Illinois Year in Review | Most publicized

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Illinois pours resources into football and men’s basketball. Much like every other college program that fields teams in both. So it’s no surprise that group generated the most headlines in the 2023-24 school year. Our Scott Richey spotlights the top 10 most publicized athletes, coaches and entities:

1. Terrence Shannon Jr. | Men’s basketball

No one — and nothing — captured more headlines in the last six months than Shannon. What he accomplished on the basketball court was part of it, of course, as he put together one of the most dominant single seasons in Illinois men’s basketball history. But the saga that played out in the court of law from his late December arrest to the lawsuit he filed against the university to have his suspension reversed to the decisive not-guilty verdict in early June dominated the conversation about the Illinois guard locally and nationally.

2. Brad Underwood | Men’s basketball

Underwood entered his seventh season at Illinois having accomplished what he was hired to do. Mostly. The Illini were dragging the bottom of the Big Ten at the end of the John Groce era, and after two rebuilding (i.e. struggle-filled) seasons, Underwood has put together a program that’s won at least 20 games in five straight seasons and claimed three total Big Ten titles. The only item missing was NCAA tournament success after first-weekend exits in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The national title hunt continues, but Underwood has Illinois closer after guiding them to the Elite Eight.

3. Bret Bielema | Football

No matter how successful the Illinois men’s basketball program is — no matter how much the fans engage and invest — football will continue to have greater intrinsic value. It’s a simple fact. College football has driven conference realignment, which, in turn, has pushed more changes in college athletics. Football matters, and that puts Bielema in a pivotal place to make sure the Illini don’t get left behind if sweeping changes to the structure of the sport are on the horizon. Doing more than an 18-19 record and 12-15 mark in the Big Ten is a priority.

4. Josh Whitman | Athletics

The Illinois athletic director has become a bigger voice in college athletics on the national stage. Already a voice in the growing Big Ten, Whitman was named chair of the NCAA Division I council this past spring. That also gives him a vote on the NCAA Division I board of directors. A notable position to hold given the significant changes about to hit college sports in the next year. Changes that will have a real effect at Illinois and put Whitman, about to start his ninth year at his alma mater, in position to have to evaluate what will be athletic priorities in Champaign-Urbana. And soon.

5. Coleman Hawkins | Men’s basketball

Hawkins’ approach to his offseason kept his name relevant nationally into June. And the now-former Illinois forward was happy to discuss his thoughts on pretty much anything while he went through the NBA draft process and then found a new basketball home at Kansas State through the transfer portal. Hawkins had his best season as an Illini in the 2023-24 campaign, but he didn’t really move the needle on the national stage until he hit college basketball’s free agency equivalent and got a reported $2 million from the Wildcats.

6. Shauna Green | Women’s basketball

Volleyball held its position as the top women’s program at Illinois for a long time. Women’s basketball was far in the rear view. Green has changed that in just two seasons. Attendance is up at State Farm Center. Green’s 41 wins are the most of any Illini coach in their first two seasons. She landed a five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American in Berry Wallace. She’s bringing back most of her roster. And the Illini managed to salvage something of a disappointing follow-up to Green’s debut season by going on a late five-game run to win the inaugural WBIT title. The arrow is pointing up.

7. Luke Altmyer | Football

Bielema made it a point heading into his first season at Illinois that the team’s starting quarterback was the face of the program. That QB1 would speak both for himself and the team. How much that’s actually happened the past three seasons is up for debate, but it hasn’t changed the fact that no player on any football roster draws as much attention as the starting quarterback. (Unless things go south. Then it’s his backup). Altmyer stepped into that spotlight in January 2023 after arriving from Mississippi, and it’s even brighter now.

8. Johnny Newton and Keith Randolph Jr. | Football

It’s hard not to link the now-former Illinois defensive tackles given they’ve been inextricably connected since Bielema hit them with “The Law Firm” nickname during the 2022 season. That generated name, image and likeness opportunities with appearances and merchandise and kept the Illini teammates (and friends) paired through the end of their college careers. That they played the same nominal position — and played it well — kept up their publicity together last fall. It was only as the NFL draft process started where they became individual entities again.

9. Transfer portal

Football and men’s basketball might dominate the conversation when it comes to the transfer portal — because those two sports dominate any conversation — but player movement has become the norm across the college sports landscape. This offseason alone saw Underwood, Bielema and Green’s programs all dip into the portal (after all three lost athletes, too), but the same was true for Illinois volleyball, softball and soccer. Now that the NCAA has reversed course on limiting athletes to a single transfer, settle in for near constant offseason changes.

10. NIL

How name, image and likeness changes once revenue-sharing officially begins across college campuses in the 2025-26 school year is worth watching. The idea is it will revert to what it was imagined to be, with athletes genuinely profiting on their name, image and likeness. What it has been the last three years is basically pay-for-play with collectives cutting the checks instead of athletic departments. Regardless of the form it eventually takes, NIL has been a major point of discussion (and contention) since multiple states took it upon themselves to enact legislation and push the NCAA to giving its tepid support for the initiative.