URBANA — The Fighting Illini men’s basketball team is in Indianapolis preparing for the Final Four game this Saturday, April 4.
Tip-off against the UConn Huskies is set for 5:09 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
IPM’s Senior Digital Media Producer Steve Morck and Morning Edition Host Kimberly Schofield sat down to talk about the team’s season and success.
This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
KIMBERLY SCHOFIELD: Steve, have you been going to any of the games this season?
STEVE MORCK: Yes, my friends and I, we have season, season tickets for the game. So I’ve been at 99.9% of the home games. I think I’ve missed a couple for various reasons. But yeah, it’s been quite a season for the Illini, especially at home.
SCHOFIELD: And Steve, you went to Eastern [Illinois University]. Is that correct?
MORCK: I did.
SCHOFIELD: How did you get into the Illini fandom?
MORCK: Well, I never really had a team — college basketball, at least, growing up. [I] grew up in northern Illinois. My parents didn’t go to college, so I didn’t have that kind of latching on to go to. Eastern has a basketball team. They’re okay, but it’s the [Ohio Valley Conference]. It’s not necessarily the Big Ten. And then, when I came to work here, I was like, ‘You know what? What the heck? Might as well be an Illini fan.’ And I was always like a tertiary fan. If they were doing good, I’d tune in because it’s the state school. It’s the flagship university of Illinois. And in ’05 actually, when they played Arizona — the last time they made the National Championship Game in that Elite Eight — I was in Arizona because my cousin is a graduate of the [University of Arizona], so it was kind of a fun little rivalry then. I was very much like, ‘Oh, that’s really cool,’ but it was a great game, and hopefully they can continue that this weekend.
SCHOFIELD: When you’ve been to the games this season, what has the general mood been like? I remember when I was a student here, there was some hype for the football team, and then that quickly faded away because, based on how the team is doing, obviously, the fans will respond one way or the other.
MORCK: Well, it’s been a weird season for the Illini. They kind of had a little bit of a roller coaster there towards the back half of the season. They did go on a 13-and-nothing run of 13 straight wins. Usually Brad Underwood teams have a lull in January for whatever reason. That’s just kind of the thing that happens. But this year, that’s when they had their big stretch win of games. But they had some injuries after that. They lost some really close games in overtime, and then they went on this run in the NCAA tournament, and are now playing for a Final Four.
SCHOFIELD: Yes, they are. When you’ve been at the games or outside of the games, have you witnessed any of the celebrations firsthand?
MORCK: So the home schedule itself was lackluster, for lack of a better term. The biggest games they played were on the road, and they won a lot of those games. The biggest game they played at home was Michigan, and they lost to Michigan pretty handedly. Michigan kind of handled them pretty well. So the celebrations have been kind of timid here until recently. Everybody saw the videos after that Elite Eight win of the Alma Mater getting rushed. I think the University [of Illinois] and UIPD did a great job of closing the streets, making sure people were able to celebrate, and were able to do it safely. College students, they have a great time when their teams are winning.
SCHOFIELD: Steve, the Fighting Illini have made it to the Elite Eight nearly a dozen times in its entire history. What do you think has helped contribute now in 2026 to the team’s success?
MORCK: Brad Underwood — as simple to put it. He is able to recruit players and develop players from literally all over the world. And this has kind of been a culmination of years of building this program back up, because there was that ’05 run with Bruce Weber. After Bruce Weber was fired, John Groce was here. John Groce is a great human being — you don’t get an exit press conference unless you are, and that’s what he got about nine years ago — but Brad Underwood has turned it completely around. He found Ayo Dosunmu out of Chicago. And that was really the jumping off point for this program to get back into relevance. And he’s gone from Ayo Dosunmu to Terrence Shannon [Jr.] to Kofi Cockburn to Kasparas Jakucionis, and Will Riley — to now this team where it’s Keaton Wagler, it is Kylan Boswell, the local kid, David Mirkovic. So many different players from around the world that have contributed in many different ways to get this team to the Final Four.
SCHOFIELD: What do you expect we’ll see on Saturday?
MORCK: If Illinois continues to play the way they have in this tournament, you’ll see a really tough defensive game from them. They’re playing UConn. UConn has been there before. They’re the back-to-back national champions for a reason. Dan Hurley is the best coach in college basketball right now because he just wins, as simple as that. [They have] had quite a journey through the tournament themselves, but Illinois, I think, is going to take away the victory on Saturday.
SCHOFIELD: Well, we’ll be watching, thank you for joining me, and hopefully we will be continuing to cheer I-L-L-
MORCK: I-N-I!