Patience a virtue for Illini fans with Whitman hiring
By Peter Bailey-Wells
February 18, 2016
Check out Joey Gelman's radio story about new Athletic Director Josh Whitman here.Josh Whitman had his Illini anecdotes ready to go for his introductory press conference on Thursday in Champaign.Illinois' prospective athletic director reminisced about catching his breath the firs...
Wilson adds search firm to Illini AD hunt
By Peter Bailey-Wells
December 17, 2015
Interim Illinois Chancellor Barbara Wilson announced Wednesday that the University had selected an executive search firm to assist her previously chosen search committee with hiring a new athletic director.The search firm in question is Korn Ferry, the world's largest executive search firm, which has...
UI tasks search committee with finding new athletic director
November 24, 2015
Illinois has a search committee for a new athletic director.Interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson announced in a press release Friday the eight people that will aid in the search for a replacement for interim athletic director Paul Kowalcyzk, who has been on the job for a little more...
Our kind of thing: a Fighting Illini family
By Alexis Casati
November 17, 2015
Being a student-athlete is a tricky thing. It’s an emotional thing, it’s a mental thing, and it’s a physical thing.And as surprising as this may sound, I haven't found many outside of college sports that are able to do justice to just how amazing an experience it is.But balancing all of these feeli...
Illinois women’s basketball starts season Friday
By Matt Gertsmeier
November 11, 2015
Matt Bollant is ready to move forward.Recently fired athletic director Mike ThomasJT hired the Illinois women’s basketball coach in 2012JT. While Bollant expressed disappointment about the firing, he realizes he needs to move on.“Mike hired me and I think the world of him,” Bollant said. “He’s ...
Introducing your next athletic director: Kevin McCarthy
By Kevin McCarthy
November 10, 2015
Despite being cleared of wrongdoing, former Athletic Director Mike Thomas had about a snowball’s chance in hell at surviving the report about the allegations surrounding Illini athletics.Whoever follows Thomas as AD will certainly start with their back against the wall. Except the wall will be on fire, ...
Takeaways from the Franczek Radelet report into the athletic department
By Declan Harty
November 10, 2015
The University released the results of Chicago-based law firm Franczek Radelet’s lengthy investigation into the athletic department on Monday.The report explored the department’s handling of sports injuries and accusations from student-athletes in the football and women’s basketball programs. The re...
A change in culture: Mike Thomas and where Illinois athletics goes from here
By Peter Bailey-Wells
November 9, 2015
Mike Thomas was inevitably going to get fired.It was simply a matter of when, not if. Even despite Thomas’ relative innocence in relation to the abusive actions of Tim Beckman — as described in Franczek Radelet’s report — interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson dismissed him from the University....
Illinois football’s Bill Cubit will continue to serve his team after Mike Thomas departure
By Michal Dwojak, Staff writer
November 9, 2015
The Illinois football investigations were hanging over head coach Bill Cubit’s and the heads of the rest of the team since former player Simon Cvijanovic made allegations against former head coach Tim Beckman in May. The preliminary findings of the investigation resulted in the firing of Beckman in...
Chancellor Wilson introduces new Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk
November 9, 2015
Illinois’ typical Monday football routine started a bit earlier and with a few different faces. The University released the results of the independent reports of the Illinois sports medicine and football programs investigations and in turn announced the dismissal of Athletic Director Mike Thomas. Int...
You have to see it to believe it: State Farm Center update
By Alex Roux
November 6, 2015
When you walk out of the north tunnel and onto the arena floor, the first thing you notice is the seats.Formerly drab and gray, the seats at State Farm Center have had color injected in them like they landed in Oz. The old gray seats in the 200-level had been torn out in favor of new navy blue one...
The cost of the Illinois football and women’s basketball investigations
By Michal Dwojak, Staff writer
October 30, 2015
The University had dealt with its fair share of controversy by May of 2015. Steven Salaita was threatening to file a lawsuit against the University and James Kilgore’s job status was being hotly debated, but something else was on the horizon. On May 10, former Illinois football player Simon ...
