Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman met with local reporters and media outlets on June 21 for his annual media roundtable where he recaps the prior season and gives insight as to future projects.

The future of collegiate sports in the eyes of Whitman were a hot button topic, especially surrounding the Name, Image and Likeness bill, the transfer portal, the conference expansion and changes in the NCAA and Big Ten offices.

The NCAA’s president is Charlie Baker, the former governor of Mass., who took over the role on March 1 of this year. The Big Ten also has a new commissioner, after the former leader of the conference, Kevin Warren, took a job with the Chicago Bears as team president. The new commissioner of the Big Ten is Tony Petitti, who has experience as an executive for many major companies.

Whitman spoke highly of Baker during his first few months on the job.

“During (Baker’s) early days, I really appreciated his visibility first and foremost, for him to be present and available as he has been,” Whitman said. “I appreciate his appetite for feedback, I think he’s been very candid in the conversations that I’ve been around with him and he’s quickly gaining an understanding of the dynamic that the NCAA faces at this present time.”

Whitman added that he fully believed in Baker, particularly due to his experience in politics, before talking about his relationship with Petitti.

“If anybody is prepared to exist and thrive in the bureaucracy that is the NCAA, you would think it’s a career politician,” Whitman said. “I have spent a lot of time with Tony during the first weeks or months of his tenure, and I couldn’t be more impressed. I think he has all of the right skills to provide exceptional leadership in the long term for the Big Ten, and he’s intelligent, creative and decisive.”

Whitman also mentioned the upgrades to facilities across the athletics department, specifically mentioning the success they had with dedicating and establishing new buildings.

“We opened or dedicated five different facilities over the course of the last year; I don’t know if we’ll ever duplicate that,” Whitman said. “We opened and dedicated the new Atkins Golf Club, we expanded into our golf facility, we opened and dedicated the Rex and Alice A. Martin Softball training center, the Susan and Clint Atkins Baseball training center and then of course, the rededication of the Ubben basketball facility.”

Whitman reiterated his remarks from several years ago about renovating Memorial Stadium as well.

“After this season, we have plans to fully gut and remodel the south bathrooms, we’ll undertake additional paint in the East Main Hall,” Whitman said. “We’re also working on what we’ve referred to internally as the stadium four-pack, a package of fan amenities that will include Wi-Fi, a new video board and new LED lights that can become a part of the game day experience.”

From there, Whitman discussed the major shift in the Big Ten conference, which will feature two schools joining the conference. The two schools are the University of Southern California and the University of California – Los Angeles.

“It is a very delicate and layered process,” Whitman said. “Looking sport by sport to try and (determine) what’s the regular and postseason format. We are ticking our way down the list, trying to identify efficiencies and opportunities where we can share travel and cut down costs, student-athlete travel and lessen the amount of class time they miss.”

The long-time AD mentioned the excitement to be hosting Michigan in 2024 during the 100th anniversary season of Memorial Stadium. Additionally, he mentioned the impact of sports gambling and its impact across the college sports realm, specifically pointing out what happened in Alabama and Ohio.

“We are in the process of finalizing a new partnership with U.S. Integrity, which is a third party that helps monitor betting activity, identifying any suspicious that might suggest any improper activities,” Whitman said. “I don’t think any of us are necessarily opposed to sports gambling, we’re opposed to college sports gambling.”

As for the NIL discussion, Whitman was adamant about how much it has evolved and changed in just a few years.

“(NIL) is another topic that seems to be settling in a bit nationally, and I think we’re now essentially two years into this paradigm and making it a little bit more familiar,” Whitman said. “It’s a little better understood not just by those of us who work in this space every day, but by our fans and people who are around the program.”

Whitman’s media availability lasted just over two hours, and he provided information that fans can look forward to and look back on with pride.

@arrosen76

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