Illini Basketball 2025-2026
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When every player is a free agent every season, you can’t really look at it as what you lose or what you bring back. There is no more “rebuilding”. It’s building for 1 season at a time. Then doing it all over again
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
I looked back at the 2024-25 non-conference schedule, and I came up with the following items. I've gone through this exercise before, but I'm updating it to a degree.
Six "tune-up" games (SIU-E, Maryland-ES, EIU, Oakland, Chicago State, and Little Rock)
Bragging Rights game
Four "big" non-conference games (Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Duke)
Assuming we keep a similar non-conference structure, I'd advocate for the following for the four non-Bragging Rights games.
One at SFC (I always think the local fans deserve a marquee game our true home court)
One at United Center
One road or road neutral game (Alabama this year)
One neutral site game (like the Arkansas and Duke games, even though I'd say the Duke game was probably more of a road neutral game given how many Duke fans seem to live near New York City).
I like what Illinois and Tennessee are doing with the four-year deal of Knoxville/Champaign/Nashville/Chicago. Maybe you don't have to play all four years in succession, but I think you can do that with a lot of good teams. I'd want to reserve United Center games where we can get a good "road neutral" game in return instead of having to play a true road game.
Examples of teams for a good United Center matchup - Tennessee, Florida (Orlando or Tampa), Alabama, Auburn after Pearl leaves (Atlanta or Birimingham), Texas (Dallas or San Antonio), Texas A&M/Texas Tech/Baylor (Dallas or Houston), UConn (MSG, which is basically their second home court anyway), Gonzaga (Seattle), Kentucky (Indianapolis - I'd REALLY like to see a Champaign/Lexington/Chicago/Indianapolis series), Arizona (Phoenix), Kansas (Kansas City), Marquette (three-year with Champaign, Milwaukee, and Chicago),
Examples of P4 teams where a United Center game probably doesn't make sense and should just play an on-campus home and home - Iowa State (unless they wanted to play in Kansas City, which may not be out the question), Colorado (not a big enough United Center draw), Miami, Creighton, Oklahoma (Norman is a suburb of OKC, so they won't want to play a game at the Thunder's arena), BYU, Stanford and Cal (they won't move a game to Chase Center because they wouldn't come close to filling it).
Six "tune-up" games (SIU-E, Maryland-ES, EIU, Oakland, Chicago State, and Little Rock)
Bragging Rights game
Four "big" non-conference games (Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Duke)
Assuming we keep a similar non-conference structure, I'd advocate for the following for the four non-Bragging Rights games.
One at SFC (I always think the local fans deserve a marquee game our true home court)
One at United Center
One road or road neutral game (Alabama this year)
One neutral site game (like the Arkansas and Duke games, even though I'd say the Duke game was probably more of a road neutral game given how many Duke fans seem to live near New York City).
I like what Illinois and Tennessee are doing with the four-year deal of Knoxville/Champaign/Nashville/Chicago. Maybe you don't have to play all four years in succession, but I think you can do that with a lot of good teams. I'd want to reserve United Center games where we can get a good "road neutral" game in return instead of having to play a true road game.
Examples of teams for a good United Center matchup - Tennessee, Florida (Orlando or Tampa), Alabama, Auburn after Pearl leaves (Atlanta or Birimingham), Texas (Dallas or San Antonio), Texas A&M/Texas Tech/Baylor (Dallas or Houston), UConn (MSG, which is basically their second home court anyway), Gonzaga (Seattle), Kentucky (Indianapolis - I'd REALLY like to see a Champaign/Lexington/Chicago/Indianapolis series), Arizona (Phoenix), Kansas (Kansas City), Marquette (three-year with Champaign, Milwaukee, and Chicago),
Examples of P4 teams where a United Center game probably doesn't make sense and should just play an on-campus home and home - Iowa State (unless they wanted to play in Kansas City, which may not be out the question), Colorado (not a big enough United Center draw), Miami, Creighton, Oklahoma (Norman is a suburb of OKC, so they won't want to play a game at the Thunder's arena), BYU, Stanford and Cal (they won't move a game to Chase Center because they wouldn't come close to filling it).
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I actually kinda want us to play Tennessee yearly now. Some random non con rivalry born out of nowhere with the other power conference is actually kinda fun.
I wanted Kentucky cause it’s a name brand and a border state, the only one we don’t play, but Tennessee is good too. The SEC is here to stay for basketball. Too much money now. They can still give their all to football and enough money is left over to care about basketball too.
We also struggle with SEC style length and athleticism. So the more we can see that the better we’ll be.
I wanted Kentucky cause it’s a name brand and a border state, the only one we don’t play, but Tennessee is good too. The SEC is here to stay for basketball. Too much money now. They can still give their all to football and enough money is left over to care about basketball too.
We also struggle with SEC style length and athleticism. So the more we can see that the better we’ll be.
With mizzou that would be two SEC schools. My pick is Marquette in Chicago. But i agree, another regularly scheduled game would be fun.
Our defense was actually pretty good at the beginning of the season and then you could see clearly degradation after some point of time. Partly it was due to illness and injury; Partly was probably teams figured us out and we did not respond. That's why I wanted a defense specialist instead of Hamer.
FIBA is pushing for a mandatory Letter of Clearance for international players transferring to the NCAA,
Haven't seen this posted here yet but would definitely impact the entire NCAA landscape but probably disproportionately hurt Illinois with recent recruiting classes.
Basically FIBA is wanting to push a bill that would require colleges to functionality buy out European players.
Haven't seen this posted here yet but would definitely impact the entire NCAA landscape but probably disproportionately hurt Illinois with recent recruiting classes.
Basically FIBA is wanting to push a bill that would require colleges to functionality buy out European players.
Camryn Crocker - Assistant Coach - Men's Basketball Coaches - University of Illinois Athletics
Camryn Crocker was hired as assistant coach on May 15, 2025. A former Ivy League player at Penn, Crocker brings a decade of coaching experience to the Fighting Illini
fightingillini.com
Crocker is going to have some control with the defense this year …
That's all we've been asking for. Outside of a grizzled old veteran defensive specialist, nothing wrong with getting a younger savant type to help carry the load. And no I've not read the term savant used in connection with Crocker. It's just a word I like to use on occasion. Perhaps wunderkind is more apropos. ;-)
Kostas
- Naperville, IL
rmlsr
- El Paso,IL
Hopefully the longer he works with the team defense Crocker gets more and more responsible regarding defense and eventually Hamer gets all his responsibility with the defense taken away.
rmlsr
- El Paso,IL
Great news
Yeah, with assistants, "some control" will not and cannot be confused with stepping on toes. It just won't happen. Everyone on staff has a purpose and they will have their own lanes.
Just because you bring in "a guy" that doesn't mean he's here to be "THE guy".
With all due respect to Crocker, he's still a young guy coming in from Colgate. He could have potential, he could be a nice recruiter and while he might have a seat at the table....there will be no overreach. Hamer game planning for Tennessee is > than Crocker game planning for Lehigh.
Looks like this to me:
Front court rotation: Tomi, BigZ, and David
Back court: Andrej, Kylan, Mahailo, Ty, Jake
Spot minutes for the rest based on injuries, fouls and specific matchups. Think the specific lineups will depend on matchups and hot hands. BU seems to stick with a starting lineup but minutes vary greatly for all but the stars.
Have seen great flexibility in adapting offense to talent. Need to see the same flexibility in defense. Last year was greatly hampered by sickness in ability to practice as well as game minutes. That as well as the youth had to affect the resulting defensive schemes. However defense also slipped the previous year as the season progressed. Does our defense slip or does the oppositions scouting nullify it. Need the big buck guys to figure it out.
Front court rotation: Tomi, BigZ, and David
Back court: Andrej, Kylan, Mahailo, Ty, Jake
Spot minutes for the rest based on injuries, fouls and specific matchups. Think the specific lineups will depend on matchups and hot hands. BU seems to stick with a starting lineup but minutes vary greatly for all but the stars.
Have seen great flexibility in adapting offense to talent. Need to see the same flexibility in defense. Last year was greatly hampered by sickness in ability to practice as well as game minutes. That as well as the youth had to affect the resulting defensive schemes. However defense also slipped the previous year as the season progressed. Does our defense slip or does the oppositions scouting nullify it. Need the big buck guys to figure it out.
Lol why?
Game planning is simply putting your guys in positions to succeed against an opponent while maximizing their talent. Yeah Tennessee is better than Lehigh but Illinois also has far more talent than Colgate.
It doesn't matter what level it's at if you understand how to break down opponents and utilize your own team to take advantage of their weaknesses.
Nate Oats was a high school coach a little over a decade ago and is one of the best coaches in the country. Todd Golden was game planning for Loyala-Marymount a few years ago. Self was in the AAC before coming to Illinois.
The point is that he's not being brought in to take the defense over. You're absolutely right, the transfer can be seamless. He could come in and be so impressive that in 2026-2027, he's the guy. That said, he's not being asked to be brought in here to implement a game plan, nor should he be expected to.
He's going to have a role, obviously, but I would be that role is help recruit, help with film, give a few thoughts and take it from there.
I see some commentary, of the celebration variety, that he's going to be an upgrade over what some people see as a problem with Hamer. Now, obviously our head coach doesn't feel that way and no coach on this planet or any other one for that matter is going to bring in competition at the assistant coaching level. Lol
That's just a ridiculous thought.
He'll have a role and I'm sure he'll do a fine job with it.
I'm not sure what in the heck you're saying here.
Are you saying, no way Crocker could step on Hamer's toes? Did Hamer not step on Chester's toes? Hamer's resume prior to Illinois is not the resume of a P5 assistant coach. There is no debate, it's just not. Chester had a decade as a P5 assistant. And yes I'm sure there was more than just this young kid taking the role Chester thought he deserved that made him leave, but Chester was clearly not happy about it.
Crocker has a reasonable resume for a lower level P5 assistant. He has coached in high school and AAU, he has held a non-assistant position at a P5 school, and then got a role as a mid-major assistant. Most P5 assistants have either worked their way up through the ranks like Crocker, or is a recruiter that has ties to strong AAU and/or prep school programs.
This throws some cold water on the narrative that us mortals weren’t qualified to question Hammer’s value to the defense…
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
how likely is petrovic average 6 or 7 assists this year
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