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It's clear Bret Bielema and his staff have a philosophy: If you can, you can play – the level doesn't matter. Bielema landed All-Conference JUCO defensive back Donovan Turner out of Long Beach City College last week, and on Friday the newly extended Illini head coach landed defensive lineman Eli Coenen out of Division II Bemidji State University.
Excited to be part of the #famILLy pic.twitter.com/x63i1rtzO8
— Eli (@eli_coenen45) May 30, 2025
Coenen, a 6-foot-7, 275-pounder from Baldwin, Wisconsin, logged 20 tackles, one pass break-up and a fumble recovery in 13 games last year for the Beavers. He appeared in two games in 2023 before redshirting the season.
The fifth defensive lineman Illinois has landed via the transfer portal in the offseason, Coenen also reported via X that he had offers from Baylor, New Mexico, South Dakota and South Dakota State. He has three years of eligibility remaining.
Considering Conen's size and time left to develop as a college player, this was a strong move by Illinois. Even if Coenen doesn't play much this season, reps on the scout team alone should help determine whether Coenen can play in the Big Ten. If he performs well in those opportunities, maybe he'll play a little bit this year and move into a bigger role in 2026 and beyond.
More From Illinois on Sports Illustrated:
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith Shouts Out Former Illini Terrence Shannon Jr. on 'First Take'
Illinois Basketball Projected as Top-10 Team for 2025-26 by a Key Metric
Illinois Respected in Andy Katz's Power 37, But Still Trails Conference Foes
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Lincoln Riley calls out NCAA amid lawsuit filed by USC player
USC football head coach Lincoln Riley did not hide his frustrations with the NCAA amid its ongoing legal battle with one of his players. In January, the Trojans landed offensive lineman DJ Wingfield in the transfer portal to shore up the team’s depth at left guard. Wingfield just needed the NCAA to grant a waiver request that would give him another year of eligibility. Neither the school nor the player expected any issues. However, the NCAA denied Wingfield’s request in March as well as a subsequent appeal. With the college football season just around the corner, Wingfield sued the NCAA seeking injunctive relief so that he could take the field. Riley weighed in on the issue Friday after holding team practice. “It isn’t right,” the USC head coach said, via the L.A. Times’ Ryan Kartje. “I haven’t seen anything like it in all my years of coaching.” Riley also called on the NCAA to “just do the right thing” and let Wingfield play out his final season. If the NCAA’s ruling holds, Wingfield would be stripped of the $210,000 in NIL money promised by USC, a payday that he described as “once in a lifetime.” Wingfield and USC both believed the waiver would be approved, given the recent legal victory of college quarterback Diego Pavia. The Vanderbilt QB went through a similar situation and later won a preliminary injunction from a U.S. District Court to gain an extra year of eligibility. The 24-year-old lineman played his first two seasons at El Camino College, a JUCO program based in L.A. County, California. He later transferred to New Mexico State in 2022 and tore his ACL in the very first game of the season, immediately ending his campaign. Wingfield played nine games for New Mexico in 2023 before landing a starting job at Purdue last season.
Prized transfer portal pickup for Oklahoma Sooners a major standout in fall camp and might have already locked up a starting job
Saints quarterback has 'convincing lead' in training camp battle
The New Orleans Saints' three-way quarterback competition is narrowing before the team's first preseason contest against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Per Ross Jackson of Louisiana Sports, second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler has looked the best at training camp this summer, going 83-of-114 passing (72.8 percent) for eight touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns and four interceptions. Rattler is beating out rookie Tyler Shough. The second-round pick has completed just 62 percent of his passes for five touchdowns and three interceptions. 2023 fourth-round pick Jake Haener has completed 69.6 percent of his passes for five touchdowns and one Interception. Jackson believes first-year head coach Kellen Moore is priming Rattler as the favorite to start in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. "Over the team’s 10 practices, these three young passers have seen their chance to earn the starting role to begin the season in a rotation of first-team reps," Jackson wrote. "But there are decisions the Saints have made in the process that indicate a favorite. "After looking over individual performance stats, practice rep distribution and the team’s treatment of each quarterback throughout the important and highly-productive scrimmages on camp day 10, it’s become clear that Rattler is comfortably in the lead, for now." Jackson thinks Rattler can fend off his "convincing lead" for the starting job if he plays competently against the Chargers on Sunday. Rattler feels like the safe choice for Moore over Shough and Haener, at least to start the regular season. He appeared in seven games and started in six in 2024. Rattler played inconsistently as a rookie, throwing four touchdowns to five interceptions. However, he's had time to develop. Given his numbers in training camp, Rattler appears to be the most polished quarterback before the regular season. Shough could eventually develop into the Saints' best option, but the rookie's completion percentage against friendly competition at camp is low before he even faces live action in the preseason.
Aaron Boone addresses Alex Rodriguez’s criticism of Yankees
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone responded Sunday, one day after Alex Rodriguez suggested his team lacks discipline and accountability. On FOX’s MLB pregame show Saturday, Rodriguez questioned the “accountability” of the Yankees after Boone did not pull Jazz Chisholm from Saturday’s loss to Miami after the infielder made a brutal baserunning blunder. Rodriguez suggested that the Yankees do not face consequences for such mistakes, and that it has contributed to further errors. “If any one of us made a mistake, we would be sitting our butt right on the bench,” Rodriguez said. “I see mistake after mistake, and there’s no consequences.” Boone took issue with those remarks when asked about them on Sunday. He said he accepts that the Yankees will always face added scrutiny, but that he disagreed with the substance of Rodriguez’s remarks. “I would disagree a little bit with the accountability factor, but the reality is, we’re focused every day on being the best we can be,” Boone said, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “That’s how we have to do it. But I understand when it doesn’t happen, or we don’t have the record that I think we should have, or certainly people think we should have — that comes with the territory.” Boone is known for keeping things positive publicly, even when things are going poorly for the Yankees. That has led to some criticism from fans, who feel that he goes too easy on his players when they are underperforming. The team’s recent stretch of mediocre play combined with a lack of consequences for errors like Chisholm’s have reinforced those critiques. The Yankees lost again on Sunday and were swept by the Marlins, dropping them to 60-51 on the season. Until the team starts consistently winning again, Boone is going to hear more comments like Rodriguez’s.
Report: Giannis Antetokounmpo still mulling exit from Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors have died down in recent weeks, but the two-time MVP hasn’t reached a decision on whether he wants to continue playing for the Bucks, ESPN’s Shams Charania said Monday morning during an appearance on “Get Up.” “Sources tell me there’s still nothing set in stone about whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will stay in Milwaukee or whether he will be leaving,” Charania said. There have been past reports that Antetokounmpo might consider leaving Milwaukee to improve his chances of winning another NBA title. Speculation began to grow after the Bucks were eliminated in this first round of this year’s playoffs and star guard Damian Lillard suffered an Achilles tear that’s expected to sideline him for all of next season. Bucks general manager Jon Horst responded by retooling the team’s roster this summer. He waived and stretched the $112.6M that Lillard had left on his contract for the next two years and used the new-found cap space to sign center Myles Turner away from the Pacers. Horst also added Gary Harris, Jericho Sims and Cole Anthony in free agency and re-signed several of the team’s own free agents, such as Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., Ryan Rollins and Taurean Prince. The aggressive move with Turner was viewed as an important step toward convincing Antetokounmpo that the Bucks could remain competitive in the Eastern Conference. Although there hasn’t been much trade talk over the last month, Charania insists that Antetokounmpo’s situation hasn’t been resolved. “There’s been some very real conversations over the last week or so,” Charania said. “The constant question that Giannis has, though, is can I win a championship with this roster? …He wants to win a second championship, so he’s asking that question over and over.” He added that there are “multiple teams waiting in the wings” to make offers if Antetokounmpo decides he wants out.
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