Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images A promotion for the running backs coach. Ahead of the start of spring practices on Tuesday, Illinois elevated Thad Ward to assistant head coach and running backs coach. Ward is in his fifth season in Champaign. He returned to ... Read more
Published on Monday, March 18, 2024By Stephen Cohn
Hundreds of Illinois fans gathered outside the entrance of the FlightStar private airport on Sunday night to welcome back their Big Ten Tournament Champions. ... Read more
Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 34 points on 15-for-17 shooting from the free-throw line, helping 13th-ranked Illinois outlast Wisconsin 93-87 ... Read more
By the time you're reading this, Tyler and I are already on our way back to Chicago and then Champaign. Because we need to get in the car as soon as the game is over, we decided to write the article during (and before) the game. The ol' back & ... Read more
A quick little preview for you. After the game today, Tyler, Carmen, and I will be joining The BoardRoom guys for an immediate reaction to the bracket reveal as we drive back from Minneapolis. So look for that this evening (just subscribe to The BoardRoom below). This episode is from ... Read more
Our recent lot in NCAA Tournament life is pretty simple. If we make the tourney we live in the top half (seeds 1, 4, 5, 8,9, 12, 13, and 16) of the bracket. Dating back to the Flying Illini, in our last 21 NCAA appearances we’ve been in ... Read more
Published on Saturday, March 16, 2024By IlliniBoard
Mar. 16—Sign up for our daily Illini football newsletter here Greetings from "Can't Wait For Saturday," your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He'll give you his views each day on the game he loves. ... Read more
Published on Saturday, March 16, 2024By The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
We beat Ohio State. We go to the Irish pub across the street and celebrate St. Patrick's Day unofficially. And then Tyler, Carmen, and I walk back to our hotel past the Skyway Theater where the Gloryhammer concert is just letting out. It was a perfect moment. This is my ... Read more
Published on Saturday, March 16, 2024By IlliniBoard
He is one of the nicest guys I have been fortunate to work with while covering Illinois football. From a top-notch family, which explains why he is like he is. ... Read more
Published on Friday, March 15, 2024By BOB ASMUSSEN asmussen@news-gazette.com
Illinois football won a massive recruitment to start the week. On Monday, top in-state Athlete, Andre Lovett announced his verbal commitment to Illinois Football. ... Read more
On Monday, top in-state Athlete, Andre Lovett announced his verbal commitment to Illinois Football. Lovett is a dynamic athlete and ranks as one of those in-state recruits that Illinois football has to consistently land. ... Read more
Published on Thursday, March 14, 2024By Armchair Illinois
You have questions about what might happen if a bunch of SEC teams are seeded on the 4-line with us. Does that affect our potential matchups since those teams can't meet in the second round? Yes. How does that work? Let's find out together. And I mean that. Let's find ... Read more
Published on Wednesday, March 13, 2024By IlliniBoard
Mar. 13—Sign up for our daily Illini football newsletter here Greetings from "Can't Wait For Saturday," your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He'll give you his views each day on the game he loves. ... Read more
Published on Wednesday, March 13, 2024By The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Illinois Football Lands Key Defensive Backs The best part about the start of Spring is the fact that Illinois Football recruiting tends to heat up. Heading into the summer, the Illinois Football team starts to lay its foundation in hopes of creating a buzz to start the summer. Additionally, the ... Read more
Published on Tuesday, March 12, 2024By Armchair Illinois
The final WDWS of the year. I won't write one next week because the NCAA Committee will tell us exactly where we stand this Sunday at 5:00 pm. It won't matter what I think or what KenPom thinks or what anyone else thinks. The Committee will release their seeds ... Read more
Published on Tuesday, March 12, 2024By IlliniBoard
Mar. 12—Sign up for our daily Illini football newsletter here Greetings from "Can't Wait For Saturday," your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He'll give you his views each day on the game he loves. ... Read more
Published on Tuesday, March 12, 2024By The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
former Illinois Football Kicker, just signed a 3-year, 12.3 million dollar deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That is absolutely huge! McLaughlin has bounced around the league, as the Bucs are his 7th team in 5 years as an NFL kicker. ... Read more
Published on Monday, March 11, 2024By Armchair Illinois
Illinois beat writer Scott Richey is in his ninth season as an AP Top 25 voter. His ballot this week has Kentucky way up and San Diego State tumbling. ... Read more
Published on Monday, March 11, 2024By The News-Gazette
I don't mean that as some kind of "we own this place" jab. Like, "this might as well be our home court." It very simply means that Illinois announced on February 6th that every remaining game was sold out, a bunch of Illini fans said "well, if we want to ... Read more
This will be very short. I'm working on a project at home (hanging curtain rods) and then at 1:00 pm I'm getting in the car and heading to Iowa City. I'm charging the cordless drill so I have about a half hour here to type out something I'll regret ... Read more
Illinois Football Making a Big Hire From the ACC Illinois Football is looking to round out their coaching staff for the 2024 season. Though we have been in the heat of Illini Basketball, it’s Bret Bielema’s team making headlines on March 9th. After the loss of Outside Linebackers coach Charlie ... Read more
Published on Saturday, March 9, 2024By Armchair Illinois
Mar. 9—Sign up for our daily Illini football newsletter here Greetings from "Can't Wait For Saturday," your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He'll give you his views each day on the game he loves. ... Read more
Published on Saturday, March 9, 2024By The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
'It’s definitely heartwarming to see how quickly they embraced him and, I guess, love him as much as the love he got at SIU and back in high school. They’ve ... Read more
Published on Saturday, March 9, 2024By The News-Gazette
Sixty-one years ago today — March 9, 1963 — Urbana senior Hal Holmes was the University of Illinois’ only athlete to win an individual title at the Big Ten Championships, ... Read more
Published on Saturday, March 9, 2024By The News-Gazette
Illinois Football: Williams Increases Draft Stock at Pro Day We are now just 48 days from the 2024 NFL Draft, and a handful of Illinois Football seniors put their efforts on display at the 2024 Illini Pro Day on March 8th. All for the shot to capture lifelong dreams for ... Read more
Published on Friday, March 8, 2024By Armchair Illinois
Illinois will host its annual Pro Day on March 8, allowing players who did not get a chance to work or get measured at the NFL Scouting Combine to show off what they’ve got. Multiple Illini players did work out while at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, but not all ... Read more
Published on Friday, March 8, 2024By By Adam Rosen, Assistant Sports Editor
Tuesday night, I noted on Twitter that my son was trying to find the Illinois-Purdue game in St. Louis and struggling to find a sports bar that had it on. The responses went in several different directions, so I wanted to write about what I was trying to say. It ... Read more
Published on Thursday, March 7, 2024By IlliniBoard
I probably have 75 pictures just like that one on my phone. Maybe 100 such pictures of Memorial Stadium after a game. One of my favorite things on earth is the warm glow of a stadium or arena after all the fans have gone home, so I take a lot ... Read more
Published on Wednesday, March 6, 2024By IlliniBoard
My very first thought this week: when is the last time that the only two ranked Big Ten teams met during the final week of the season? Now that I type that out, I'm realizing that it's probably been a very long time since the Big Ten only had two ... Read more
Mar. 5—Sign up for our daily Illini football newsletter here Greetings from "Can't Wait For Saturday," your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He'll give you his views each day on the game he loves. ... Read more
Published on Tuesday, March 5, 2024By The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Beat writer Joe Vozzelli recaps what went right, wrong for Shauna Green and Co. in league play ahead of the conference tournament later this week in Minneapolis ... Read more
Published on Tuesday, March 5, 2024By The News-Gazette
Isaiah Williams, one of the most productive receivers in Illinois football history, turns his attention to the NFL Draft. “I felt like I got better and better every year. I’ve only been playing receiver for three years.” Those are the words of Illinois quarterback turned slot receiver Isaiah Williams. The ... Read more
Published on Monday, March 4, 2024By Armchair Illinois
Showdown with Purdue awaits for Illinois. ... Big Monday night for future Illini Morez Johnson. ... Catching up with Unity softball coach Aimee Davis ... Read more
Published on Monday, March 4, 2024By The News-Gazette
Latest Mock Draft Bodes Well For Illini Lineman CBSSports.com released their latest 2024 NFL mock draft on Sunday (3-3), and former Illinois Football star Jer’zahn “Johnny” Newton found himself in good company. The 2023 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year has continued to creep his way up the boards, and several ... Read more
Published on Sunday, March 3, 2024By Armchair Illinois
There has been a lot of talk about the Illinois offense over the past few weeks. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to talk a lot about the Illinois offense. ... Read more
While waiting for Tyler's writeup from Madison (I'm pretty sure he drove back home first and is now writing it back in the western burbs), here's The BoardRoom episode after today's game. As they said in the episode notes, State Farm Center North once again belongs to the Illini. Matty, ... Read more
Published on Saturday, March 2, 2024By IlliniBoard
I'm visiting my son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter right now. Booked this trip the day after the Penn State loss. Tyler could cover the Wisconsin game, my wife had to be in Idaho for work, so all of the stars aligned. Being around Penn State fans celebrating their greatest final-minute comeback ... Read more
Published on Saturday, March 2, 2024By IlliniBoard
The South Dakota native walked on to the Illinois Football team in 2020. At the time, Offensive Coordinator, Rod Smith, saw something in the Skinny Sioux Falls native. Per 247sports, Reiman was a 220lb OLB prospect walking on to a Big Ten Program. ... Read more
Published on Friday, March 1, 2024By Armchair Illinois
Sam, Matty, and Josh react to the ball going into hoop many of times. Luckily more times for the Illini than Minnesota. You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts here, you can listen to this episode on Spotify here, or, if you click the "SUBSCRIBE" button on the ... Read more
Published on Thursday, February 29, 2024By IlliniBoard
This year, the Illinois Football bunch is led by the Law firm. Jer'Zhan Newton and Keith Randolph headline the group of Illinois Football players trying to establish their NFL careers. ... Read more
Published on Wednesday, February 28, 2024By Armchair Illinois
It sounds so silly to even type that. Brandon Hansen committed to Illinois FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY TWO DAYS AGO. And now I'm writing his LLUOI. Well, I said I'm going to start up this series again, and you have to start somewhere, so here we go. This one will ... Read more
Published on Wednesday, February 28, 2024By IlliniBoard
Executive director of personnel and recruiting has gone through gamut of coaches during his decade-plus in Champaign: 'I love where we're headed' ... Read more
Published on Wednesday, February 28, 2024By The News-Gazette
This is the final article from my fundraiser last May (and, like all of those articles, it is unlocked and free for anyone to read). In exchange for a donation to my dad's scholarship, I stated that I would write an article of your choice. I completed most of them ... Read more
Published on Monday, February 26, 2024By IlliniBoard
Illinois Football Spring Practice: Bret Bielema, Aaron Henry, and Terrance Jamison look to figure out the defensive line. The Illini have been here before. This time last spring, head coach Bret Bielema and defensive coordinator Aaron Henry were figuring out how to replace their entire secondary. Now, they must figure ... Read more
Published on Sunday, February 25, 2024By Armchair Illinois
After the game, Tyler joined the guys from The BoardRoom to discuss the win over Iowa. And they touch on something Tyler tweets every year - the moment each season where we could lose out (lose the rest of our games plus our opener in the Big Ten Tournament) and ... Read more
Published on Sunday, February 25, 2024By IlliniBoard
Feb. 23—Sign up for our daily Illini football newsletter here Greetings from "Can't Wait For Saturday," your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He'll give you his views each day on the game he loves. ... Read more
Published on Friday, February 23, 2024By The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
I've been publishing these on Tuesdays, but I'm a day late with this one. We will blame whatever I ate on my trip from Washington DC to central Pennsylvania that led to my body ordering a full evacuation of the entire GI tract. I thought I held veto power over ... Read more
Published on Wednesday, February 21, 2024By IlliniBoard
Former Illinois Football Quarterback Hired by Rams According to a tweet from Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Los Angeles Rams have hired former Illinois Football star Nate Scheelhaase as their passing game coordinator. Scheelhaase was the Illinois quarterback from 2009-2013 for Ron Zook and Tim Beckman. Under his leadership, Nate ... Read more
Published on Monday, February 19, 2024By Armchair Illinois
Makira Cook scored 22 points, Kendall Bostic had 12 points and 11 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season and Illinois closed on a 15-3 run to beat N ... Read more
Former Illinois Quarterback Tommy DeVito was the star of the show in Saturday's (2-17) pro hockey matchup between the New Jersey Devils, and the Philadelphia Flyers. ... Read more
Published on Sunday, February 18, 2024By Armchair Illinois