'Here at Illinois our program lives by the creed faith, family and football.'

Odds and ends...

*2026 in-state football recruiting class...

-Another excellent group....30 deep in legit B1G players....especially deep in linemen both sides of the ball...remember a few years ago one of the Champaign News-Gazette sportswriters complaining about how 'few' recruits were in the state (making an excuse for Lovie Smith's recruiting).....don't read that kind of fluff anymore...last five years Illinois loaded with high school football talent.

-Three 2026 in-state recruits that have caught my eye...

Messiah Tilson defensive back/athlete Rockford Guilford-6-foot-2 170-pounder makes play all over the field both sides of ball....Illini strong for him....Tilson the best player out of Guilford since running back Deon Williams (Class of 2006)....Williams committed to Purdue....then Boilermakers head coach Joe Tiller/area recruiter Brock Spack go to visit commitment December at night west side of Rockford....two addresses kid had....nope he didn't live at either....his cell phone turned off...call his high school coach...he isn't sure where Williams lives now....pair spend two hours driving around before they finally find Williams at his aunt's house....half hour away in Belvidere....Young man never qualified....Tiller/Spack driving around west side of Rockford checking doors...yikes.

Joey Quinn defensive end Chicago Mt. Carmel-6-foot-6 250-pounder one of the top five players in the state....2nd coming of Aiden Hutchinson....Illini not heavily involved at this point disappointing thought Chicago Mt. Carmel an 'ILL.' school now?

Jonathan Rulo nose guard Belleville East High School-state champion heavyweight wrestler in 2025....listed at 6-foot-2, 285-pounds.....highlights looks closer to 6-foot but man he goes....big motor obviously with his wrestling background understands how to use his hands/play with leverage....one of those recruits that likely signs with a MAC school/goes into the portal two years later many power four schools after him.

*Frannie is gone...

-Iowa hoops let head coach/Illini fan whippin’ boy Fran McCaffery go last week....had a good run in Iowa City….stayed too long...for a few years in a row only 33 percent of the seats (or less) filled for home games/his teams continued to make the same mistakes over and over as season(s) wore down.......time to move on....always intrigued by Frannie....He is from Philadelphia....high school legend/guard nicknamed 'White Magic' (graduated high school 1977 same year as Earvin Johnson)....Frannie prep All-American.

When I was in the U.S. Air Force a couple of the older guys served with grew up in Philly/followed sports....Frannie a legend....would talk shit to everyone while scoring 40 on opponents...McCaffery always saved his best games when he played against future Duke star Gene Banks' West Philadelphia team....Went to Wake Forest blew out his knee/transferred back to Penn....good player for the Quakers….not close to what he once was......will miss ‘sideshow’ Frannie.

*Rumors, rumors, rumors...

-Last newsletter wrote about the pine trees being cut down outside Horseshoe/Memorial Stadium...rumor is…done to make way for a new scoreboard/big ass sound system being installed...'hearing' this fall's Western Michigan at Illini game likely a Friday night contest....this weekend in Milwaukee comes rumors……Staff 'confident' Morez Johnson now staying along with Tomislav Ivisic....build around those two….have NIL ready for two 'top' guard/wing types from portal if K.J./Will Riley declare for the draft…yeah I know….remember NBA draft all about ‘potential’ vs. being ready to play in the league….perimeter team this season/interior team next season or so the ‘word’ around the camp fire from athletic department types to certain boosters.

*Had to laugh...

-After his team's first round NCAA tourney loss….Kansas head coach Bill Self admitted, 'we made some mistakes in the portal'……bad fit....didn't have to say his name….fans/media knew right away former Illini target/ Badger forward A.J. Storr one of the 'biggest mistakes'....made me laugh....remember Illini 'media' types hailing Storr as a 'must have' for Illinois…..rationalized got out-bid when he signed with Kansas....send me ten bucks a month I will happily fill your head with daily bullshit as long as I can....HA HA HA.

*’Guess that Illini’…

-Quick hitters…..Probably easy for most of you....guess the former Illini head coach, assistant coach and basketball big shot.

Offensive lineman visits Illinois...great time both nights out on the town partying with his hosts/ends up at the now closed strip club in Clinton, Illinois....he and his parents love Illini o-line coach/assistant thought he was getting a commitment from player after his trip....Sunday morning family goes in to meet the head coach who extols the virtues of a program filled with 'faith, family and football'....with emphasis on 'faith'....young man confused cause players previous night...well you know...then head coach calls the recruit by his brother's name...uh oh....He committed to his home state school....Became All-Big Ten center/long NFL career.

This is a classic….never wrote about it in the newsletter....then Illini assistant basketball coach 'man about town'....'dated' an Illini grad/big fan.....never called her back...she went on the message boards ripping the guy....he finally had to call the board moderator to tell him to 'cut her off'.....Female let every Illini fan she knew what an asshole the assistant coach was…..woman still attends plenty of sporting events supporting her school.

Has become part of Illini ‘lore’……This one told by one of Mike Thomas’ buddies/hires to cover his friends ass.....AD 'thought' he had Brad Stevens hired to replace Bruce Weber....basketball big shot/former Illini player indicated to Thomas he had 'spoken' with Stevens/his agent (who was his wife) and 'just have some details to work out'....next stop Champaign for the Butler coach....only issue was....one of the 'big shots' people had told him Stevens was interested when....person totally mis-understood what Stevens agent (his wife) had told him (not interested)....so Thomas ends up getting told, 'No not what was discussed hadn’t agreed to anything' and that his wife/agent hadn't talked to the 'basketball big shot'....all these years later still get the 'Brad Stevens to Illinois' stuff....finally got a good take from one of Thomas' buddies....same guy said Guenther holdovers in the DIA 'tried to sabotage Mike'.....yeah right....Thomas self-sabotaged himself time after time...in my opinion.