Illinois Year in Review Most publicized Illini
· Yahoo Sports
Jul. 14—Illinois generated plenty of headline-makers, with multiple Illini teams finding both regular season and postseason success. Beat writer Scott Richey spotlights the 10 most publicized Illini during the 2025-26 school year:
The first mentions of Wagler came via summer buzz out of Ubben Basketball Complex a year ago and then grew exponentially as he put together the best single season by an Illinois freshman in program history. There was a lot to document, including a 46-point game during the Illini's win at Purdue, his slew of individual awards and honors and, ultimately, the end of his one-and-done Illinois career as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
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How Illinois built its roster ahead of the 2025-26 season became a national story. With Tomislav Ivisic already in the fold, the Illini quadrupled down adding his twin brother, Zvonimir, David Mirkovic, Andrej Stojakovic and Mihailo Petrovic. The Illinois staff invaded the Balkans and came away with four key players for a 28-win team. Unfortunately, all five never played together at any point during the season, with Petrovic not in the rotation.
One of the first items Bret Bielema said heading into training camp of his first season at Illinois was his quarterback would be front and center. An important voice and a face of the program. While that didn't exactly hold true with Brandon Peters during that 2021 season, Altmyer's role in Champaign fit the bill for three straight seasons. Especially last year when he eschewed a major payday from Tennessee to stick with the Illini for his final season.
Underwood was the first hire of what's become Illinois' Big Three coaches. It took a couple years to start paying off, but the way Underwood has turned the Illini into a consistent Big Ten contender now elevated to a national stage was exactly what a "basketball school" like Illinois needed. Underwood is still chasing that elusive national championship, but his team's success has kept the program in the headlines both locally, of course, but more nationally.
A willingness to weigh in on anything and everything related to college football — both in traditional and social media — keeps Bielema and, by extension, Illini football, in the national consciousness. Success doesn't hurt, either. Illinois posted another winning season in 2025, beat another SEC team in a bowl game and has piqued the interest of a basketball-centric fan base to start showing up in greater numbers at Gies Memorial Stadium.
Women's basketball had become an afterthought at Illinois — far down the pecking order of Illini women's sports — by the time Green showed up in Champaign in 2022. And if there was little interest locally, there was none beyond the city limits of Champaign and Urbana. It's a different world now, with another winning season featuring a couple highlight wins and a second straight NCAA tournament appearance (and first-round win).
Bret Bielema wanted the NCAA's eligibility changes to come in time to apply to Beatty, who never redshirted during his Illinois career. A desire borne out of Beatty's breakout senior season, where his full measure of versatility was on display. The former Rochester quarterback turned Illini wide receiver was the only player in the country last fall with a passing, rushing, receiving and punt return touchdown during the 2025 regular season.
The hype around Jacas started before his senior season started, with ESPN and Athlon both naming the 6-foot-3, 270-pound outside linebacker a preseason All-American and CBS Sports calling him the No. 20 overall player in college football. Jacas proved them right as the Big Ten sacks leader with a pair of standout late-season performances against Wisconsin and Northwestern that helped secure his status as a second-round NFL draft pick.
Losing Kendall Bostic, Genesis Bryant, Makira Cook, Adalia McKenzie and Brynn Shoup-Hill in a single offseason put a lot of responsibility on Wallace's shoulders. She became the face of the Illini women's basketball program overnight and an even bigger focal point when Gretchen Dolan went down with a season-ending knee injury in February. Wallace didn't drag Illinois to the NCAA tournament by herself, but she played a front-facing role.
Coleman was a late addition to the 2026-27 roster, but that just meant there was more to chronicle in a shorter period of time. That started with his flip from Wake Forest to Illinois, continued as he rose in the recruiting rankings in the Class of 2026 to become the highest-ranked prospect of the Underwood era and included his standout play for Team USA at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup, where he made his international basketball debut.