Looks Like University Of Illinois - Omar Payne

I'm not kidding when I say this feels like following recruiting in 1986. Back then, there was no immediacy. Recruiting was important, and there were always in-state players who were "Illinois has to land this guy" players (usually the best player on

Walkon To Scholarship

I'll try to keep this one short (and I will fail). I've been wanting to write about the four walkons going on scholarship, but I wanted to wait until I had all the facts. This afternoon's press conference with Bret Bielema allowed me to ask the question

Looks Like University Of Illinois - AJ Storr

Gonna work backwards again. I have three (maybe four?) LLUOI posts to write, so I'll start with the verbal yesterday and then work my way back through the pile. First up? 2022 guard/wing AJ Storr. Let's start with a couple (nine) paragraphs on recruiting

Rivers Run Deep

It's not long after sunrise on New Years Day and I'm on a boat out on the ocean. My wife is asleep on my shoulder, I'm looking out over the ocean, and I'm listening to a song my son sent me on New Years Eve. I put the song on loop and listen to it...

Portal Madness

I started to write the Omar Payne LLUOI post and I realized that the post was more about the Transfer Portal than it was about Omar Payne. So that post becomes this post and then I'll write another one for Payne. This one is more or less a continuation

No Risk

It's probably just my bitterness. It might be just me. But I feel like the national college basketball media has been 41% more "college basketball is the greatest!" this year. And after our Loyola loss, I absolutely hate it. Don't get me wrong. I don't

Changing Landscapes

I feel like Illini fans were somewhat enjoying watching Portal Madness from the sidelines until this afternoon. And then the bombshell hits: Adam Miller is in the transfer portal. There's a lot to cover here so buckle up. First, we need to talk about

Best Visit List Ever?

I wish there was a "re-rank" for every recruiting class. Go back five years after the class was ranked and see where players SHOULD have been ranked. Re-rank the 2013 class and Joel Embiid isn't going to be the 16th-best player in the class. He's going

Early Spring Depth Chart

Depth charting is the perfect exercise while avoiding the NCAA Tournament. When there are games going on I won't even check Twitter for fear of finding out what's happening. It's one score check after I'm certain all the games are over and that's

Looks Like University Of Illinois - Donovan Leary

I know I'm supposed to be the "yay, football!" guy, but I still can't find it. Another night spent avoiding NCAA Tournament information. I say that so you know that I'm probably not giving this LLUOI my best effort. I'm preoccupied. I'm not watching