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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
Legendary former Illini linebacker Dick Butkus looks over at his statue while speaking during a ceremony to unveil it Friday, Oct. 11, 2019, outside the main entrance of the Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center in Champaign.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. The Butkus Award ceremony takes place Saturday evening at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. To honor the legendary former Illini Dick Butkus with an event at his old college venue is pretty cool. Our veteran columnist Bob Asmussen caught up with Illini athletic director Josh Whitman about the event.
➜ 2. Butkus made 374 tackles at Illinois from 1962-64. That still ranks ninth in Illini program history more than 60 years after No. 50 last suited up for the Illini.
➜ 3. All the more impressive considering Butkus played just three seasons with the Illini before embarking upon a nine-year NFL career with his hometown Chicago Bears that earned him an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.
Ben Humrichous has the most three-point attempts (121) and made three-pointers (42) on the Illini.
Numbers game: 300th
out of 355 Division I teams is where the Illinois men’s basketball team stood entering Friday’s games in three-point field goal percentage. The Illini are connecting on 31.4 percent of their three-point attempts. Which they’re hoisting plenty. The Illini are fourth in the country in three-point attempts per game at 31.5.
Adalia McKenzie, left, and Kendall Bostic will try to help the Illinois women’s basketball team get its first-ever win against Maryland on Sunday.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
âžœ 1. Ohio State at No. 18 Illinois men’s basketball. The 2023-24 Illini endeared themselves with a 29-9 record and a trip to the Elite Eight. Included in that run was a 4-0 record at State Farm Center last February. This season’s Illini get their first chance at a home win in February against the Buckeyes at noon on Sunday in Champaign.
➜ 2. Senior Bowl. Former Illini wide receiver Pat Bryant will get to show his worth in front of NFL personnel ahead of April’s NFL draft at 1:30 p.m. Saturday as part of the National team in Mobile, Ala.
➜ 3. Illinois at No. 14 Maryland. Beat the Terrpains on their home court on Sunday afternoon and the Illini might land in the next Associated Press Top 25 poll that comes out Monday.
The Long family, from left: Jenny, Joshua, Katie, Joanie Forsyth, Frank Forsyth, Timmy and Carl.
Coach’s corner
Three questions with Danville girls’ cross-country and girls’ track and field coach Carl Long:
âžœ 1. My favorite sports team is … the Green Bay Packers.
âžœ 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … Doug Case, Bobby Kersee and Boo Schexnayder.
âžœ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … lack of effort in practice.