Jokic is unreal.

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W or L?

I'll have my predictions in a front page story

Toledo
Kansas
Penn State
FAU
Purdue
Nebraska
Maryland
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Indiana
Iowa
Northwestern

ESPN Adrian Wojnarowski reporting the Bulls have signed Ayo to a 3 year $21M contract. Great for Ayo to sign long term but I'm not sure this was the right fit for him moving forward! I wish him nothing but the best, Go Illini!

Of course it was only a matter of time. The Plaintifff "John Doe" hired top firm that represented Plaintiffs in Michigan and Michigan State Doctor sexual abuse cases. Fitzy, AD, School President others named as Defendants. Allegations that the sexual perversion (my description) abuse, and racist treatment of athletes were pervasive in athletic department, extended across many sports, including FB and baseball, male and female, and went on for years.

Commitment buzz is getting louder. Stay tuned..

Watching Illini day today on the BTN. Currently I have the Illinois/Michigan football game from 1999. The Rocky Harvey show.

Guess I didn’t realize that Tom Brady was playing in this game.

St Johns, Seton Hall, Creighton Illinois, Villanova, Providence, Ohio State and St. Joes.

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – University of Illinois Director of Athletics Josh Whitman has announced a contract extension for head softball coach Tyra Perry. The extension, which was approved by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees at its July 20 meeting, keeps Perry under contract through the conclusion of the 2027 season.

"We are pleased to extend Coach Perry's contract to ensure she remains at the helm of Illinois Softball for at least the next four years," Whitman said. "Tyra is a driven competitor who has led our program to numerous achievements during her tenure, highlighted by four NCAA Regional appearances. She is a focused, values-driven role model for her players – past and present – which has helped her become the lone female coach to lead three different schools to the NCAA Tournament. We want to thank Tyra for her commitment and belief in the University of Illinois and Fighting Illini Athletics. The future is bright for the softball program under her continued leadership, and we look forward to supporting her and our student-athletes in the many seasons ahead."

Perry was hired as the second-ever coach of the Illinois softball program on June 24, 2015, and donned the Orange and Blue for the first time during the 2016 campaign.

"I am thankful for the opportunity to continue to lead and grow the Illini Softball program," Perry said. "I am grateful for the support of Josh Whitman and Sara Burton as we strive to instill the principles of character, toughness, and community into our student athletes. The University of Illinois is a special place, and I am blessed to represent the Orange and Blue."

In 2023, Perry capped off her eighth season as the Fighting Illini head coach. During her time in Champaign-Urbana, Perry owns a 243-166 record that includes four NCAA Tournament appearances. Perry's squads have posted winning records during all traditional seasons and an 11-11 mark during the COVID-19-abbreviated 2020 campaign. She led the program to its best-ever Big Ten finish in 2022 when the Illini placed third, logging a 15-7 record in conference play.

Under her tutelage, 15 Illini players have garnered National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region honors with Kelly Ryono most recently earning the accolade following a stellar senior season. Five of the program's 15 no-hitters have been thrown with Perry at the helm, including a pair from the Illini's newly named assistant coach Sydney Sickels.

Perry was the first Black female head coach to lead a Big Ten softball program. A pioneer of the game, she was one of 17 Black female head coaches in all of Division I last season, and one of three leading a Power 5 program. The Illini's series against Michigan State in 2023 marked the first time two Black female head softball coaches faced off during Big Ten play and was believed to be the first meeting between two Black female head softball coaches at the Power 5 level.

The 2024 campaign will mark Perry's 23rd season as a head coach. With previous stops at Birmingham Southern, Western Kentucky and Ball State, Perry owns a career 652-554-1 record. During her time at WKU and Ball State, Perry's teams earned bids to the NCAA Tournament. She is one of three active head coaches to lead three different programs to the NCAA Tournament, and is the only woman to do so.

Illinois will take a long look at KJ Windham. He shot the ball really well this summer for Meanstreets, although his release is a little funky. (similar to TJ Shannon when he was in high school).

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini rising senior Aicha Ndour has been named to the 12-person roster for the Senegal National Team's upcoming competition in Kigali, Rwanda, at the 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket Tournament. The AfroBasket event is scheduled for July 28 – August 5 with Senegal playing in friendly competition ahead of the tournament.

Entering her second season with the Fighting Illini in the upcoming 2023-24 campaign, Ndour appeared in 23 games as a junior. She averaged 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds per game, coming off the bench as a reserve for the Orange and Blue.

Prior to Illinois, Ndour played her sophomore campaign at Northwest Florida State College and freshman season at Rutgers.

Ndour has spent the summer back home in Senegal advancing through the national team tryouts.

In total, 12 teams qualified for the women’s AfroBasket field. Senegal is in Group C, which also includes Mali and Uganda. In the group phase, each team will play the other opponents in their group. The top teams will advance directly to the quarterfinals while the teams finishing second and third will play in a qualification round to advance to the quarterfinals.

The winners of the quarterfinals advance to semifinals, while the losers will play the classification games for the fifth through eighth places. The classification game for third place and the final will be played on the last day of competition.

AfroBasket games will be streamed on Courtside 1891. More on the 2023 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket event can be found on the main website.

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Here's the plan.

Two new features this year.

- "Tale of the Tape" that compares the opponents by position group
- "Big Ten Power Rankings" (preseason edition already published).

Season coverage will be adjusted for the Friday night games.

Let me know what else you want to see.

Preseason / Training camp

- Big Ten media days coverage (July 26-27)
- Position previews
- Potential breakout performers
- Top newcomers
- Season predictions
- Post practice interviews

Season

Monday
- Weekly press conference
- Notebook

Tuesday
- Feature stories
- Tale of the tape

Wednesday
- Behind enemy lines

Thursday
- Keys to the game

Friday
-Friday forecast

Saturday
- Gameday coverage
- Rapid recap
- Post game interviews

Sunday
- PFF Top performers
- Big Ten power rankings

Our pre-training camp depth chart.

Nigel Glover just hit the portal. Was a 5.7 star recruit. Maybe the Illini should hit this kid up.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– Illinois head coach Brad Underwood announced Tuesday the hiring of Kwa Jones as director of recruiting and scouting.

A former graduate manager for the Fighting Illini, Jones returns to Champaign after two years of continued growth in the coaching profession. He spent the recent 2022-23 season as director of operations at Stephen F. Austin, with many duties including travel, meals, team scheduling and planning recruiting visits.

That followed serving as a video coaching associate in 2021-22 with the Sacramento Kings, where he specialized in film and assisted with player development.

Jones spent two years on Underwood's staff as graduate manager during the successful 2020 and 2021 seasons. Illinois went a combined 29-11 in conference play during his tenure, earning a final AP ranking of No. 21 in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign and leading the Big Ten in wins while adding the Big Ten Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed in 2021.

"We are thrilled to welcome Kwa back to the Illinois Basketball family" Underwood said. "He is a relationship-driven coach who makes impactful connections with players in every program he has been a part of, and his passion and love for the game of basketball is contagious. Kwa has added to his portfolio since he was last here, with great experiences with the Kings and at SFA. He has earned this opportunity and will be a great asset to us in scouting and recruiting."

Jones is a native of Nacogdoches, Texas. He is a 2019 graduate of the University of Houston, with a bachelor's degree in sports administration. While at Houston, he was an on-court student manager for the Cougars. Jones earned his master's degree in recreation, sport, and tourism from the University of Illinois in 2021.

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