Illini Football Finishes Signing Day Strong

(Featured Photo from @IlliniFootball Twitter Account)

What appeared to be a mediocre day yesterday ended up being actually pretty good, depending on how your measure a recruiting class. I take back my snark from yesterday’s Good Reads. I’m sorry.

By size, it’s a small class, which inspires skepticism, but Isaiah Williams (freshman quarterback from St. Louis) and Marquez Beason (freshman cornerback from Texas) will at least give fans a reason to get excited and maybe get a few extra thousand people into the first few games at Memorial Stadium. Win an unexpected one (Nebraska to open the Big Ten season, perhaps???) and we’ve got a legitimate turnaround on our hands, folks.

Of course, this type of excitement has happened before over the past dumpster fire of a decade, but I think we can finally start to see Lovie Smith’s team taking shape.

For more signing day coverage, I’d recommend checking out Jeremy Werner’s column for 247Sports here, and Robert from IlliniBoard‘s column here.

YouTube’s Champaign ILL Series is Moderately Funny; Doesn’t Actually Feature Champaign

Bummer.

Anyway, you can watch the first three episodes for free. Here’s the first one:

What happened to all those VeoRide bikes now that it’s winter?

You know the ones. The ones that ended up mysteriously congregated outside of the Urbana Post Office or on the roofs of various buildings at the U of I.

Photo from UIUC Memes for Underfunded Teens

What happened to them? Where did they go? Is someone responsible for rounding them all up and putting them into a warehouse? Do they go into hibernation?

The questions are boundless and the people demand answers. If you have any tips slide in my email.

City of Champaign is launching a Diversity Advancement Program

(Julie McClure / Smile Politely)

Mica Allison, local state champion volleyball player from White Heath, transfers to Illinois from Auburn

Got Illini volleyball fans feelin like:

Corrupt C-U

Christopher Hansen, an Urbana resident, has started a website (linked above) to highlight unfair (and maybe illegal?) actions taken by local police departments stemming from a 2015 arrest.

The website is dense, but very heavy on evidence (press clippings, body cam footage, etc) – for anyone with an interest in the legal system or policing in Champaign-Urbana, this one is worth a read, regardless of your political affiliation.