CHAMPAIGN — The 133rd season of Illini football kicks off Saturday afternoon in Champaign. Illinois hosts the Wyoming Cowboys in a game that will feature a lot of fresh faces on both sides of the field. Head coach Bret Bielema revealed Thursday that his starting quarterback will be Syracuse transfer Tommy DeVito, who won the…
URBANA – As a member of the Fighting Illini football team in the 1980s, David Williams set many records on the field. He finished his collegiate career as the second leading receiver in NCAA history. And he’s a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. As his beloved team gets ready for its season opener, David…
TARRYTOWN, NY – A bloodhound, born and bred in St. Joseph, Illinois, has won the 146th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. The four-and-a-half-year-old dog, named Trumpet (his official show name is Flessner’s Toot My Own Horn), bested six other finalists on Wednesday night to snare U.S. dogdom’s most coveted Best In Show prize. Trumpet is…
CHAMPAIGN – As Champaign Cycle slowly returns to its normal inventory, it’s experiencing price increases in bikes and bike parts that are indicative of the ongoing national bicycle shortage, which began after the sudden increase in sales at the beginning of the pandemic. As of May 13, a report from Statista found that Americans spent…
URBANA – Longtime Illini sportscaster Jim Turpin died Sunday. The News-Gazette said the 90-year-old Turpin had recently suffered a fall and died with family members at his side. Jim Turpin first broadcast Illinois football, basketball and baseball games on WILL Radio in the late 1950s, while he was a University of Illinois student. After a…
CHAMPAIGN — Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman drove from Indianapolis to Dayton right after the Illinois men’s basketball team was eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament to talk to Shauna Green about the Illini women’s basketball job. He drove from Pittsburgh to Dayton to talk with Green and her family again about the position last…
PITTSBURGH — The Illinois men’s basketball team saw its season end ingloriously Sunday afternoon, struggling to find any offensive rhythm against the country’s best defensive team, the Houston Cougars. Houston advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 68-53 victory. Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said the key was shutting down Illinois’s primary offensive weapon. “Kofi (Cockburn),…
URBANA – The Fighting Illini men’s basketball team will travel to Pittsburgh to play the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Friday evening in the NCAA Tournament’s first round. The University of Illinois earned a number-4 seed in the South Region. The Mocs are the 13th seed after finishing first in the Southern Conference and winning their conference tournament. …
INDIANAPOLIS -The Illini men’s basketball team won’t win a second consecutive Big Ten Tournament. Ninth-seeded Indiana played its way into the NCAA tournament this afternoon in Indianapolis with a 65-63 win over the top seeded Illini. The Illini converted just 15 of their 23 shots from the free-throw line, while Indiana was 10 of 13….
URBANA — The Illinois men’s basketball team begins postseason play Friday with a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal matchup against Indana. The Illini received several all-Big Ten honors this week, with center Kofi Cockburn unanimously named first-team all-conference, guard Trent Frazier named to the second team, and guard Alfonso Plummer garnering a third-team selection. Illinois Newsroom’s…
CHAMPAIGN — Two things needed to happen for the Illini men to win a share of the Big Ten men’s basketball championship yesterday. Last-place Nebraska needed to beat first-place Wisconsin, in Madison, without its best player, Bryce McGowens. Then, Illinois needed to beat the league’s hottest team, 24th-ranked Iowa. Both happened. But not before the…
CHAMPAIGN — The Illinois men’s basketball team overcame a crafty Penn State defense for a 60-55 win Thursday night in Champaign. First year Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry dedicated his defenders to shutting down Illinois’ inside-out game, preventing top scorers Kofi Cockburn and Alfonso Plummer from getting shots. That left Da’Monte Williams open. “I’ve coached…
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Illinois men’s basketball team kept its hopes for a Big Ten Championship alive with a 93-85 win at Michigan Sunday afternoon. A tight 82-80 game hung in the balance when Coach Brad Underwood decided to keep the faith in his Big Ten preseason player of the year, Kofi Cockburn, three…
CHAMPAIGN — The Illini men’s basketball team cut a 16-point deficit to one in the closing minutes of Thursday night’s game in Champaign, but Ohio State left town with an 86-83 win. The Buckeyes neutralized star center Kofi Cockburn in the low post, and it wasn’t until Cockburn fouled out, and coach Brad Underwood was…
CHAMPAIGN — The Illinois men’s basketball team survived a second-half surge from Northwestern to beat the Wildcats 73-66 Sunday afternoon in Champaign. Junior center Kofi Cockburn scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, his 13th double-double of the season. But head coach Brad Underwood says the Illini center didn’t enjoy the game. “Tonight was as…