Crime: Arrests plagued three Illini athletics programs in 2015-16
May 8, 2016
Filed under Sports
The majority of Illinois student-athletes made headlines for the right reasons in 2015-16, but six arrests stained several Illini athletic programs in the last year. Four members of the Illini men’s basketball team — one third of head coach John Groce’s allotment of scholarship players – w...
Kendrick Nunn arrested for domestic battery
By The Daily Illini Staff Report
March 17, 2016
Filed under Sports
For the second time in less than a week, an Illini men's basketball player has been charged with domestic battery. Junior Kendrick Nunn turned himself in to Champaign Police on Thursday afternoon after a warrant was issued for his arrest Wednesday. Nunn is charged with two counts of domestic battery....
Tate's arrest the latest Illinois athletics embarassment
March 13, 2016
Filed under Sports
Illinois men’s basketball made headlines for all of the wrong reasons Saturday morning.Junior guard Jaylon Tate was arrested early Saturday morning on domestic battery charges. Tate becomes the third member of the team to be arrested and suspended this year. Forward Darius Paul was arrested in August for p...
Illinois point guards struggling to fill Abrams’ shoes
February 4, 2016
Filed under Sports
tweet: #Illini point guards not quite filling the hole left by Tracy AbramsBy Joey FigueroaStaff WriterTracy Abrams has been missing from Illinois basketball's starting lineup for two seasons.It’s obvious that Abrams’ stay on the sidelines is unfortunate for all parties involved. The amo...
?A win over Michigan would put a tumultuous nonconference further behind the Illini
By Alex Roux
December 30, 2015
Filed under Sports
The story of the 2015 nonconference season has been written, and it's one Illini basketball fans would like to leave in the past.They know all about the injuries that threatened to derail the season before it barely had a chance to take shape. They remember the Springfield series that everyone beside...
Nunn, Finke establish career highs against Western Carolina
December 7, 2015
Filed under Sports
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...
Illini Mike Thorne Jr. has knee surgery
December 1, 2015
Filed under Sports
Center Mike Thorne Jr. had surgery on his knee for a torn meniscus Monday and is out indefinitelySO. The graduate transfer from UNC-Charlotte left the game in pain during the first half of Saturday’s matchup with Iowa State after posting 10 points and seven boards in 13 minutes.SOThorne Jr. has been a for...
Illini show improvement, but can’t hang with Iowa State for full 40 mintues
By Alex Roux
November 29, 2015
Filed under Sports
Moral victories don’t count in the win-loss column.Illinois lost 84-73 to No. 4 Iowa State on Saturday night in the Emerald Coast Classic Final, dropping its record to 3-4 on the young season.But I doubt you could find an Illini basketball fan who doesn’t feel better now about John Groce’s squad...
Reinforcements arrive as Illini blast Blazers
By Alex Roux
November 28, 2015
Filed under Sports
Illinois head coach John Groce has always been coy with updates on his injured players. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, then, when Groce announced a few hours before tipping off against UAB in the Emerald Coast Classic that junior guards Jaylon Tate and Kendrick Nunn would return to the lineup fr...
Simpson spurns Illini: Groce loses another point guard
By Alex Roux
September 9, 2015
Filed under Sports
Xavier Simpson, the No. 66 player in ESPN’s Top 100 in the class of 2016, has committed to Michigan over Illinois.The 5-foot-11, 170 pound Simpson chose Michigan over Illinois, Miami, Wisconsin and Iowa State. He announced the decision Wednesday afternoon at his high school in Lima, Ohio.Simpson t...
LoVett snub a reminder of Groce’s point guard problem
By Alex Roux
May 25, 2015
Filed under Sports
Late Wednesday evening, Illinois men’s basketball fans were issued an uncomfortable reminder.Like a mountain of dirty dishes that eventually becomes too big to ignore, Illini fans were forced to stare down the bare spot in their future point guard cupboard when 2015 target Marcus LoVett, Jr. tweeted tha...
Illini basketball suffers season-ending blowout to Alabama in NIT
March 18, 2015
Filed under Uncategorized
The Illinois men’s basketball team didn’t come to play on Tuesday night. Third-seeded Illinois (19-13, 9-9 Big Ten) was outplayed by sixth-seeded Alabama (18-14, 8-10 SEC) in all facets of the game in the first round of the NIT in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Crimson Tide embarrassed the Illini from the s...
