Illinois Sports: A step in the right direction for Illini programs

Many Illinois sports haven’t had much success in the past years, but the 2019-20 year has been a step in the right direction for most of the programs.

Illinois football, basketball and baseball have struggled to consistently win in recent years. The 2019-2020 season hasn’t been a complete turning point for Illinois athletics, but it has been a step in the right direction.

The Illinois football team went 6-7 this past season. While that isn’t a winning record, it is an improvement from the past three seasons. The three seasons before 2019 the Illini went 4-8, 2-10 and 3-9. Also, to add-on to this six-win season, Illinois reached a bowl game for the first time in four years. They also won four Big Ten games and the last time that happened was 2010.

Recruiting has also been a positive for this Illinois football team. In the past two years, the Orange and Blue have been able to snag solid talent. The Illini were able to get Marquez Beason, Isaiah Williams and Shammond cooper who were four-star recruits in the class of 2019. The class of 2020 was also solid as we brought in good players such as Reggie Love, James Frenchie, Deuce Spann and Johnny Newton. Illinois also has been able to add transfers from schools like Alabama, USC, Miami, Wisconsin and Georgia.

The Illinois basketball team went 21-10 overall and 13-7 in the Big Ten this season. This was the first 20-win season for the basketball team since the 2013-14 campaign. The Illini also won thirteen Big Ten games for the first time since the 2004-05 season. Sadly, the Orange and Blue won’t get to play in the Big Ten Tournament  or the NCAA tournament due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

This Illinois coaching staff has done a tremendous job recruiting.  In 2018, Illinois landed Ayo Dosunmu, Tevian Jones, Andres Feliz and Alan Griffin who all have contributed in big ways these past two seasons. In 2019 Illinois landed Kofi Cockburn who has been a big reason the Illini went 21-10 this season. The class of 2020 is bringing in Adam Miller, Andre Curbelo and Coleman Hawkins.

The baseball team ended with a record of 8-5 overall. Their season also got cut short due to the Coronavirus outbreak. I can’t go into full detail of how the baseball team took a step in the right direction because 13 games is such a small sample size for a 51-game season.

All in all, Illinois Athletics are going in the right direction. sadly the basketball, baseball and golf seasons ended early. Hopefully, all of the athletic programs I named can keep going in the right direction for years to come.