IlliniGuys.com • 2nd December 2025

Illini Women Breeze Past Bellarmine for Second Straight Blowout Ahead of B1G play

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – With conference play just around the corner, the Illinois women’s basketball team won its fifth-straight game, blowing out Bellarmine 90-41.
It was the second straight blowout victory for Illinois (7-1) after beating Le Moyne 100-28 on Sunday. Battling a bad injury bug, Bellarmine (2-8) had a clear size and depth disadvantage in this game, playing just eight players throughout the course of the game. The Illini feasted with that advantag...

IlliniGuys.com • 2nd December 2025

Illinois Football Continues Offensive Line Rebuild With JUCO OT Maika Matelau

By Zeno Jo - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 2, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – With his offensive line set to lose some of its most veteran voices this offseason, Illinois football head coach Bret Bielema has wasted no time picking up some game-ready players to protect his quarterback for the 2026 season.

On Tuesday, the program picked up a commitment from three-star JUCO interior offensive lineman Maika Matelau. Hailing from Ontario, California, and currently playing at Mt. San Antonio College, the...

IlliniGuys.com • 2nd December 2025

IlliniGuys Class of 2026 Flip Watch: Five Names to Watch in the Early Signing Period

By Zeno Jo - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 2, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The early signing period opens this Wednesday, and with under 24 hours to go before high school and junior college athletes will put pen to paper to sign their name to their program of choice for the 2026-27 season, IlliniGuys has put together a short list of players that the Illinois Fighting Illini Football staff may be working around the clock to flip during these three days....

IlliniGuys.com • 30th November 2025

Behind the Preparation that Helped the Illini to a Winter Wonderland Win over Northwestern

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The show must go on and go on it did. In the midst of a winter storm that dropped over six inches of snow, the Illini found their way through a snowy, slippery, and freezing four quarters of football to top the Northwestern Wildcats 20-13 and protect the Land of Lincoln Trophy.

It’s hard to prepare for the kind of snow that Champaign-Urbana saw on Saturday. The west side of Gies...

IlliniGuys.com • 27th November 2025

Illinois Snags Commitment from 2027 In-State Forward Quinton Kitt

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Standing at 6-1 with the season in full swing, the 13th-ranked Illinois basketball team has picked up its first commitment of its 2027 recruiting class. With the staff’s 2024 and 2025 classes bringing in flavors from all around the world, the first name on the 2027 class will be an in-state guy.

6-foot-6, 215-pound forward Quinton Kitt has committed to play for the Illini. Hailing...

IlliniGuys.com • 27th November 2025

Illini In The Mix For 2027 In-State Athlete With Family Ties to Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – We’ve all heard of “two birds, one stone,” but the Illini coaching staff may be looking to take down three birds with one Illinois-shaped stone.

Head coach Bret Bielema has taken a liking to in-state recruiting since arriving in 2021, and as of late has also been heavy in recruiting players who have family ties to the program. His next target? A player playing football right out...

IlliniGuys.com • 18th November 2025

Illinois Bounces Back with 84-64 win over Murray State on Field Trip Day

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After hitting the road and suffering its first loss of the season, the Illinois Fighting Illini women’s basketball team bounced back in a big way, downing Murray State 84-64 in the program’s annual Field Trip Day game.

The Illini (3-1) found most of their success inside the arc, going 23-for-41 on two-point attempts and converting on 16 of their 20 layups. Four players scored in...

IlliniGuys.com • 14th November 2025

2026 Ghanaian Kicker Kofi Adubufuor Looking to Bring Big Leg, Unique Skillset to College Football

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In modern-day football, head coaches are beginning to run out of things they can refine. Across the board, players are getting faster and taller. Arms are growing stronger. In the past few decades, special teams coaches have gone to the land down under to find punters who can send spin-filled punts that could make a reliever jealous. On the kicking front? Big legs.

Just earlier this month, Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam...

IlliniGuys.com • 12th November 2025

Illinois Making Late Push for 2026 Cincinnati Commit DL Lance Dawson

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Of the recruits visiting Champaign last week for the team’s 35-13 win over Rutgers, there was one player who Bret Bielema and his staff might be looking to flip over to Champaign in the coming months. While Lance Dawson is already committed to suit up for Cincinnati next fall, he’s keeping his options open, something made possible in this new era of recruiting.

“It’s been nice t...

IlliniGuys.com • 11th November 2025

Three Things to Watch for in Illinois vs. TTU, From a Lubbock-born, Champaign-raised Writer

No. 11 Texas Tech is flying into Champaign on Tuesday for a big-time matchup with No. 14 Illinois.

Between the Red Raiders and the Fighting Illini are two top 20 teams and two high-flying teams that have rebuilt themselves this past offseason, with key additions replacing valuable departures.

If you’re not sure who I am, hello! I’m Zeno Jo, a writer who joined the IlliniGuys team earlier this fall. You’ll see my name attached to a lot of...

IlliniGuys.com • 9th November 2025

Whitney Young’s 2026 DL Markius Woods Recaps Illinois Visit

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In its push to look for some defensive linemen to add to its 2026 class, the Illinois Fighting Illini football team hosted an in-state big man who could be rated as an under- the-radar get.

Markius Woods, currently a senior at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago, was among the group of visitors at Gies Memorial Stadium last week for the team’s 35-13 win over Rutgers....

IlliniGuys.com • 8th November 2025

Illinois Shakes Off Rust, Freshman Nerves as Return to Full Health Nears

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – It was, in head coach Shauna Green’s words, one of the harder basketball games to watch, but it was a game that helped prepare the Illinois women’s basketball team for a season in a multitude of ways.

If you weren’t able to catch Tuesday night’s game because it was on Big Ten Plus, or you just had other plans, you may be wondering why a 91-67 season-opening win over Southeast Mis...

IlliniGuys.com • 5th November 2025

Berry Wallace’s Career Day a Sign of Freshman to Sophomore Growth

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – There was plenty to like from the Illinois women’s basketball team’s 91-67 season opener victory against Southeast Missouri State, but the undeniable star of the show was sophomore Berry Wallace.

After parting ways with a senior class that included four starters last offseason, head coach Shauna Green reloaded her roster with a recruiting class that ranked fourth in the nation, h...

IlliniGuys.com • 2nd November 2025

Illinois is the Second Program to Offer 2027 In-State LB Sean Rice

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – With high school playoff games taking place around Illinois, the convoy of visiting recruits before Illinois’ 35-13 win over Rutgers was smaller than the past few, but the week’s group appeared to be the staff’s attempt at filling gaps and prioritizing some in-state targets.

Among the group was class of 2027 linebacker Sean Rice, hailing from Aurora, Illinois and playing for St....

IlliniGuys.com • 21st October 2025

Looking up to Serbian Point Guard Greats, Mihailo Petrovic Confident His Game Translates to College Basketball

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – At this time, it seems as though one of the key cogs in the Illinois offense this season will be point guard Mihailo Petrovic. Head coach Brad Underwood has harped on the 6-foot-3 Serbian point guard’s pace, a key strength as the Illini are looking to play faster and more downhill than ever.

Petrovic made the flip to college basketball after a strong campaign in the Adriatic Leag...

IlliniGuys.com • 19th October 2025

Three Takeaways from No. 17 Illinois' Exhibition Victory Over Illinois State

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illini fans got their first taste of 17th-ranked Illinois basketball in a 92-65 exhibition victory over Illinois State, albeit with some unavailable players, with the likes of Andrej Stojakovic, Tomislav Ivisic, and Mihailo Petrovic all sitting this one out for various reasons.

While the Redbirds were without All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team selection Chase Walker and Se...

IlliniGuys.com • 18th October 2025

Geoff Alexander’s Eyes Trained On Europe as Illinois Basketball Goes Worldwide

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois has become a hotspot for international recruits in recent years, and one of the key figures at the center of that is assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Geoff Alexander.

In fact, in the days leading up to local media day earlier this month, Alexander was fresh off a trip to Europe. He said he was in five countries in seven days, visiting Berlin (Germany), V...

IlliniGuys.com • 17th October 2025

‘I’m Exactly Where I Need To Be’: Hometown Hero Kylan Boswell Ready for Senior Year

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Entering his second year in the Orange and Blue and his fourth overall as a college basketball player, Kylan Boswell has had a unique journey. An Urbana native with family ties to the University of Illinois, Boswell’s basketball career has taken some twists and turns, but staring down his senior year of college basketball, he says he wouldn’t have wanted it to play out any differe...

IlliniGuys.com • 13th October 2025

‘More Balkan than American’: Andrej Stojakovic on How His Play Style, Personality Have Been Shaped By His Background and Upbringing

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – One of the first glimpses that the world caught of Andrej Stojakovic in Illinois colors was of him dressed in the team’s orange jersey with two flags draped over his shoulders – the Greek flag on his right shoulder and the Serbian flag on his left. He carries his identity with him everywhere he goes, and says that his upbringing, both as the son of an NBA great and as a foreign...

IlliniGuys.com • 10th October 2025

Kurt Kittner, Illinois Hall of Fame Class of 2025 Reminisce on Time in Orange and Blue

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – On an energy-filled weekend in the 217, the University of Illinois Athletics Department welcomed its 2025 Hall of Fame class. The day before the 21st-ranked Fighting Illini football team welcomes the top team in the country in Ohio State, a class of eleven former coaches and athletes were inducted into the exclusive group and immortalized in Illinois athletics history.

The likes...

IlliniGuys.com • 9th October 2025

Illini Returnee Jake Davis Talks Cult Following, Leadership Role Ahead of Junior Campaign

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – It’s been almost exactly a year and a half since Jake Davis chose to transfer to Illinois. Transferring after a freshman year at Mercer, the McCordsville, Indiana native arrived at Illinois holding a reputation as an elite three-point shooter. Since then, a lot has changed about him, his team, and his role in it.

Davis is one of the many beneficiaries of strength and conditioning...

IlliniGuys.com • 4th October 2025

‘It just overall feels like a family to be here’: 2027 East Peoria Forward Quinton Kitt Recaps Third Illinois Visit

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois men’s basketball program’s pipeline to the Peoria recruiting grounds has run dry for the past few seasons, but head coach Brad Underwood and his staff may look to reclaim some territory with an under-the-radar prospect.

Quinton Kitt, a class of 2027 forward from East Peoria High School, was on campus for a visit last Saturday for Illinois football’s Homecoming g...

IlliniGuys.com • 3rd October 2025

‘He told me it’s a good program’: Illini RB Ca’Lil Valentine's Little Brother Recaps Visit

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Champaign isn’t exactly known as the city of brotherly love – that goes to Philadelphia – but it looks as though Illinois head coach Bret Bielema is making a push to earn his football team that superlative.

Bielema’s roster for this season has followed two distinct themes: he’s a big believer in in-state recruiting (50 of the 115 players on the roster are from Illinois), and thinks football is something that runs in the fa...

IlliniGuys.com • 2nd October 2025

Underwood Provides Injury Updates and Praises Newcomers at Local Media Day

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Local media day wrapped up on Thursday afternoon at Illinois’ Ubben Basketball Complex, giving members of the media exclusive access to the team. IlliniGuys was on-site and will provide coverage from players and coaches from within the program in the coming days.

Before speaking to the media, head coach Brad Underwood held a press conference in the Ubben lobby, fielding questions from reporters. He first shared that newcom...