- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,242,258
- Reaction score
- 59
Jul. 29—Big Ten Football Media Days will continue through Thursday in Chicago.
Even if we have two-plus months before the same event will take place for on the men's and women's basketball side for the Big Ten, let's do a fun exercise, where I pick which three Illinois women's basketball players I would like to hear from in early October.
Of course, I have no say. It's a decision made by Illini head coach . But here's a few friendly suggestions.
is No. 1 on my list. The Chicago native and Illinois starting point guard isn't just a good talker. She's not afraid to say what's on her mind at the time. That's a welcomed sight for a reporter. Like how the former Whitney Young standout said earlier this summer "something is brewing that's very good in Champaign."
Jackson brings context and insight to any discussion — impressive for a 19-year-old — and has a personality that shows through well in an interview setting.
My next choice might be a surprise to some but the fact we have yet to hear from this summer makes her inclusion important. The LSU transfer is the latest player Green and her coaching staff have circled back to on the recruiting trail and brought to Champaign. Bourage, a 5-foot-11 sophomore guard, could occupy a prominent role in the Illini rotation this winter after playing sparingly during her lone season in Baton Rouge, La., with the Tigers.
While I am cheating a bit by asking for three players — only two from each team attended last year's Big Ten Media Days at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont — that third selection has to be .
The junior forward is a key veteran on the Illinois roster as a "bridge" of sorts between that five-player senior class of , , , and that completely changed the trajectory of the Illini program — alongside Green — before those seniors departed at the end of the 2024-25 season and this current core Illinois group.
Wallace can bring perspective and is also coming off her best college season as an All-Big Ten First Team Selection. Illinois doesn't win 22 games, qualify for the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years and reach the second round of women's March Madness with a big year from the 6-1 forward who averaged 18.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Wallace, too, has embraced the fact she can play a major role in the Illini taking that next step as a program with Illinois looking to reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournament for only the third time in program history during the upcoming 2026-27 season. The Illini, after all, only have two Sweet 16 appearances and have never made it further.
Wallace and Co. would like to change that, and the Pickerington, Ohio, native could have as many as three seasons in C-U to make that happen with the new 5-in-5 age-based eligibility rule the NCAA adopted earlier this summer.
Continue reading...
Even if we have two-plus months before the same event will take place for on the men's and women's basketball side for the Big Ten, let's do a fun exercise, where I pick which three Illinois women's basketball players I would like to hear from in early October.
Of course, I have no say. It's a decision made by Illini head coach . But here's a few friendly suggestions.
is No. 1 on my list. The Chicago native and Illinois starting point guard isn't just a good talker. She's not afraid to say what's on her mind at the time. That's a welcomed sight for a reporter. Like how the former Whitney Young standout said earlier this summer "something is brewing that's very good in Champaign."
Jackson brings context and insight to any discussion — impressive for a 19-year-old — and has a personality that shows through well in an interview setting.
My next choice might be a surprise to some but the fact we have yet to hear from this summer makes her inclusion important. The LSU transfer is the latest player Green and her coaching staff have circled back to on the recruiting trail and brought to Champaign. Bourage, a 5-foot-11 sophomore guard, could occupy a prominent role in the Illini rotation this winter after playing sparingly during her lone season in Baton Rouge, La., with the Tigers.
While I am cheating a bit by asking for three players — only two from each team attended last year's Big Ten Media Days at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont — that third selection has to be .
The junior forward is a key veteran on the Illinois roster as a "bridge" of sorts between that five-player senior class of , , , and that completely changed the trajectory of the Illini program — alongside Green — before those seniors departed at the end of the 2024-25 season and this current core Illinois group.
Wallace can bring perspective and is also coming off her best college season as an All-Big Ten First Team Selection. Illinois doesn't win 22 games, qualify for the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years and reach the second round of women's March Madness with a big year from the 6-1 forward who averaged 18.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Wallace, too, has embraced the fact she can play a major role in the Illini taking that next step as a program with Illinois looking to reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournament for only the third time in program history during the upcoming 2026-27 season. The Illini, after all, only have two Sweet 16 appearances and have never made it further.
Wallace and Co. would like to change that, and the Pickerington, Ohio, native could have as many as three seasons in C-U to make that happen with the new 5-in-5 age-based eligibility rule the NCAA adopted earlier this summer.
Continue reading...
