If you thought Illinois coach Bret Bielema and his staff were going to take a little break on the recruiting front over the summer, you thought wrong. The Illini have eight commits in the 2027 class, including five already this month after three-star linebacker Anthony James, from La Marque (Texas), committed to Illinois on Saturday.
In 2025-26, Keaton Wagler was indisputably the head of the snake for Illinois, but the Illini were by no means a one-man show. They had five players average double-figures scoring, along with six players who grabbed at least 4.0 rebounds per game.
If you thought Illinois' Bret Bielema wouldn't find a quarterback for his recruiting 2027 class after Kamden Lopati flipped from Illinois to Michigan nearly two months ago, guess again.
In recent years, Illinois basketball has gone out of its way to seek out the toughest matchups. As a member of the Big Ten, which has cemented itself as the premier league in the country, the Illini already get their fair share of grueling battles after the New Year.
The name, image, and likeness (NIL) era is here. This new era allows boosters to legally pay players to play for them. In some cases, a lot of good has come from the NIL era.
All the buzz in Champaign has been about "The Retention" – and understandably so, as Illinois brings back five of its eight rotation players from last season's Final Four run.
They do not talk about college basketball enough in the pro league circle, which should not be the case for Keaton Wagler. Moving closer to the 2026 NBA
After Jake Davis averaged 9.0 points and 4.5 rebounds for a sub-.500 Mercer squad as a freshman in 2023-24, he made the leap to high-major hoops, landing at Illinois.
A former Fighting Illini All-American is back in a new role with the program. University of Illinois Director of Athletics Josh Whitman announced the hiring of Jenna Hall as the third head coach in program history on Tuesday.
Back in early May, initial Bart Torvik projections for the 2026-27 campaign were released. And the results, at least for Illinois, were unforeseen – to put it mildly.
The way-too-early rankings for the 2026-27 campaign all got rolling back in early April, just days (or even a day, in some cases) after the national title game.
Illinois hasn’t been shy about doling out offers over the past few weeks, and the Illini seemingly know exactly what they want. Aside from a pair of (quite
Brad Underwood has made his personnel desires abundantly clear over the past few seasons: positional size and shooting. Seeking those traits in every target – be it a high school recruit, overseas prospect or transfer addition – Illinois has carefully tailored its roster in recent years.
When Illinois initially signed Andrej Stojakovic in the 2025 offseason, there was one very lofty goal: a national title. And after the Illini made a run to the 2026 Final Four, they made it clear that wasn’t an objective outside of striking distance for Stojakovic and his teammates.
Doesn't matter if it's the men or women: If you can hoop, regardless of where you're from, Illinois basketball will recruit you. Brad Underwood currently has four international players on his roster, and now Shauna Green has added a fifth to her women's club after landing forward Lana Brenjo on Wednesday.
For the second time this offseason, Andrej Stojakovic has announced he is returning to Illinois.Yes, the second time. Because apparently one commitment announcement was not dramatic enough for Illini fans, who were briefly allowed to feel peace before being launched directly back into offseason panic mode .
The Illinois Fighting Illini entered Wednesday anxiously waiting for one of the biggest roster decisions of the college basketball offseason. After testing the NBA Draft process and participating in the NBA Combine earlier this month, Andrej Stojakovic officially made his long-awaited decision just before the withdrawal deadline.
After a 2026 season in which Illinois football took advantage of one of the most experienced rosters in FBS college football, coach Bret Bielema is dealing with the hangover of many of his top players departing after exhausting their eligibility – not to mention the brisk outgoing traffic of transfers that have compounded the Illini's losses.
Before Friday morning, Bret Bielema had four wide receivers committed to the program for the fall, but that number is now up to five after wide receiver Nathan Cichy decommitted from Harvard and picked Illinois on Friday.
We say it in this space time and again: If Brad Underwood and Illinois offer a high school prospect, that recruit is, among other things, almost surely a gifted shooter (one recent offer certainly fits into that category ).
Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has resurrected his coaching career across several very successful years with the Illini. But he might have made some brand new enemies with his support of College Football Playoff expansion.
The Illinois Fighting Illini like head basketball coach Brad Underwood, and they have plenty of reason to.
The Illinois Fighting Illini parted ways with softball head coach Tyra Perry on Monday. Now, a national search for a new leader by Chief Sports Officer
Kamden Lopati had been committed to the Illinois Fighting Illini since July of 2025. Now, almost a year later, that's a commitment that doesn't hold.
UConn outlasted Illinois in a thrilling 71-62 contest that saw the Fighting Illini’s comeback fall short at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.
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