The University of Michigan President is leaving to take the same position at University of Florida. Combined with the two-day suspension of Sherron Moore, there is speculation that something big may be coming to Ann Arbor.

Illini Extend Lead Behind Voois, Marrion on Day 2 of NCAA Urbana Regional

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URBANA, Ill. – The No. 14-ranked and third-seeded Fighting Illini men's golf team extended its lead in the team race at the NCAA Urbana Regional behind a solid team round led by under-par scores from junior Ryan Voois and freshman Trey Marrion on Tuesday at Atkins Golf Club.

Voois posted a 4-under 67 and jumped 10 spots up the leaderboard into the hunt for medalist honors. Marrion, who subbed into the Illinois lineup after Round 1, posted a 70 (-1) in his regional debut to help buoye the Illini's team score at 281 (-3).

Illinois (-10) enters the final round at 558 (-10) with a three-shot edge over No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 35 UNLV in a tie for second at 7-under. The Orange and Blue are also 14 shots ahead of sixth-place Marquette, with the top-five team finishers after Wednesday's final round set to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championship at La Costa (May 23-28). No. 23 Texas Tech (-2) and Troy (-1) round out the top five with 18 holes to play.

Voois opened the week with a 1-under 70 on Monday and jumped out to a 3-under start through six holes in Round 2. Following his lone bogey of the day on No. 7, the Ladera Ranch, Calif., native closed out his score with a blemish-free finish and added two more birdies on 14 and 15 to move to 5-under overall. He is two shots off the pace of 36-hole leader Caden Fioroni (-7) of UNLV, and one shot behind teammate Jackson Buchanan.

Buchanan followed his course-record 63 from Monday with a 2-over 73 in Round 2, slipping one shot off the lead at 136 (-6) where he sits in a tie for second with Michigan's Hunter Thomson. Sophomore Max Herendeen posted the Illini's fourth counting score of the day with his second consecutive round of even-par 71 and sits in a tie for 16th in the 75-player field. Freshman Jake Birdwell is tied for 45th at 147 (+5) but did not factor into the Illini's Round 2 score with a 74 (+3).

Wednesday's final round is set to begin with tee times starting at 8 a.m. CT. Illinois, paired with Oklahoma State and UNLV, will be among the first groups off Hole 1. Live scoring is available via Clippd Scoreboard. The tournament is free and open to the public. Click here for more tournament information.

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.

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He's an elite sprinter.

Buchanan Course Record Paces Illini in NCAA Urbana Regional Opener

Tournament Information | Team Leaderboard | Player Leaderboard | Round 2 Tee Times

URBANA, Ill. – Senior Jackson Buchanan carded a course-record round of 63 (-8) to lead the 14th-ranked Fighting Illini to a strong opening round at the NCAA Urbana Regional hosted by Illinois at Atkins Golf Club.

Buchanan bookended his round with birdies on No. 1 and No. 18, and was locked in throughout. The Dacula, Ga., native finished bogey-free while carding six additional birdies to build a four-stroke lead in the individual race - ahead of Troy's Jake Springer - and give the Orane and Blue a two-stroke margin in the team race.

Behind the Illini (-7), No. 23 Texas Tech (-5), No. 35 UNLV (-3), and Troy (-1) also posted under-par team scores on Day 1. No. 26 Long Beach State and No. 47 Marquette are tied for fifth at 1-over, one shot ahead of the region's top seed, No. 2 Oklahoma State, with 36 holes remaining in the hunt for five team berths in the 2025 NCAA Championship at La Costa (May 23-28).

Buchanan's 63 tied for the second-lowest individual score in program history, one shot off his overall program single-round mark set in his first-career victory as a sophomore at Missouri's Tiger Collegiate Invitational. It also matched the program record for a postseason event, originally set by Brian Campbell at the 2014 NCAA Championship, then matched by Dylan Meyer at the 2017 B1G Championship, and again a year ago by then-freshman Max Herendeen in his win at the 2024 NCAA Stanford Regional.

Junior Ryan Voois (T15) and Herendeen (T19) also posted top-20 scores in Round 1. Voois notched four birdies and three bogeys en route to an opening 70 (-1). Herendeen finished at even-par after opening his day at 3-under through 15 holes before a 3-over finish on Holes 17 and 18.

Freshman Jake Birdwell, the Illini's top finisher (T3) at the Big Ten Championship, posted the team's fourth counting score of the day with a 2-over 73, and sophomore Ethan Wilson carded a 77 (+6) to sit in a tie for 64th, but did not factor into the team's Round 1 tally.

Round 2 is set for Tuesday morning with tee times beginning at 8 a.m. CT. Illinois, paired with Texas Tech and UNLV, will be among the first groups off Hole 1. Live scoring is available via Clippd Scoreboard. The tournament is free and open to the public. Click here for more tournament information.

Ordinarily this would be a walk on, but I don’t think they have walk ons anymore. 15 player roster. So, they now have 14 counting Fagbemi and AJ Redd.

Blake’s brother Brayden plays for Central Arkansas.

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Updated on May 8, 2025 to add Blake Fagbemi.

My thoughts....

A few years back when the groundwork was being laid for paying players, I said they need to be smart about it. But everyone at the time was advocating for athletes and not giving any thought to the health of college sports, and what that means for stability, for fans, and for future opportunities for athletes in general. I was part of tiny minority who thought it was heading down a bad path.

Saban is getting attacked because of all of the money he made coaching college football vs. what the athletes made. They aren't looking at the big picture. Just class warfare nonsense, pitting coaches against players.

Coaches don't have a problem with players getting paid. It's the inability to sustain rosters and build any kind of culture because of the combination of NIL + unlimited transfers and the influence of donors, agents, and collectives. It is rapidly becoming a corrupt system, just as I thought it would. Giving agents a seat at the table when there is no requirement to disclose the terms of NIL deals has been a disaster. Gambling entities are seeing dollar signs. It's clearly not a sustainable model. We have to consider what's good for college sports, not just what's good for the elite athletes. Pro leagues, for example, have guardrails like salary caps and binding contracts.

The current model in college sports will eventually limit opportunities for more athletes than it will benefit. Non-revenue sports are threatened. Donor fatigue will also eventually set it. How many times can a collective go back to the well? Also - though it hasn't happened yet - many fans will eventually lose interest. And without fans, there's nothing. No NIL. No revenue sharing. No overpaid coaches. No billion-dollar TV contracts. Nothing.

Illinois is cautiously optimistic.

I’m in alumni from Mount Zion high school.

I’m not sure how much truth is in this article, but it’s making Mount Zion people excited I can tell you for sure!

First in a series of spring recaps for Illinois 2025 opponents.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– The first piece of what promises to be another rigorous non-conference schedule for Coach Brad Underwood's Fighting Illini is in place, as Illinois will face Alabama on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at the United Center in Chicago.

Ticket sales information, including priority access for UI premium and season ticket holders and I FUND members, will be announced when available.

This is a return game from last season in Birmingham, where the No. 8 Crimson Tide defeated the No. 25 Illini, 100-87. Alabama went on to advance to the NCAA Elite Eight, while Illinois made it to the NCAA Second Round.

This marks the return of a marquee appearance in Chicago for the Illini program. Illinois played at least one regular season game at the United Center from 1994 through 2018, along with multiple Big Ten Tournaments and an NCAA Tournament trip as well.

In total, Illinois has played 56 games at the UC, owning a 38-18 record. The Illini are 19-9 in regular-season games at the UC, including an 18-8 mark against non-conference teams.

Illinois' last visit to the United Center was for the 2023 Big Ten Tournament. The Illini last played a regular season game there during the 2018-19 season, and last played a non-conference regular season game at the UC in 2017-18.

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