ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI NEWS

Illinois Football: 5 Defensive Fighting Illini Players to Watch in 2020 Defense has been the foundation every team Lovie Smith has coached throughout the years. And that foundation remains the same for his Illino...

JULY 10, 2020 • ATHLONSPORTS.COM

Big Ten suspends Illinois guard Alan Griffin for 2 games for stepping on Purdue's Sasha Stefanovic; Brad Underwood calls the penalty 'excessive' The Big Ten has suspended Illinois guard Alan Griffin for two games, the conference announced Thursday. Griffin, a sophomore, was ejected fr...

JULY 8, 2020 • GAZETTETIMES.COM

‘Bruno,’ the wandering black bear who traveled through Illinois in search of a mate, is relocated from a St. Louis suburb The bear has been popular on social media pages for weeks as it plodded hundreds of miles from Wisconsin, through Illinois and briefly into...

JULY 7, 2020 • CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM

Column: College athletes’ voices — such as Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler’s — should be a bigger part of the conversation about sports returning Illinois linebacker Milo Eifler shared his concerns, first on Twitter and later with reporters, about college athletes' treatment during the...

JULY 2, 2020 • CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM

Watch: Big Ten Student-Athletes Discuss Racial Matters & More | Big Ten Athletics Michigan State LB Antjuan Simmons, Maryland TE Chig Okonkwo, Northwestern WR Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman and Illinois WR Trevon Sidney sit down...

JUNE 30, 2020 • YARDBARKER.COM

Illinois Football: 2020 Fighting Illini Season Preview and Prediction Two games in 2019 at home against Wisconsin and on the road at Michigan State changed the trajectory of Lovie Smiths Illinois football progr...

JUNE 24, 2020 • ATHLONSPORTS.COM

College Football: How Lovie Smith and the Illinois Fighting Illini are bringing the old school to the new school | College Football and NFL Draft | PFF After several disappointing years in Illinois, head coach Lovie Smith finally turned the Fighting Illini defense around in 2019 while stayin...

JUNE 23, 2020 • PFF.COM

Illinois Football: 5 Offensive Fighting Illini Players to Watch in 2020 The resurgence of the Illinois Fighting Illini in 2019 has brought new expectations for this program looking ahead to 2020. Part of this tea...

JUNE 19, 2020 • ATHLONSPORTS.COM

Memphis, Penny Hardaway offer three class of 2022 five-stars Memphis has offered three class of 2022 five-stars – Jalen Duren, Dariq Whitehead and Justice Williams – over the past two days.

JUNE 11, 2020 • 247SPORTS.COM

Pritzker calls on insurers to expedite claims for looted, damaged businesses Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Insurance are calling on insurers to expedite claims and payments to businesses hit by loo...

JUNE 9, 2020 • TRIBUNELEDGERNEWS.COM

Illinois running back Ra’Von Bonner found his voice at a protest — and plans to keep using it. Sports, he said, can ‘start a movement of racial reconciliation.’ Illinois running back Ra'Von Bonner spoke at a rally against police brutality near his hometown of Cincinnati. He said he expects athletes t...

JUNE 6, 2020 • CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM

Lovie Smith: Acknowledge, then change systemic racism The Fighting Illini coach stopped by to chat with Tirico.

JUNE 5, 2020 • NBC.COM

Lovie Smith, Brad Underwood and Josh Whitman take voluntary 10% temporary pay cuts at Illinois, with the savings going to a COVID-19 student fund Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman, football coach Lovie Smith and men's basketball coach Brad Underwood — along with university Chance...

JUNE 2, 2020 • CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM

Metra announces additional guidelines as Chicago prepares to begin Phase 3 Metra addressed new steps it is taking as the Chicago area prepares to enter Phase 3 of Gov. JB Pritzker's Restore Illinois plan.

MAY 28, 2020 • KCCHRONICLE.COM

Illinois head coach Lovie Smith shaves trademark beard With the Illinois football program seemingly trending upward, perhaps the radical change in Smith’s appearance will represent a symbolic cha...

MAY 28, 2020 • YARDBARKER.COM

Lovie Smith shaved his glorious beard and Twitter didn’t recognize the Illinois coach Lovie Smith shaved off his glorious gray beard and we didn't recognize him. All good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, some beloved...

MAY 28, 2020 • FANSIDED.COM

Do not ask to see Illinois football coach Lovie Smith’s quarantine beard Love Smith shocked Illini Nation with a picture on Twitter of his clean-shaven visage. Like a timeless Sports Illustrated cover, no words ac...

MAY 28, 2020 • CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM

Sports world reacts to Lovie Smith shaving off his iconic beard Illinois football coach Lovie Smith has shaved off his magnificent beard, upsetting the college football world .

MAY 27, 2020 • YARDBARKER.COM

Sunday Morning League Prepares For Season EAST PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — The first sporting event in central Illinois in several months took place sunday in East Peoria. The Peoria...

MAY 25, 2020 • CENTRALILLINOISPROUD.COM

Bobby Roundtree suffered a spinal cord injury last year. But the Illinois football player, after a year of rehab, vows to walk again: ‘Every day he continues to break down another barrier.’ Illinois defensive end Bobby Roundtree injured his spinal cord in a swimming accident last season. He said he has defied doctors' expectatio...

MAY 23, 2020 • CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM

Prince: Lovie makes a splash hire Illinois head football coach Lovie Smith is a man of his word and a man who truly believes in equal opportunities in every walk of life.

MAY 22, 2020 • NEWSBUG.INFO

Men's Basketball Adds Foreman and Walker Tiffin men's basketball has announced the signing of a pair of transfers, Braxton Foreman and Nick Walker, to add to their 2020 recruiting c...

MAY 21, 2020 • PRESTOSPORTS.COM

Illinois' top prep football prospect transfers out of state Michigan commit JJ McCarthy, a quarterback who is one of the top recruits in the country, will leave Nazareth Academy in LaGrange Park to pl...

MAY 18, 2020 • DAILYHERALD.COM

Cincinnati Bearcats get commitment from Malik Rainey, Class of 2021 DB from Illinois UC got a commitment Friday via Twitter from Malik Rainey, a Class of 2021 cornerback from Bolingbrook, Illinois.

MAY 15, 2020 • CINCINNATI.COM

Pro day cancellations forcing changes to NFL draft process

Longtime football executive Bill Polian mastered the philosophy of talent evaluation so well that he drafted some of the NFL's best players

APRIL 5, 2020