Nunn, Finke establish career highs against Western Carolina
By Eli Schwadron
December 7, 2015
Kendrick Nunn inbounded the ball to Michael Finke with six minutes left in the first half against Western Carolina Saturday. Finke caught the ball between the top of the key and the right wing, a few feet from the red State Farm logo. The redshirt freshman immediately handed the rock back to Nunn, who...
Quality of opening weekend opponents means Illini men's basketball can’t sleepwalk.
By Alex Roux
November 12, 2015
Last season, Illinois basketball opened its schedule with two games in three days during the first weekend of the season. The Illini’s opponents? Georgia Southern and Coppin State.The 2015-16 Illini schedule sets up similarly: They open their season with games Friday and Sunday bracketing the upcoming...
Low-post presence and outside shooting are key for Illini offense
By Eli Schwadron
November 10, 2015
Tweet: [email protected] features talent in the low post and quality outside shooting for balanced offensive attack.During Sunday’s post-game presser, Jalen Coleman-Lands donned an orange Illinois vest over a white long-sleeve shirt, a look reminiscent of the Marty McFly character in Back to the Future....
Coleman-Lands arrives ahead of schedule as Illini crush UIS
By Alex Roux
November 10, 2015
Illinois delivering a beatdown in its first and only exhibition game to Division-II Illinois-Springfield Sunday was expected.The Prairie Stars put pressure on the Illini at times, but didn’t have the talent to keep up for a full 40 minutes. Illinois won 104-68 in the first game at its temporary home away from...
As Illini hoops season nears, some preseason takeaways can prove valuable
By Alex Roux
November 3, 2015
State Farm Center is coming along.One month away from its almost-but-not-totally-finished grand opening for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge between Illinois and Notre Dame, shiny new facades and a retreat of construction equipment has the home of Illini hoops looking like an actual arena again.At least fo...
Groce hosts recruit after Illini hoops scrimmage
By Alex Roux
October 27, 2015
Just when you thought you could shift your attention to this year’s Illini basketball team, head coach John Groce arranged an 11th-hour recruiting visit.My man Derek Piper over at Scout.com dropped a Twitter bomb Sunday evening, reporting that former Tulane commit Kipper Nichols was on the Illinoi...
Opening weekend for Illinois basketball comes on the heels of signing day
November 13, 2014
As if on cue, cold weather has arrived to remind us that basketball season is here. And yes, Illinois football has a very real chance of making a bowl game this season as winter approaches. But it’s Illini basketball that’s on everyone’s minds mid-November. I’d even go as far as to compare th...
Illini basketball signs four as signing period opens
November 13, 2014
By Nicholas Fortin Staff writer The Illinois men’s basketball team just got a whole lot deeper. The Illini, who will return 12 players next year, had four players sign national letters of intent to play for Illinois on Wednesday. Transfer Darius Paul joined high school seniors Jalen Coleman-Lands, Aaron ...
It’s time to focus on this year’s team
October 22, 2014
Is anyone else ready for basketball season to start? I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to watch actual Illinois basketball, featuring actual Illini players. You can only do so many fantasy projections of lineups two years down the road, happily plugging in every five-star recruit on John Groce’s...
Elijah Thomas commits to Texas A&M over Illinois, others
October 22, 2014
Elijah Thomas, the No. 29 player in the Class of 2015 according to ESPN.com, has committed to Texas A&M over Illinois and three other schools. The 6-foot-9 forward picked the Aggies over the Illini, LSU, SMU and Oklahoma State. Thomas’ recruitment had many Illini fans hopeful that he would end ...
Jawun Evans commits to Oklahoma State over Illini, USC
October 1, 2014
Jawun Evans, the No. 36-ranked player in ESPN’s Top 100 in the Class of 2015, has committed to Oklahoma State over Illinois. The highly-sought after point guard out of Dallas has long been one of John Groce’s main targets in this year's class, but on Wednesday he became the latest Illini targe...
Coleman-Lands commitment is big step for Illini, Groce
September 25, 2014
Illinois hasn’t had much luck lately with basketball recruits who stage live press conferences for their college announcements. Jalen Brunson and Cliff Alexander both snubbed the Illini during their televised decisions. Quentin Snider chose the Illini during his, but de-committed before he had a chan...
