Per Brad Underwood today, Luke Goode was cleared and is practicing. He will suite up for Saturday's game vs. Iowa.

I wouldn't expect Goode to play much. He isn't in basketball shape yet and can't go for long stretches without getting winded.

He's shooting the ball well, per Underwood, but obviously the shot won't be there in games if he can't keep his legs fresh.

We'll see. If he can play enough over the next several games, he can help them in the post season. They badly need 3-point shooting. If not, they have to think about redshirting him.

I hope I’m wrong on Undie. But, his teams anguish me as a viewer. Always hyped to how talented they are, yet kind of flameout types. Illinois won tonight, but that was ugly.

I don’t see Lou Henson, Lon Kruger or Bill Self with Brad Underwood. Maybe Bruce Weber meets Ron Zook????

Final: Illinois 72- Nebraska 56.

Defense in the second half was great.

Huskers ran out of gas.

Ty Rodgers and Sencire Harris changed the game.

* The double whammy of losing Walters + Kane is a blow to this staff. Those are two of the main cogs that made the defense work. You can replace their recruiting, but it's going to e tough to get a net positive in terms of coaching acumen.

* Bret Bielema really had to promote from within, right? He has trained and mentored his guys to take higher level jobs. Passing one of them up for an outside hire would have caused some resentment, IMO.

* Henry is a 180 degree change from Walters in terms of temperament. He's always amped up, while Walters is low key. That's going to make for an interesting change.

* One thing to remember is that this is Bret Bielema's scheme. Still, it was Walters who made it work on Saturdays. He had a great feel for game situations and what to dial up in terms of blitzes and coverages. Henry hasn't ever called the plays as far as I know. Illinois will also miss the detailed and spot-on scouting that Walters did and his game-planning.

* There's no good time to have upheaval on the staff, but the timing is particularly bad with signing day next week and practices for the bowl game underway.

* Expect a more hands-on role for Bielema with the defense. He's not going to let Henry sink. It's Henry's first go-around at this.

* I'm not sure if the structure of the staff will remain the same. Will Bielema hire a safeties coach and an outside linebacker coach or just best available and figure it out. I'd expect Henry to still coach the corners.

* Bielema's MO is to hire from a pool of coaches that he previously worked with or at least knows well. I'd expect him to follow that same pattern.

Thanks For the encouragement BiG Will, I got the colonoscopy. Was worried about the risks, but troopered through. Step in the right direction, considering I'm a minority, and we are at greater risk genetic wise.

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Another Matthew Bailey. Maybe even more explosive. Very impressive athlete that’s a hooper too. Scored 44 in a recent game. We finally have coaches who can see it.

Penn State is blowing out Michigan 79-55. Wolverines will now have lost 5 of 7.

Purdue 53 Michigan State 36. Midway through second half.

Rutgers @ Iowa 1 pm. Got to room for the Hawkeyes. Iowa win would put Illinois Indiana, and Rutgers in three-way tie for 3rd. I see Northwestern going no better than 5-5 over their last 10 games.

The Golden Jet:

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are already off the board:

#2 TE Christian Betancur to Clemson
#3 WR Cam Williams to ND
#10 TE Grant Stec to Wisconsin

Things don’t seem to be trending UI’s direction with #1 DT Justin Scott.

I’ve seen some buzz with #7 DE Eddie Tuerk. Anyone else in the top 10-15 the Illini have a chance with?

About 30 minutes to tipoff at State Farm Center.

Illinois should roll in this one.

What grade would u give this hire.