Illini Basketball Uniforms

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#51      
Fighter of the Nightman
I'm NOT expecting either one of these, so this is mostly just for fun! However, we now as of last season have the following Illini uniform combos from our two immensely popular throwback styles:

Orange Flyin' Illini | Introduced in the 2018-2019 season
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White Script | Introduced in the 2019-2020 season
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Orange Script | Introduced last season vs. LIU on November 22
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Navy Flyin' Illini | Introduced last season vs. UConn on November 28
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And we have the following two "missing" colors of both styles:

White Flyin' Illini | Introduced during the Groce Years (but not worn since circa 2016-2017?)
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Navy Script | Never worn in the modern era (Chat GPT mockup below)
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So ... if we DID get two awesome surprises and got the White Flyin' Illini and Navy Script to complete the set (and hopefully forever retire the 1LL1NO1S rags!), what games would you want for each uniform's big debut?

I feel like debuting the White Flyin' Illini uniforms for the United Center game vs. UConn would just be too awesome. I don't ever think we should wear navy of any type at the UC since it is our "Home Away From Home," and we DID just lose to UConn in the Orange Script the last time we played. Busting out this new throwback option for an incredibly hyped, nationally televised Friday night Final Four rematch in front of 19K+ screaming Illini fans would be epic!!

As for the Navy Script, I am sure they would want to debut it in the first half of the season, so I will eliminate games after January 1. The November 10 road game at Texas Tech makes a ton of sense given we are obviously the away team and it would contrast nicely with their red, and the November 17 road game at Duke would also be great (though the color contrast element wouldn't be there. However, since Missouri is technically the "home team" this year, I think the perfect time to debut it would be at Braggin' Rights as a "color rush" combo if Mizzou wears their Mustard Puke™ color - err, I mean gold.

A guy can dream. :cool:
 
#54      
Fighter of the Nightman
hooraybeer said:
why even do that? they suck. throw them out
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Lol, the Illini Basketball Instagram page did some post a month or so ago where they showed each uniform and asked fans to post their favorites ... they referred to the 1LL1NO1S uniforms as "White Modern," "Navy Modern" and Orange Modern," which could be an infuriating window into how someone in the DIA sees those ugly-!!! rags. :ROFLMAO:

Needless to say, the responses were like 90%+ for one of the four throwbacks, and the 1LL1NO1S uniforms took an absolute beating in the comments section. Wearing them even once this year is a straight-up intentional troll!
 
#56      
RabidDawgClassic
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Lol, the Illini Basketball Instagram page did some post a month or so ago where they showed each uniform and asked fans to post their favorites ... they referred to the 1LL1NO1S uniforms as "White Modern," "Navy Modern" and Orange Modern," which could be an infuriating window into how someone in the DIA sees those ugly-!!! rags. :ROFLMAO:

Needless to say, the responses were like 90%+ for one of the four throwbacks, and the 1LL1NO1S uniforms took an absolute beating in the comments section. Wearing them even once this year is a straight-up intentional troll!
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Hopefully that remaining 10% mistakenly thought they were voting for the ugliest jersey.
 
#58      
Fighter of the Nightman
goillini30 said:
Does the fact that they used the orange scripts for an untelevised exhibition game give us a hint that the modern ones are gone for good? I sure hope so.
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Knock on wood and all, but there is definitely a different (better!!) vibe this year. All of the "official" stuff preseason last year was in the white or orange 1LL1NO1S uniforms (team photo, social media posts hyping up the season, player interviews, etc.). This year, we seem to be seeing nothing but the Orange Script, and I am very hopeful that we have sort of tabbed that uniform as our main "identity." We also wore it in 3 of our 4 NCAA Tournament games last year (White Script vs. Iowa being the only exception), including on the biggest stage of the Final Four.

I have way too much PTSD not to expect some random cupcake home game in the 1LL1NO1S uniforms because some guy thinks we "should" wear them for a smaller game like that ... but I definitely feel like the current "feel" is that the Script is our standard-bearer look, and the Flyin' Illini uniforms are the accent piece, so to speak. Let's hope that means we get an incredible surprise of the Navy Script and White Flyin' Illini at some point!!

EDIT: Pretty damn noticeable trend to end last season, with some very unfortunate interjections, haha.

February 10 - White ILLINOIS vs. Wisconsin
February 15 - White Script vs. Indiana
February 18 - Navy Flyin' Illini at USC
February 21 - Orange Script at UCLA
February 27 - Orange Flyin' Illini vs. Michigan
March 3 - White Script vs. Oregon
March 8 - Orange Flyin' Illini at Maryland
March 13 - White Script vs. Wisconsin (BTT Quarterfinals)
March 19 - Orange Script vs. Penn (NCAAT First Round)
March 21 - Orange Script vs. VCU (NCAAT Second Round)
March 26 - Orange Script vs. Houston (NCAAT Sweet Sixteen)
March 28 - White Script vs. Iowa (NCAAT Elite Eight)
April 4 - Orange Script vs. UConn (NCAAT Final Four)

So after the absolute stinker of a loss to Wisconsin at home, we never saw the 1LL1NO1S uniforms again, wearing either the Script or Flyin' Illini sets for our final 12 games in a row (9 Script, 3 Flyin' Illini). Two things seem surprising to me as I looked this up:

1) It seems weird we wore the Navy Flyin' Illini uniforms for perhaps our most impressive performance of the year at USC, and then we just never saw them again...
2) I'm surprised we switched to the White Script for ONLY the Iowa game in the NCAA Tournament. We were the higher seed so we definitely got to choose, and we easily could have rocked orange against any of Iowa's three uniform colors.
 
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#59      
GraingerGremlin
I used to believe that our Orange Flyin' Illini jersey was far superior to any jersey in our closet. However, after last year's Final Four run, I want us to wear the Orange Script for every game possible, similar to how the 05 team wore orange home and away, except for a few games against teams with clashing colors.

Worth noting that Mirk wore the orange Flying Illini jersey with the new Busey patch during his Sports Illustrated interview, so it'll def be around. But most of the Instagram branding almost only uses the orange script.

Orange Flyin Illini jerseys remind me so much of the Ayo, Kofi, and TSJ seasons. However, there just feels like such a different vibe with last year and this year's squad that I think the orange scripts reflect perfectly.

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#63      
Hessel Blvd
I feel like maybe the 1's should be the "earn it" motivation.... like the team gets to wear the scripts or the flying's once they prove they deserve it... like: wear the 1's for the unofficial "preseason" games and the first game of the season, get to graduate into the scripts/flyings once the team plays well enough to deserve it.
 
#64      
altgeld88
The regular season kicks off Monday and I'm here to express my absolute delight that our orange scripts, which I thought I'd never see during my lifetime, have become the de facto face of the program in less than a year since they debuted v. Long Island.

Add blue script kit, nuke the 1LL1NO1S font far and wide, and we're set for the next 50 years.
 
#65      
March2TheArch
altgeld88 said:
The regular season kicks off Monday and I'm here to express my absolute delight that our orange scripts, which I thought I'd never see during my lifetime, have become the de facto face of the program in less than a year since they debuted v. Long Island.

Add blue script kit, nuke the 1LL1NO1S font far and wide, and we're set for the next 50 years.
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Yup bought my Wagler orange script one recently. Will be rocking it at a Clippers game in San Antonio and at the UC vs. UConn.
 
#66      
Fighter of the Nightman
altgeld88 said:
The regular season kicks off Monday and I'm here to express my absolute delight that our orange scripts, which I thought I'd never see during my lifetime, have become the de facto face of the program in less than a year since they debuted v. Long Island.

Add blue script kit, nuke the 1LL1NO1S font far and wide, and we're set for the next 50 years.
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Agreed, but I will add that I would also love to see the return of the White Flyin' Illini uniforms! Also, before anyone floats the idea that this would be "too many uniform sets," we currently have SEVEN uniforms in existence!

1) White Script
2) Orange Script
3) Orange Flyin' Illini
4) Navy Flyin' Illini
5) White 1LL1NO1S
6) Orange 1LL1NO1S
7) Navy 1LL1NO1S

Nuking the 1LL1NO1S uniforms and adding Navy Script and White Flyin' Illini would literally result in a reduction in the number of uniforms in our rotation ... get it done!! Unfortunately, I have now come to believe that there is no real contractual obligation at all, and some sorry, breathtakingly out-of-touch fool in the DIA legitimately likes the 1LL1NO1S font ... I mean, it is it still in our end zones, it is still on the basketball court, it was it JUST painted onto the brand new scoreboard, etc. We easily could have replaced it in all of those areas with the Script or block Flyin' Illini font if the people in power wanted to. :cry:
 
#67      
altgeld88
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Agreed, but I will add that I would also love to see the return of the White Flyin' Illini uniforms! Also, before anyone floats the idea that this would be "too many uniform sets," we currently have SEVEN uniforms in existence!

1) White Script
2) Orange Script
3) Orange Flyin' Illini
4) Navy Flyin' Illini
5) White 1LL1NO1S
6) Orange 1LL1NO1S
7) Navy 1LL1NO1S

Nuking the 1LL1NO1S uniforms and adding Navy Script and White Flyin' Illini would literally result in a reduction in the number of uniforms in our rotation ... get it done!! Unfortunately, I have now come to believe that there is no real contractual obligation at all, and some sorry, breathtakingly out-of-touch fool in the DIA legitimately likes the 1LL1NO1S font ... I mean, it is it still in our end zones, it is still on the basketball court, it was it JUST painted onto the brand new scoreboard, etc. We easily could have replaced it in all of those areas with the Script or block Flyin' Illini font if the people in power wanted to. :cry:
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My foundation Illini hoops fandom was for the teams that wore only the white and blue Block Fighting Illini kit from the early '80s. The orange was added in the '88-'89 campaign and immediately became my favorite. I'm indifferent aobut adding the white Block FIs at the point. I fully agree with three scripts and three Block FIs and end it.
 
#68      
Fighter of the Nightman
altgeld88 said:
My foundation Illini hoops fandom was for the teams that wore only the white and blue Block Fighting Illini kit from the early '80s. The orange was added in the '88-'89 campaign and immediately became my favorite. I'm indifferent aobut adding the white Block FIs at the point. I fully agree with three scripts and three Block FIs and end it.
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I'll admit that while there was a time when I wanted the White Flyin' Illini to be our "default home" and utilize the White Script for "bigger" home games, this past season sort of changed my mind. If I had to rank all six throwbacks by my subjective taste AND what each has come to mean for our "brand" or whatever, this would be the current power ranking:

1. Orange Script - I think some still underestimate just how synonymous this became with our program because of the Final Four run. It is easily the most identifiable with ~Illini Basketball~ right now, and it's damn beautiful.
2. Navy Script - This one does not exist, but I think its debut would immediately catapult it up to probably being our best uniform from purely an aesthetic POV.
3. Navy Flyin' Illini - I was always excited for this to possibly enter the rotation, but I have to admit that I was shocked at just how good it looked once we got to see it live!
4. White Script - I think I developed sort of a bias against this one because it was not in the "forbidden fruit" category since we'd had it since 2019-2020, but it is just an objectively beautiful uniform the way the white, navy and orange interact.
5. Orange Flyin' Illini - Similarly to the White Script, this one has been around for a while and thus seems less new and exciting ... but it's a great uniform.
6. White Flyin' Illini - Again, would love to see it ... but I do think it's a step behind the other five. And that is REALLY saying something about how great all of these are, because the White Flyin' Illini is still better than any other uniform any other Big Ten team has!
 
#69      
altgeld88
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I'll admit that while there was a time when I wanted the White Flyin' Illini to be our "default home" and utilize the White Script for "bigger" home games, this past season sort of changed my mind. If I had to rank all six throwbacks by my subjective taste AND what each has come to mean for our "brand" or whatever, this would be the current power ranking:

1. Orange Script - I think some still underestimate just how synonymous this became with our program because of the Final Four run. It is easily the most identifiable with ~Illini Basketball~ right now, and it's damn beautiful.
2. Navy Script - This one does not exist, but I think its debut would immediately catapult it up to probably being our best uniform from purely an aesthetic POV.
3. Navy Flyin' Illini - I was always excited for this to possibly enter the rotation, but I have to admit that I was shocked at just how good it looked once we got to see it live!
4. White Script - I think I developed sort of a bias against this one because it was not in the "forbidden fruit" category since we'd had it since 2019-2020, but it is just an objectively beautiful uniform the way the white, navy and orange interact.
5. Orange Flyin' Illini - Similarly to the White Script, this one has been around for a while and thus seems less new and exciting ... but it's a great uniform.
6. White Flyin' Illini - Again, would love to see it ... but I do think it's a step behind the other five. And that is REALLY saying something about how great all of these are, because the White Flyin' Illini is still better than any other uniform any other Big Ten team has!
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I gotta say, my brother, that if we went with only the two orange and white scripts and the two orange and blue FIs I'd be good.

By the way, I fear that you're correct about the tyrant in DIA who's maintaining the 1LL1NO1S font just to pi$$ us all off.
 
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