Illini Basketball Uniforms
- Status
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
If nothing else, I think we realized that the current base navy uniforms are permanently mothballed. If there was ever a game to wear those this season, it would have been yesterday with Michigan wearing maize. We instead brought out the base whites like we did last season in Iowa City.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Well, the only downside to this turnaround is that we should probably get ready to only see the default uniforms from here on out since we just beat Iowa in Regular Orange and just beat Michigan and Purdue in Regular White. 
I fear that we might have seen the end of the White Script after the MSU second half meltdown and the Orange Flyin' Illini after the historic Duke debacle.
I could definitely see this group decide to "stick with what's working" ... which is actually hilarious, because we haven't really done that all year.
Get literally historic 109-77 win at #8 Oregon in the Orange Flyin' Illini uniforms...
---> Wear Regular Orange the very next game.
Get another historic 94-69 Quad 1 win at Indiana in the Orange Flyin' Illini uniforms...
---> Wear Regular Orange the very next game and lose at MSU, not wearing the Orange Flyin' Illini uniform again for SIX games.
Get back on track by dominating Minnesota 95-74 in the Orange Flyin' Illini uniforms...
---> Sideline them again for 3 games. But I'm sure because they happened to be worn during the Duke loss, now we're like done with them.
Get absolutely embarrassed at Wisconsin the Regular Orange uniforms...
---> Wear those very same Regular Orange uniforms the very next game at home vs. Iowa, lol.
My point is that we aren't actually following superstition at all, so I hope our guys don't decide that our hideous default uniforms are like "good luck" now. They CLEARLY have some type of massive superstition, because we haven't seen the Regular Navy uniforms since last year's meltdown at PSU. Obviously, if we are winning I will live with whatever we wear ... but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see us making a March Madness run in one of the two throwbacks.
I fear that we might have seen the end of the White Script after the MSU second half meltdown and the Orange Flyin' Illini after the historic Duke debacle.I could definitely see this group decide to "stick with what's working" ... which is actually hilarious, because we haven't really done that all year.
Get literally historic 109-77 win at #8 Oregon in the Orange Flyin' Illini uniforms...
---> Wear Regular Orange the very next game.
Get another historic 94-69 Quad 1 win at Indiana in the Orange Flyin' Illini uniforms...
---> Wear Regular Orange the very next game and lose at MSU, not wearing the Orange Flyin' Illini uniform again for SIX games.
Get back on track by dominating Minnesota 95-74 in the Orange Flyin' Illini uniforms...
---> Sideline them again for 3 games. But I'm sure because they happened to be worn during the Duke loss, now we're like done with them.
Get absolutely embarrassed at Wisconsin the Regular Orange uniforms...
---> Wear those very same Regular Orange uniforms the very next game at home vs. Iowa, lol.
My point is that we aren't actually following superstition at all, so I hope our guys don't decide that our hideous default uniforms are like "good luck" now. They CLEARLY have some type of massive superstition, because we haven't seen the Regular Navy uniforms since last year's meltdown at PSU. Obviously, if we are winning I will live with whatever we wear ... but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see us making a March Madness run in one of the two throwbacks.
What's funny to me is barely anyone on the team played in that Penn State game. I doubt Brad even picks out the uniforms my guess is the captains (DGL and Kasparas seem to be the titled captains judging by the pregame captains meetings) pick them but not sure. It could be Brad or the staff since we seem to have similar preferences throughout his tenure (scripts on Sundays and the BTT, Flyin Illini against NW, throwbacks in the big non-conference matchups, and possibly now base uniforms for the NCAAT).My point is that we aren't actually following superstition at all, so I hope our guys don't decide that our hideous default uniforms are like "good luck" now. They CLEARLY have some type of massive superstition, because we haven't seen the Regular Navy uniforms since last year's meltdown at PSU. Obviously, if we are winning I will live with whatever we wear ... but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see us making a March Madness run in one of the two throwbacks.
I was wondering myself why we don't ever wear any blue uniforms anymore. After all we are the orange and blue. Hell Kansas wore red yesterday. I didn't know they even considered that one of their school colors.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Far be it from me to heap praise on Kansas, but I liked those red uniforms. They should wear those more often.
They wear the reds for a game every season. Agreed that they're the best alts that KU has.
The KU version of the 1LL1NO1S blues is their yellows, which were worn for one game in 1987 before being thrown into the dust bin due to fan backlash.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
This had to be a "Sunflower State" themed uniform. NOT a good look at all. I know they want to emphasize their "Sunflower State" nickname being the state's flagship university, but this wasn't it.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
I know we have lauded the marketing and social media teams in the main basketball thread. Is anyone friends with any of these people so they can be pointed to our uniform threads? Someone needs to see our support for the Flying Illini and script uniforms and run that up the flagpole to Josh Whitman. It should not be a heavy lift to then talk to copy and paste a few of those posts into a Word document, send that document to Nike, and tell them to make this happen. Also shouldn't be a heavy lift for Nike to make that happen since they already have the two templates and just need to adjust colors.
It's literally just as simple as make the script jerseys the base ones and then make blue and orange variants.
Depending on how many alts you want to have you can use one or two flying Illini jerseys and then pick an additional one if you want(probably could rock an 05 throwback by now if you wanted and the orange ones were the best of that era).
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
You could also switch "Script" and "Flying Illini" and have the same effect. I honestly don't think you can go wrong either way.
I don't know what the Nike contract has in terms of uniforms supplied, but in a perfect world/vacuum I'd love all three uniform colors for both sets and then have one throwback like the 2005 in orange. However, if Nike won't do that, then do a base set in one template, have white and blue of the other set, and do the throwback in orange.
The overall main idea still 100% stands - we have two outstanding uniform templates currently in use, yet we continue to use an outdated template that honestly 1) was never that good to begin with and 2) is a bygone reminder of one of the worst periods in Illinois athletics history. The answer to fix it is there in plain sight, and it would take little incremental effort to execute it.
This should be our default away uniform.
Mix in the orange for weekend games, PTHO, etc.
Wear Script/05 throwbacks for special occasions like Braggin Rights, neutral site events, etc.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I mean, if Nike just really wants to put its stamp on this thing and insists upon giving us a "2025 tweak" on our Flyin' Illini uniforms, this would do ... but why not just keep the same striping/piping design down the side as we have for the Orange Flyin' Illini? I think it is even simpler than that mockup ... "Make our current Orange Flyin' Illini uniform in navy, please!"
I am also souring on the 2005 throwback. This was the year to do it, and the DIA/Nike/whoever completely and negligently dropped the ball. It would be like wearing our Grange Era football uniforms NEXT Homecoming because everyone just frickin' forgot the 100th anniversary of Memorial Stadium. I have also sort of reversed my opinion on which throwback to make the regular home uniform, too; I have come to think that our white Script uniform is MUCH more associated with this current era of success than our orange Flyin' Illini set, and the last time we wore the white Flyin' Illini set was during the underwhelming Groce Era. As one example, we won the 2021 BTT, clinched the 2022 Big Ten regular season championship and won the 2024 BTT all in our Script uniform.
I think a cool way to maintain some consistency with what we currently utilize and transition into a refreshed set is to keep this "baseball uniform setup," where our away uniform (Flyin' Illini for us) isn't necessary just a carbon copy of our home uniform (Script) in a different color. We can have a different look on the road than we have at home, and it can sort of be our thing. I'd love three colors of both throwbacks, but let's say Nike says they can do 4 uniforms. This is now my ultimate-yet-semi-realistic wish list for a new uniform set. Keep in mind the names would be what we would pitch to Nike, not set in stone (i.e., we could wear our "Alternate Home" on the road and our "Alternate Away" at home if we chose ... they're both alternates, after all!).
Standard Home - White Script. Worn in the majority of home games, ideally not with some stigma that wearing it means the game is "not a big game" or whatever.
Standard Away - Navy Flyin' Illini. With aforementioned adjustments of using orange font instead of white font like in 1989. No real strong feelings about how often this is worn vs. the alternate Orange Flyin' Illini on the road, as both look great. However, I would be open to cool, previously mentioned ideas like wearing the orange for big weekend road games and navy during the week or something.
Alternate Home - Orange Script. Again, this could be worn on the road or at neutral sites, but it is the "Alternate Home" to match the style of the Standard Home. Maybe wear this at home for certain big weekend games or every year in Braggin' Rights or whatever?
Alternate Away - Orange Flyin' Illini. Used fairly regularly on the road and at neutral sites or even at home for certain games. This uniform is too good, so don't mess with it!
Would I love Navy Script? Sure, but I would probably rather have the Flyin' Illini look on the road than at home, so I made a choice. Would I love White Flyin' Illini? Definitely, but I think it's probably the weakest color of that set, and it is way worse than the White Script for me. Below is an example of this year's schedule and how I would personally utilize these uniforms. I know I have done this before, but it never gets old for this uniforms nerd.
Added some comments for my thinking as Chief Uniform Executive.White Script vs. Eastern Illinois
White Script vs. SIU Edwardsville
White Script vs. Oakland
Navy Flyin' Illini vs. Alabama in Birmingham, AL (treating as a #RoadKill opportunity)
White Script vs. Maryland Eastern Shore
White Script vs. Little Rock
Orange Flyin' Illini vs. Arkansas in Kansas City, MO (big neutral site game)
Orange Script at Northwestern (subtle suggestion that it's not REALLY an away game
)White Script vs. Wisconsin
White Script vs. Tennessee (no mixing and matching given Tennessee's road uniforms are orange, lol)
Orange Script vs. Missouri in St. Louis, MO (I like the idea of this as a standard Braggin' Rights uniform)
White Script vs. Chicago State
Navy Flyin' Illini at Oregon
Navy Flyin' Illini at Washington
White Script vs. Penn State
White Script vs. USC
Navy Flyin' Illini at Indiana
Orange Flyin' Illini at Michigan State (weekend Big Ten road game)
White Script vs. Maryland
Orange Script vs. Northwestern (like the Orange/Purple contrast)
Navy Flyin' Illini at Nebraska
White Script vs. Ohio State
Navy Flyin' Illini at Rutgers
Orange Flyin' Illini at Minnesota (weekend Big Ten road game)
White Script vs. UCLA
Orange Script vs. Michigan State (weekend Big Ten home game)
Navy Flyin' Illini at Wisconsin
Orange Flyin' Illini vs. Duke in New York, NY
Orange Script vs. Iowa (orange alternate at home for Paint the Hall Orange)
Orange Flyin' Illini at Michigan (weekend Big Ten road game)
Orange Script vs. Purdue (weekend Big Ten home game)
--- Assuming we are still the #7 seed ---
White Script in BTT Second Round (subtle reinforcement that our program always expects to be the higher seed!)
Navy Flyin' Illini in BTT Quarterfinals (assuming Maryland would pick white, this contrasts better)
Orange Flyin' Illini in BTT Semifinals (weekend Big Ten "road game" vs. likely Purdue)
Orange Flyin' Illini in BTT Championship Game (assuming it's #1 MSU)
--- Assuming we get a #6 seed ---
White Script in NCAAT First Round (treated as "regular business," plus on a weekday)
Orange Flyin' Illini in NCAAT Second Round (assuming #3 seed wears white, plus weekend game)
Navy Flyin' Illini in NCAAT Sweet Sixteen (assuming #2 seed wears white, but would want the Flyin' Illini uniform that best contrasts with their colors)
Orange Flyin' Illini in NCAAT Elite Eight (weekend game)
Orange Flyin' Illini in NCAAT Final Four (weekend game)
Orange Flyin' Illini in NCAAT National Championship (only feels right to avenge the 1989 team and win a title in their uniforms)
I wouldn't be mad at any of that. It would certainly be an improvement over the current state.I mean, if Nike just really wants to put its stamp on this thing and insists upon giving us a "2025 tweak" on our Flyin' Illini uniforms, this would do ... but why not just keep the same striping/piping design down the side as we have for the Orange Flyin' Illini? I think it is even simpler than that mockup ... "Make our current Orange Flyin' Illini uniform in navy, please!"
I am also souring on the 2005 throwback. This was the year to do it, and the DIA/Nike/whoever completely and negligently dropped the ball. It would be like wearing our Grange Era football uniforms NEXT Homecoming because everyone just frickin' forgot the 100th anniversary of Memorial Stadium. I have also sort of reversed my opinion on which throwback to make the regular home uniform, too; I have come to think that our white Script uniform is MUCH more associated with this current era of success than our orange Flyin' Illini set, and the last time we wore the white Flyin' Illini set was during the underwhelming Groce Era. As one example, we won the 2021 BTT, clinched the 2022 Big Ten regular season championship and won the 2024 BTT all in our Script uniform.
I think a cool way to maintain some consistency with what we currently utilize and transition into a refreshed set is to keep this "baseball uniform setup," where our away uniform (Flyin' Illini for us) isn't necessary just a carbon copy of our home uniform (Script) in a different color. We can have a different look on the road than we have at home, and it can sort of be our thing. I'd love three colors of both throwbacks, but let's say Nike says they can do 4 uniforms. This is now my ultimate-yet-semi-realistic wish list for a new uniform set. Keep in mind the names would be what we would pitch to Nike, not set in stone (i.e., we could wear our "Alternate Home" on the road and our "Alternate Away" at home if we chose ... they're both alternates, after all!).
Standard Home - White Script. Worn in the majority of home games, ideally not with some stigma that wearing it means the game is "not a big game" or whatever.
Standard Away - Navy Flyin' Illini. With aforementioned adjustments of using orange font instead of white font like in 1989. No real strong feelings about how often this is worn vs. the alternate Orange Flyin' Illini on the road, as both look great. However, I would be open to cool, previously mentioned ideas like wearing the orange for big weekend road games and navy during the week or something.
View attachment 40387
View attachment 40389
Alternate Home - Orange Script. Again, this could be worn on the road or at neutral sites, but it is the "Alternate Home" to match the style of the Standard Home. Maybe wear this at home for certain big weekend games or every year in Braggin' Rights or whatever?
View attachment 40390
Alternate Away - Orange Flyin' Illini. Used fairly regularly on the road and at neutral sites or even at home for certain games. This uniform is too good, so don't mess with it!
Would I love Navy Script? Sure, but I would probably rather have the Flyin' Illini look on the road than at home, so I made a choice. Would I love White Flyin' Illini? Definitely, but I think it's probably the weakest color of that set, and it is way worse than the White Script for me. Below is an example of this year's schedule and how I would personally utilize these uniforms. I know I have done this before, but it never gets old for this uniforms nerd.
White Script vs. Eastern Illinois
White Script vs. SIU Edwardsville
White Script vs. Oakland
Navy Flyin' Illini vs. Alabama in Birmingham, AL (treating as a #RoadKill opportunity)
White Script vs. Maryland Eastern Shore
White Script vs. Little Rock
Orange Flyin' Illini vs. Arkansas in Kansas City, MO (big neutral site game)
Orange Script at Northwestern (subtle suggestion that it's not REALLY an away game
White Script vs. Wisconsin
White Script vs. Tennessee (no mixing and matching given Tennessee's road uniforms are orange, lol)
Orange Script vs. Missouri in St. Louis, MO (I like the idea of this as a standard Braggin' Rights uniform)
White Script vs. Chicago State
Navy Flyin' Illini at Oregon
Navy Flyin' Illini at Washington
White Script vs. Penn State
White Script vs. USC
Navy Flyin' Illini at Indiana
Orange Flyin' Illini at Michigan State (weekend Big Ten road game)
White Script vs. Maryland
Orange Script vs. Northwestern (like the Orange/Purple contrast)
Navy Flyin' Illini at Nebraska
White Script vs. Ohio State
Navy Flyin' Illini at Rutgers
Orange Flyin' Illini at Minnesota (weekend Big Ten road game)
White Script vs. UCLA
Orange Script vs. Michigan State (weekend Big Ten home game)
Navy Flyin' Illini at Wisconsin
Orange Flyin' Illini vs. Duke in New York, NY
Orange Script vs. Iowa (orange alternate at home for Paint the Hall Orange)
Orange Flyin' Illini at Michigan (weekend Big Ten road game)
Orange Script vs. Purdue (weekend Big Ten home game)
--- Assuming we are still the #7 seed ---
White Script in BTT Second Round (subtle reinforcement that our program always expects to be the higher seed!)
Navy Flyin' Illini in BTT Quarterfinals (assuming Maryland would pick white, this contrasts better)
Orange Flyin' Illini in BTT Semifinals (weekend Big Ten "road game" vs. likely Purdue)
Orange Flyin' Illini in BTT Championship Game (assuming it's #1 MSU)
--- Assuming we get a #6 seed ---
White Script in NCAAT First Round (treated as "regular business," plus on a weekday)
Orange Flyin' Illini in NCAAT Second Round (assuming #3 seed wears white, plus weekend game)
Navy Flyin' Illini in NCAAT Sweet Sixteen (assuming #2 seed wears white, but would want the Flyin' Illini uniform that best contrasts with their colors)
Orange Flyin' Illini in NCAAT Elite Eight (weekend game)
Orange Flyin' Illini in NCAAT Final Four (weekend game)
Orange Flyin' Illini in NCAAT National Championship (only feels right to avenge the 1989 team and win a title in their uniforms)
I prefer the Fighting Illini jerseys as our standard set because, IMO, it's more timeless and unique to us. You're right that the script is more associated with this era of success but I'm thinking less about this era and more about decades past and decades into the future. I think the FI jerseys honor our history and have more staying power.
I'd still like an 05 throwback eventually. That's one of the most important jerseys in the history of our program. I don't think it necessarily needs to commemorate an anniversary. Our script and FI jerseys aren't used in that way. Plus, I think the design holds up. Probably TMI, but I'm actually wearing the throwback shorts right now
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Illinois Fighting Illinois 2004-2005 Retro Shorts (Home)
Bruce Weber's Fighting Illini spent 15 weeks of the regular season as the #1 ranked team in the nation. After going 32-1 they were both the Big Ten regular season champions and the Big Ten Tournament champions. Led by a trio of stars in Dee Brown, Luther Head and Deron Williams, Illinois entered...
slamgoods.com
chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
@Fighter of the Nightman Thank you for your passionate advocating on behalf of Illini Nation to get our uniforms right! We truly appreciate your hard work, Fighter!
1940's, '50's, or '60's throwback material:
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Just not the shorts length, though!
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Admittedly, I'm not as much of a researcher as @Fighter of the Nightman (Side note - you do the yeoman's work that benefits all of us with this stuff!!!), so I don't know the answer. I know Arizona and Missouri adopted throwback uniforms for their standard uniforms this year. Did both schools have any other uniforms they wore during the season? I know Mizzou had uniforms with slanted font similar to 1LL1NO1S in the past, but did they keep any of those like what Illinois has done?
Just seems strange to me that Missouri would be able to get a three-uniform set of their throwbacks and we couldn't unless the right people at the DIA actually like our base uniform template.
Just seems strange to me that Missouri would be able to get a three-uniform set of their throwbacks and we couldn't unless the right people at the DIA actually like our base uniform template.
Patiently waiting for UI to announce a tournament set like the football team did with the bowl game script helmet
It would be cool to break out some ‘05 sets for tournament play. I highly doubt that’s the case but a man can dream.Patiently waiting for UI to announce a tournament set like the football team did with the bowl game script helmet
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
It is pretty wild that coming off of a 5-7 season, the plans were clearly in the works for the football program to get...Patiently waiting for UI to announce a tournament set like the football team did with the bowl game script helmet
- A Memorial Stadium 100th anniversary custom logo.
- A 1960s throwback helmet.
- A 1980s throwback helmet.
- A 1990s throwback helmet.
- An entire 1920s throwback uniform, complete with an insanely detailed custom helmet for one game.
- A special Wrigley Field-themed helmet for one game.
- A brand new Script helmet for our bowl game.
And the basketball uniform, fresh off of an Elite Eight appearance and entering the 20th anniversary of arguably our greatest team in program history, is going on like 8 years with its same uniforms that literally no one likes.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
Other than the throwback helmets, those changes come down to stickers, don't they? I'd imagine it's a lot easier to create and print up stickers than it is to create entirely new basketball uniforms (as much as I'd love to have them).It is pretty wild that coming off of a 5-7 season, the plans were clearly in the works for the football program to get...
- A Memorial Stadium 100th anniversary custom logo.
- A 1960s throwback helmet.
- A 1980s throwback helmet.
- A 1990s throwback helmet.
- An entire 1920s throwback uniform, complete with an insanely detailed custom helmet for one game.
- A special Wrigley Field-themed helmet for one game.
- A brand new Script helmet for our bowl game.
And the basketball uniform, fresh off of an Elite Eight appearance and entering the 20th anniversary of arguably our greatest team in program history, is going on like 8 years with its same uniforms that literally no one likes.
I'm also starting to think (hope) they want to celebrate 04-05 at the 25 year mark. Fingers crossed we see fully a 04-05 throwback in five years.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
In a vacuum, I agree that creating full basketball uniforms is more complex then designing helmet stickers.
That's if there's no existing uniform template(s) in place, which doesn't apply to Illinois right now. They just have to change colors, which drastically reduces the incremental effort.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I mean, the 1920s throwback uniform was an entirely new thing that Nike had to whip up. I also think this ignores that football got three brand new uniforms just the year before in 2023, and Bret got at least a new helmet for his first season just by asking. And again, it's not an accurate picture to suggest the basketball program would really be asking for that much ... it needs to be looked at from the lens that we have had these uniforms since 2018 ... that's at least 8 seasons - FAR longer than we went with any other uniform set for basketball over the last 20+ years. I would argue it's absolutely undeniable that either...
(A) Someone who's a decision maker genuinely likes the current default 1LL1NO1S basketball uniforms to the point where he/she has repeatedly voiced support for keeping them ... at which point, I would question that individual's judgment on all matters, lol.
(B) Nike and/or the DIA are paying almost shockingly less attention to our basketball brand/uniforms than they have at any point over the past 20+ years.
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