My brother sent me an SI.com article on top 25 freshman for 24-25. Anyone care to venture a guess as to what school has 1 and 2, 2 and 3 nationally? Hint - starts with an “R”.

Illinois looking to lock up Brandon Lee.

How many wins for Illinois football this season?

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

Shannon with a poster dunk.

Login to view embedded media
Right now it's Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Illinois in that order, IMO.

If the decision was today, I'd probably pick the Tide.

Illinois is lurking, but most feel they are out, or close to it. They haven't given up, though.

Decision likely by the end of the month.

I see Illinois looking a bit harder at Brandon Lee now, and maybe a few new offers soon. They could probably close on Lee if they push for him, but they haven't yet made that move.

Login to view embedded media
Geoff Alexander is out in Phoenix this weekend at the Puma Pro16 circuit watching four-star wing Nikolas Khamenia. Nearly all of the big boys are after him now, but Illinois has a realistic shot. He will visit at some point.

Login to view embedded media

A couple of newcomers, and an emerging star in the secondary in this group.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois baseball is set to compete in the second annual Las Vegas College Baseball Classic, in partnership with Peak Events LLC, at the Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Las Vegas Aviators, the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. The tournament takes place from Feb. 28 - March 2, 2025. Joining the Fighting Illini will be Texas, Texas Tech and Washington.

"We are excited to be back for a second year of the Las Vegas Classic at Las Vegas Ballpark," Nathan Wooldridge, vice president of Peak Events, said. "Next year's lineup showcases some of the top teams in the country with great storylines, including a matchup between former conference foes Texas and Texas Tech, plus new Big Ten rivals Washington and Illinois. It is going to be a fun weekend of baseball, and we look forward to providing a great experience for everyone who can make it out to the ballpark!"

This will be the second installment of the Las Vegas Classic after a successful inaugural event in 2024. The weekend tournament will have two games per day in a round-robin format. Tickets can be purchased per day or as a weekend package in select seating sections. Both reserved and general admission options are available. Fans can purchase tickets now at LasVegasCBC.com. Group and hospitality options are also available by calling the Aviators at 702-943-7200.

"We're thrilled to have the Las Vegas Classic back at Las Vegas Ballpark next year," said Don Logan, president and chief operations officer of the Las Vegas Aviators. "Our award-winning Ballpark is an ideal location and venue for a top-notch collegiate baseball tournament, and we're ready to welcome teams and fans from around the country for what will be a great weekend of baseball."

All six games of the Las Vegas Classic will be streamed exclusively via D1Baseball.com.

Each day's matchups will be announced at a later date.

• Friday, February 28 – 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.* (Matchups TBD)
• Saturday, March 1 – 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.* (Matchups TBD)
• Sunday, March 2 – 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.* (Matchups TBD)

* Central time and subject to change.

Login to view embedded media

The CEO of the company said they were dropped because they did work for Purdue.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Pat Bryant, Seth Coleman, Gabe Jacas and head coach Bret Bielema will represent the Illinois football team and the University of Illinois at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis, the Big Ten Conference announced Thursday. The 18 Big Ten teams will be split over three days, July 23-25, with Illinois scheduled for Tuesday, July 23.

Big Ten Network will broadcast six consecutive hours of live coverage every day, beginning at 10 a.m. CT. Rick Pizzo and Jake Butt will host morning coverage of the day's press conferences, while Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith will interview all 72 attendees on the BTN set during the afternoon sessions.

Illinois Representatives​

WR Pat Bryant
A two-year starter, Bryant tied for fourth in the Big Ten in receiving touchdowns (7) during the 2023 regular season.

OLB Seth Coleman
Coleman, who has 31 career starts, was second in the Big Ten in sacks during conference games (6.0) in 2023 and led the Power-5 in sacks during road games (6.0) in 2023.

OLB Gabe Jacas
A 2022 Freshman All-American, Jacas has 66 tackles and 8.0 sacks during his first two years in Champaign.


Login to view embedded media

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– During his annual media roundtable on June 20, University of Illinois Director of Athletics Josh Whitman announced that the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) intends to phase out its receipt of the Athletic Facilities Student Fee over the coming years, resulting in the fee's elimination from DIA's budget.

After originally being instituted several decades ago, DIA has continued to receive proceeds from the University's General Fee for expenses related to the improvement and upkeep of Memorial Stadium. The Athletic Facilities Fee, currently valued at $34.63 of the $313 General Fee assessed to students each semester, generates approximately $3.44 million in revenue for DIA each year. Although final FY24 figures are still being tabulated, revenues from this student fee are expected to represent less than 2% of DIA's total revenues, which will again be at record levels this year. With this change, all of DIA’s operating expenses will be paid from self-supporting revenue sources, including media distributions, gate receipts and premium seating, sponsorships and licensing, and philanthropic giving.

“Our staff has worked diligently to put the athletic program on strong financial footing, but change across our industry is accelerating," said Whitman. "As a result of the pending legal settlement that has been well publicized, we are preparing for the opportunity for DIA to invest meaningful resources directly into the pockets of our student-athletes. Although the use of the student fee is compartmentalized for facilities, we want to avoid any suggestion that our student body is underwriting more expansive economic benefits for their fellow students. With so much about our financial model being reimagined, now is the right time to make this change."

Over the coming months, DIA will work with University administration and the Student Fee Advisory Committee to finalize details related to the planned phase-out of these revenues for DIA and how the fee will be reallocated for other University priorities to support all students.

Picked Florida State yesterday.

Two DB targets are set to decide this week. I'll post more as I hear more.

This is premium content. Please subscribe to view.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini women's basketball head coach Shauna Green has announced the addition of walk-on Mia Zenere to the program. Zenere – a true freshman – is set to join the program beginning with the 2024-25 season.

Zenere is a 5-foot 11-inch guard from Mokena, Illinois. As a freshman, she attended Lincoln-Way Central High School, where she played basketball and competed in track and field. Zenere finished her prep career at Example Academy in Frankfort, Ill., where she helped the Eagles to three straight Independent High School Gold Division national championships.

As a senior, in 2023-24, Zenere was a team captain, competed in the Grind Session All Star Game, earned a McDonald's All-American nomination, and landed on the conference's All-Academic Team.

During Zenere's junior season, the 2022-23 campaign, her and Fighting Illini teammate Jasmine Brown-Hagger were teammates at Example Academy.

Across her Example Academy career, Zenere averaged 13.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.2 steal per game.

Zenere competed in track & field at Lincoln-Way Central as a freshman, winning the 2021 conference championship in triple jump while earning All-Conference honors in high jump and 300-meter hurdles as LWC won the SWSC Team Championship.

HEAD COACH SHAUNA GREEN ON THE ADDITION OF MIA ZENERE:​

"I am very excited to welcome Mia into our FamILLy! She is very eager to join our program and represent her home state, which is extremely important to us. She is a hard worker and a person of high character that will help push us to be better every single day. We can't wait for her to get on the court with us."

MIA ZENERE ON WHY SHE CHOSE ILLINOIS:​

"I'm very excited to be joining the Illini family and playing college basketball the highest level! I can't wait to get to work at my new home and play for a great team. Being here is a dream come true and I can't wait to make my home state proud!"

Login to view embedded media

Is this even close to accurate? I thought we were in the red, if true Josh gets even more props.

24
Illinois Fighting Illini​

Oct 29, 2022; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema greets linebacker Tarique Barnes (8) on the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports
Total Revenue: $145,735,330
Total Expenses: $129,119,147
Margin: $16,616,183

Rivals.com is rebranding. I'm really excited about the new look coming to the front page and with all of the Rivals graphics on Monday.

Rivals will have a new logo and graphic assets. These include the full Rivals wordmark, the secondary mark (standalone R), tertiary mark (standalone R with arrow) and the new Rivals Camp Series logo.

Along with unveiling the full suite of new logos, marks, fonts and colors for the brand, we are also refreshing the front page and content pages on Monday. The only changes we are making to the forums at this time are just the colors and logo in the header.