All Activity

According to an email from Coach Embick about Day of Giving, the 2026 home schedule features matches against the following (potentially more as he said they are finalizing some dates). Dayton, Army, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Creighton, Georgetown, Xavier, Butler and Robert Morris

Who had 0 scholarship offers and was a former walk on. Someone who credits Ford and his staff with his development. Just another example of showing how effective this Zips staff has been at developing players and unlocking potential.

Amani is somewhat unique and an anomaly, he played behind an NBA draft pick and learned a lot there but he was still averaging 18 minutes and 8 points. That's tied for or more production than most of the incoming guys. The better analogy would be comparing incoming transfers to Amani's 23-24 season.

Cheers to the Buffalo and visiting Canadian fans for creating a memorable moment of friendship. Our government treats Canada like an enemy when they have been a friendly, supportive neighbor. They deserve moments like this.

You have to remember coming into this last season Amani Lyles was just a mid-major bench piece that was promoted to starter. He was coming off a 7.6 ppg, 5.2 rebounds/game season. Nobody was predicting he would make an All-MAC team, let alone make 1st team All-MAC. Every season there has been at least 1 player that has dramatically improved YoY. It would seem odd to not believe someone won't achieve the same this coming season (not necessarily 1st team all MAC). The question is just who.

Ahh I thought Halligan played the four last year and Mahaffey was the three - drop off at PF then. I see us more around the top 150 but I really hope I'm wrong and this is the best Zips team of all time. I just don't see it right now.

Although we joke, I think this is great and fully support Canada but I wonder how many U.S. arena crowds outside of Buffalo would know the words to O Canada..

We're taking a step back at PG and C. Not really sure how you can say SF. That's where Halligan started last year and I would think Pence/White would make it an upgrade. Not to mention Halligan is probably going to improve and it's TBD what we get out of Henderson. Wing is the one position that we clearly look better and deeper at. IMO we will be a worse team offensively, but a better team defensively. I doubt we'll finish a top 60 team in NET like we did last and will probably start the season off slow as it will take time to work out rotations and for players to get familiarity. I still think we can be a borderline top 100 team, which is good enough to win the MAC both regular season and MAC tournament.

I’m just not seeing how this roster stacks up to last year’s. Yeah, we’re taller, but that doesn’t really mean much by itself—there’s a lot more to winning than just size. We’re taking a step back at PG, SF, and center, and it’s not like we replaced that production with proven guys. Right now it feels more like we’re filling in with mid-major bench pieces instead of legit difference-makers. If last year’s team played this one, I think last year’s group wins pretty comfortably.

There's irony in getting significantly taller but using "sizable" as the adverb for your step back prediction. Not sure how you're coming to that conclusion as well.

Agreed and appreciate Illini ZIP's efforts and forum content!!!

He looks to be the perfect roster add at this point. No matter if he starts or comes off the bench. At minimum, he should be an 8pt, 6reb, 20-minute guy with ability to deliver much more at any spot along the baseline. Those kind of players are hard to find.

Sizable step back next season IMO

This is where we're at in college athletics. The Big 12 will likely die as a result of this.

Illini Zip graciously updates this for us in his spare time, but he doesn't owe any of us anything

I think we also need to equally keep in mind that some of the other MAC programs are catching up. Even without a decline in the Zips program, the competition is getting closer as they learn and adapt to the NIL era, an area where UA was in the forefront and got a head start on the rest of the MAC.

I definitely expect a step back this season, but I expected one had Groce stayed, too. Tavari, Shammah, and Amani are all really tough to replace. With that said, I do think this team can be competitive in the conference, if for no other reason than I believe in Coach Ford.

Need scholarship chart updated. Please add their heigth

Those attributes will fit right in, especially with a 6'7" frame.

Hammer is of Native American (Cherokee) ancestry. Love the diversity of this team.

Don't rule out Head as well. He was a near double digit scorer at Lipscomb as a freshman and has good size at 6'3".

Staveskie and Burton were the only players who started all year for the previous teams. Pence began the season as a starter, but came off the bench for the final 13 games (he did play well). Hammer Jr. (14.2 MPG) and White (8.7 MPG) played but not significant minutes. Wilson redshirted. We won't have many proven commodities to start the season, but there's plenty of talent and opportunity to show that talent.

Technically a senior as he did 2 years of JC, but with new NCAA rule of 5 years to play 5 I think he would have 2 years left.

What year is Hammer?

6'7" guy walk on named Fenrique Reeman?