IHSA Proceeding With Basketball Season Despite State Health Guidelines
UPDATED 5:45 p.m. | The high school basketball season will play on as planned despite a surge in COVID-19 cases across Illinois.
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Badgers Pummel Illini In Season Opener 45-7
MADISON — Illini football tripped out of the gate and never found its footing in a season-opening 45-7 drubbing at Wisconsin last night. The Badgers dominated both sides of the ball, led by quarterback Graham Mertz, who converted 20 of his 21 passing attempts for 248 yards and five touchdowns — tying the all-time Wisconsin record in his first…
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Illini Football Opens Pandemic-Shortened Season At Wisconsin
CHAMPAIGN — The long-delayed Big Ten football season kicks off tonight in Madison, Wisconsin. The 14th-ranked Badgers take on Lovie Smith’s fifth Illini squad, which enters the contest as a three-touchdown underdog. Brian Moline previews the Illini football opener at Wisconsin with Robert Rosenthal from IlliniBoard.com. Coach Smith said he wasn’t offended by the oddsmakers’…
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Without A Field To Play On, The Marching Illini Meet Over Zoom
URBANA – As a freshman member of the University of Illinois’ marching band, Matthew Kostbade was looking forward to performing on the field. “I can see Memorial Stadium from this window right now and it pains me to look at it especially on Saturday’s when I know we could be out there with my drum…
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U Of I Athletic Officials Feeling ‘Excitement’ To Resume Football
URBANA — The Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday that it will resume its football season with an eight-game conference-only schedule beginning the weekend of October 23-24. The news came just over a month after league officials said the season would be postponed until at least next spring. But University of Illinois chancellor Robert Jones says…
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For Cross-Country Athlete, Pandemic ‘Bigger Than The Sport’
The Big Ten Conference announced last week that all fall sports were being postponed because of the pandemic, with a chance that they’ll compete in the spring. Brian Moline talks with Fighting Illini distance runner Jack LaLonde about the cancellation of cross country season. But that’s not the case for cross country. Because those athletes…
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Big Ten Postpones All Fall Sports
CHAMPAIGN – The Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday afternoon that it’s postponing all fall sports because of uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic. The sports affected at the University of Illinois are football, volleyball, women’s soccer, and cross country. Field hockey and men’s soccer, which are not varsity sports at Illinois, are also affected by the…
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The Retired University Of Illinois Mascot Still Lingers On Campus
URBANA – Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert remembers watching a man dressed up in Native American regalia dance across a football field as “surreal” and “in many ways silly.” It was the fall of 2006, and the University of Illinois’ former mascot, Chief Illiniwek, sported a feather headdress and face paint, as he wove in and out…
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Former Illini Hoops Coach Lou Henson Dies At Age 88
CHAMPAIGN – Former University of Illinois men’s basketball coach Lou Henson died on Saturday. He was 88 years old. The U of I announced his death on Wednesday, shortly after a private funeral service. Henson coached at Illinois from 1975-1996, amassing a record of 423-224, the most wins in school history. His 1989 team, known…
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New Guidelines For High School Sports Amid COVID-19 Released
CHAMPAIGN – On Friday, the Illinois High School Association released guidelines for allowing student athletes to practice and play. It comes as the Illinois Department of Public Health announced the number of confirmed coronavirus cases grew to 145,750 including 7,005 deaths. Here are a few of the Phase 4 Return To Play Guidelines: Schools must…
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U Of I Takes Ownership Of Urbana’s Stone Creek Development
Urbana’s Stone Creek golf course is now property of the University of Illinois. The course, and surrounding parcels of real estate were donated by The Atkins Group, which developed Stone Creek in the late 1990s. University Chancellor Robert Jones and Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin joined a press conference Tuesday at the Stone Creek clubhouse, where…
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Champaign To Resume Hosting State HS Boys Basketball Tournament
CHAMPAIGN – March Madness is returning to Champaign-Urbana. The Illinois High School Association board voted Monday to move its Boys Basketball State Finals tournament from Peoria to the University of Illinois State Farm Center for the next three years. The board voted to keep the girls’ tournament at Illinois State’s Redbird Arena in Normal, rejecting a…
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Illinois Marathon Postponed For ‘Several Months’ Due To COVID-19
Downstate’s largest running event has been postponed until later this year because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Organizers of the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon announced Thursday that they’re postponing their events scheduled for April 23-25.
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Illini Earn Tourney Double-Bye With 78-76 Win Over Iowa
The Illini men’s basketball team beat Iowa 78-76 last night at the State Farm Center, securing a top-four seed and double-bye in this week’s Big Ten Tournament.
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Foul Trouble Plagues Illini In 71-63 Loss At Ohio State
COLUMBUS – The Illini men’s basketball team lost 71-63 last night at Ohio State. Big men Kofi Cockburn and Giorgi Bezhanishvili were in foul trouble from the opening tip. Cockburn picked up his first foul 14 seconds into the game.
