walk and RBI.
» Has reached base safely in 37-straight games.
» Connor Milton has reached base safely in 18-straight games.
» Cooper Omans took no-decision in his start.
» 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 2 HBP
» Has allowed just two earned runs in his last 13.2 innings or work (2 G), striking out 12.
» Ben Plumley turned in another solid outing in relief.
» 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
» Has not allowed an earned run in his last 7.1 innings (5 G).
» Joe Glassey picked up his first win of the season.
» 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
» Has not allowed a run in his last 8.1 innings (5 G)...has allowed just three hits and has 10 strikeouts, compared to one walk, during that span.
» Struck out the side on 11 pitches in the bottom of the ninth.
» The Fighting Illini out-hit the Hawkeyes at a 9-8 clip.
» Illinois pitchers limited Iowa to just 2-for-12 (.167) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 43 Iowa hitters in the game, allowing eight ground balls and 11 fly balls while striking out 10.
» The Fighting Illini drew seven walks from Iowa pitching.
» Illinois picked up its first win at the Big Ten Tournament since May 25, 2018.
» Snapped an eight-game losing streak at the Big Ten Tournament.
» The Illini are now 4-0 all-time vs. Iowa at the Big Ten Tournament.
» Illinois improved to 3-1 on the season vs. Iowa.

I'll link all of the stories from the Rivals Camp Series in Indianapolis here in this thread.

There's a lot of Illinois mentions.

MORE FROM INDIANAPOLIS: OL vs. DL | WRs vs. DBs | Action photos | Programs that should be pleased | OL/DL Rumor Mill | Best Plays | WR/TE Rumor Mill | RB Rumor Mill | QB Rumor Mill | Smith's takeaways | Position MVPs | Tavien St. Clair interview | Adam Guthrie interview | Top performers at the Rivals Combine Series

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois at Nebraska football game originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21, has been selected by FOX to move to Friday, Sept. 20 as part of the FOX College Football Friday package. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. CT on FOX.

Announced earlier this year, FOX College Football Friday is a dedicated primetime window showcasing elite college football Friday nights on FOX throughout the fall. FOX will air a Big Ten football game on nine Fridays during a 10-week span, beginning with the Illinois vs. Nebraska game on Sept. 20.

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I spent Friday and Saturday at the Nike EYBL session in the Indianapolis suburbs and caught a lot of games.

Brad Underwood, Tim Anderson, and Orlando Antingua were at the event. Antigua watched some national recruits in the 17U division. Anderson mostly focused on 15U / 16U.

A few thoughts on Illinois targets, including two prospects considering reclassifying to 2024.

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Really intense guy. Some people will like this stuff, some won't.

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