The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univers ...

. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic facilities, including Memorial Stadium for football, the State Farm Center for both men's and women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, Illinois Field for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, the ARC Pool for women's

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and diving, the Atkins Tennis Center for men's and women's

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, Eichelberger Field for

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

Huff Hall Huff Hall is a 4,050-seat multi-purpose arena in Champaign, Illinois, United States. The arena opened in 1925 and was known as Huff Gymnasium until the 1990s. It is named after George Huff, who was the school's athletic director from 1895 to 193 ...

for men's and women's

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

, women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

and men's

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, Demirjian Park for women's soccer and for men's and women's outdoor

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, the

Atkins Golf Club at the University of Illinois Atkins may refer to: Places in the United States * Atkins, Arkansas, a city * Atkins, Iowa, a city * Atkins, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Atkins, Nebraska, an unincorporated community * Atkins, Virginia, a census-designated place * Atki ...

for men's and women's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, the University of Illinois Arboretum for cross country and the University of Illinois Armory for men's and women's indoor

. The Fighting Illini lay claim to over 25 National Championships dating back to 1900.

Etymology

The University of Illinois official team name is the Fighting Illini. The Illiniwek, Illinois Confederation, or Illini, were made up of 12 to 13 tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley. The term 'Illini', in relation to campus activities, appears to be first mentioned in January 1874, when the weekly newspaper changed its name from The Student to The Illini. An editorial in the first edition of the renamed newspaper indicated that Illini was a new term. During the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, it was used to refer to the students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the University, as well as to the campus as a whole. Many NCAA and High School mascots bearing reference to first nation people have changed their names, however, the University of Illinois maintains its position that the Illini nickname does not refer to the first nation inhabitants of the same land. The term Illini referring to the university's athletic teams seems to come from secondhand accounts of the athletic teams. The earliest reference in the Illio yearbook appears to be one mention in the summary of the 1907 football season. The term was more widely used in the 1910s especially during the 1914, 1915, and 1916 football seasons. '' The Daily Illini'' and football programs prior to these dates do not extensively cite the term and also used the terms "Indians," "our men," "Orange and Blue," and the "homecomers". The

Illinois Confederation The Illinois Confederation, also referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini, were made up of 12 to 13 tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley. Eventually member tribes occupied an area reaching from Lake Michicigao (Michigan) to Iowa, Ill ...

, also referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini, lived in the Mississippi River Valley and expanded their tribes in an area that stretched from Lake Michigan to Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas. The term Fighting Illini first appeared in a January 29, 1911 newspaper article describing the basketball team's effort during a game versus Purdue. By March 3, 1911, the athletic teams appeared to have earned the Fighting Illini nickname as a formal appellation evidenced in a newspaper report. In 2005, evidence suggested Fighting Illini was first used in 1921 as part of a fundraising campaign for construction of Memorial Stadium, but articles discovered in 2013 show it was first used in 1911. The Fighting Illini nickname was adopted by general consensus as an unofficial school nickname sometime between 1921–1930. It was then used in newspaper articles, football programs and other publications eventually becoming the official name.

Sports sponsored

Illinois has won 18 overall men's and women's NCAA team national championships through the 2017 NCAA athletic season. Illinois ranks thirty-sixth all-time in total NCAA Division I national championships through the 2020–21 NCAA athletic season.

Baseball

Fighting Illini baseball has 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, 33 Big Ten championships and 4 Big Ten Tournament championships in 1989, 1990, 2000 and 2011.

Basketball

Men's basketball

Fighting Illini men's basketball titles include the 1915 Helms national championship, 5 NCAA Final Four appearances in 1949, 1951, 1952, 1989, 2005, 17 Big Ten championships and 3 Big Ten Tournament championships in 2003, 2005, and 2021. Through the end of the 2013–14 season, Illinois ranks 11th all-time in

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

and 14th all-time in wins among all NCAA Division I men's college basketball programs. Bristow Adams, University of Illinois football player, 1902

Women's basketball

Fighting Illini women's basketball began play in 1974. The team won the 1997 Big Ten championship. They have made 8 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 2 Sweet Sixteen appearances in 1997 and 1998.

Cross country

Men's cross country

The men's cross country team were the Big Ten Champions in 1921, 1947 and 1984.

Women's cross country

The Fighting Illini women's cross country team began play in 1977. Illinois won an individual NCAA championship in 2009.

Football

The University of Illinois has been selected for national championship titles for their accomplishments in five seasons (1914, 1919, 1923, 1927, 1951) by NCAA-designated major selectors, often using mathematical algorithms. Illinois claims championships for all five years. The Fighting Illini program recognizes the 1951 national title selection by William F. Boand, but as recently as 2006 this was not mentioned officially by the school. The team also has 15 Big Ten Championship Football victories with 8 Bowl Game Victories at the 1947 Rose Bowl, 1952 Rose Bowl,

1964 Rose Bowl The 1964 Rose Bowl was the 50th Rose Bowl Game, played on January 1, 1964. It featured the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Washington Huskies. Illinois was led by co-captains Dick Butkus and George Donnelly, Jim Grabowski, Lynn Stewart, and Ar ...

1990 Florida Citrus Bowl The 1990 Florida Citrus Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game at the Florida Citrus Bowl stadium in Orlando, Florida between the University of Illinois Fighting Illini and the Virginia Cavaliers on January 1, 1990. The game ...

1994 Liberty Bowl The 1994 Liberty Bowl was held on December 31, 1994, in Memphis, Tennessee, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. The 36th edition of the Liberty Bowl, the game featured the Illinois Fighting Illini of the Big Ten Conference and the East Carolina Pir ...

1999 MicronPC.com Bowl The 1999 MicronPC.com Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Virginia Cavaliers on December 30, 1999. This was the tenth edition of ...

, 2010 Texas Bowl, and 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

Golf

Men's golf

The men's golf team play their home matches on the

five miles from the university's campus, and are currently led by head coach Mike Small. The Fighting Illini men's golf program has won 18 Big Ten championships and in 2013 finished as national runner-up at the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships, which was the highest finish in the program's history. 2014 was the third time in the past four years the program had qualified for the

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

portion of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships in which the final eight teams compete in a bracket format.

Women's golf

The Fighting Illini women's golf team began play in 1975. The team has made four NCAA Tournament appearances in 2002, 2003, 2011 and 2012.

Gymnastics

Men's gymnastics

The men's

team have been invited to 44 NCAA tournaments and have won 10 team NCAA championships, which is second most all-time only to Penn State Nittany Lions 12 team titles. Additionally, the Fighting Illini have won an all-time record 53 individual NCAA titles. The Illini hold their competitions at George Huff Hall on the

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

side of campus, and the team trains and holds practices at the Kenney Gym on the Urbana side of campus.

Women's gymnastics

The Fighting Illini women's gymnastics team began play in 1974. The team won three Big Ten Championships in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

Soccer

The Fighting Illini women's soccer team began play in 1997. The team won two Big Ten Championships in 2003 and 2011. They have made twelve NCAA Tournaments appearances in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. The team has four sweet sixteen appearances in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2013 and one elite eight appearance in 2004.

Softball

The Fighting Illini softball team began play in 2000. The team has made seven NCAA Tournament appearances in 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017 and 2019. The current head coach is Tyra Perry.

Swimming and diving

The Fighting Illini women's swimming and diving team began play in 1974. The team had individual NCAA champions in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Tennis

Men's tennis

The Illinois men's tennis program was founded in 1908, but has enjoyed most of its success in recent years. The Illini have been one of the most successful men's tennis programs in the nation over the past twenty seasons, winning nine consecutive Big Ten Championships from 1997–2005; six of seven Big Ten Tournament Championships between 1999 and 2005; appearing in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen fourteen times, including eight years in a row (2002–09); advancing to three NCAA Final Fours between 2003 and 2007; and winning the 2003 NCAA National Championship. They have also won two ITA National Team Indoor Championships (2003, 2004) and lost in the championship match three other times (1998, 1999, 2002). Illinois men's tennis owns the record for longest consecutive win streak in NCAA history at 64 matches, spanning from their first match of the 2002–03 season and ending with a 4–2 defeat by

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

in the semifinals of the 2004 NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament.

Women's tennis

The Fighting Illini women's tennis team began play in 1975. The women's tennis team has made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2018 and 2019.

Track and field

Men's track and field

The men's Indoor Track and Field team has a total of 20 Big Ten Champion titles. For outdoor track and field the team has NCAA National Champions in 1921, 1927,The Illini were unofficial NCAA National Champions in 1927, as the NCAA did not officially score a team national championship at the competition that year. 1944, 1946, and 1947. In addition, the team carries a total of 29 Big Ten Championships. *Indoor Track and Field Big Ten Champions: 1912, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1920, 1921, 1924, 1928, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1988, 1989 *Outdoor Track and Field Big Ten Champions: 1907, 1909, 1913, 1914, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1934, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1975, 1977, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994, 2015

Women's track and field

The Fighting Illini women's track and field team began play in 1976. The indoor track and field team won five Big Ten Championships in 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1996. The outdoor track and field team won the 1970 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national championship and six Big Ten Championships in 1988, 1989, 1992, 1995, 2005 and 2007.

Volleyball

Women's volleyball started in 1974., Since moving into

from the Kenney Gym in 1990, the Illinois Volleyball team has remained in the top 10 in the nation for average home attendance. In 2013, the program broke its previous home attendance record, averaging 3,117 per match. Kenney Gym served as the initial home court from 1974 through the 1989 season. Since the founding of the volleyball program in 1974, the Fighting Illini have had 30+ winning seasons.

Wrestling

The current head coach of the University of Illinois Fighting Illini is Mike Poeta, who was a two-time NCAA finalist for Illinois. He replaced Jim Heffernan, who retired in 2021.

is the current home arena for the wrestling team, seating approximately 4,500. * ''Big Ten Champions'': 1913, 1917, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1935, 1937, 1946, 1947, 1952, 2005 * The University of Illinois has had 24 NCAA National Champion wrestlers, with the most recent being Jesse Delgado in 2013 and 2014 and Isaiah Martinez in 2015 and 2016.

Illinois Fighting Illini varsity sports timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:25 Period = from:1867 till:2015 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:skyblue from:1879 till:1881 text:Baseball (1879–1881, 1883–present) bar:1 color:white from:1882 till:1883 text: bar:1 color:skyblue from:1883 till:end text: bar:2 color:skyblue from:1890 till:end text:Football (1890–present) bar:3 color:skyblue from:1890 till:end text:Men's tennis (1890–present) bar:4 color:skyblue from:1901 till:end text:Men's track & field (1901–present) bar:5 color:skyblue from:1905 till:end text:Men's basketball (1905–present) bar:6 color:skyblue from:1905 till:end text:Men's gymnastics (1905–present) bar:7 color:skyblue from:1905 till:1993 text:Men's swimming & diving (1905–1993) bar:8 color:skyblue from:1905 till:1940 text:Men's water polo (1905–1940) bar:9 color:skyblue from:1908 till:end text:Men's golf (1908–present) bar:10 color:skyblue from:1910 till:1917 text:Wrestling (1910–1917, 1919–present) bar:10 color:white from:1917 till:1919 text: bar:10 color:skyblue from:1919 till:end text: bar:11 color:skyblue from:1910 till:1910 text:Men's soccer (1910, 1927–1935) bar:11 color:white from:1910 till:1927 text: bar:11 color:skyblue from:1927 till:1935 text: bar:12 color:skyblue from:1911 till:1993 text:Men's fencing (1911–1993) bar:13 color:skyblue from:1912 till:end text:Men's cross country (1911–present) bar:14 color:skyblue from:1932 till:1941 text:Men's polo (1932–1941) bar:14 color:white from:1941 till:1955 text: bar:15 color:skyblue from:1937 till:1943 text:Men's hockey (1937–1943) bar:15 color:white from:1941 till:1955 text: bar:16 color:skyblue from:1974 till:end text:Women's basketball (1974–present) bar:17 color:skyblue from:1974 till:end text:Women's gymnastics (1974–present) bar:18 color:skyblue from:1974 till:end text:Women's swimming & diving (1974–present) bar:19 color:skyblue from:1974 till:end text:Women's volleyball (1974–present) bar:20 color:skyblue from:1975 till:end text:Women's golf (1975–present) bar:21 color:skyblue from:1975 till:end text:Women's tennis (1975–present) bar:22 color:skyblue from:1976 till:end text:Women's track & field (1976–present) bar:23 color:skyblue from:1977 till:end text:Women's cross country (1977–present) bar:24 color:skyblue from:1997 till:end text:Women's soccer (97–pres.) bar:25 color:skyblue from:2000 till:end text:Softball (2000–present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1879 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(175,30) # tabs:(0-center) text:"Illinois Fighting Illini varsity sports timeline" References: Men's basketball, Men's fencing, Men's hockey, Men's polo, Men's soccer, Men's water polo

Former varsity sports

Illinois fencing won National Championships in 1956 and 1958. Fencing was dropped as a varsity sport in 1993. Men's swimming and diving was dropped as a varsity sport in 1993, but were Big Ten Champions in 1911, 1912 and 1913.

Club sports

Club sports include men's ice hockey, women's ice hockey, men's lacrosse,

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

, men's and women's rugby, tennis, men's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's ultimate frisbee, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's track and field, and men's and women's boxing.

Boxing

Both the men's and women's boxing teams compete as part of the United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association. Illinois hosted the USIBA national championships in 2018, and the men's team won the 2018 and 2019 tournaments. The women's team won the 2022 tournament.

Ice hockey

The men's ice hockey team has played in the Division I

Central States Collegiate Hockey League The Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) is Division I ACHA level hockey-college athletic conference. The CSCHL is in its 51st season of existence and is one of the top ranked ACHA leagues. It currently has 4 member teams in the Midwe ...

conference since 1979, which is part of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), winning national championships in 2005 and 2008, with runner-up finishes in 2009 and 2018. A second team competes in the Division II Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association. A feasibility study published in March 2018, and commissioned by the NHL, NHLPA, and College Hockey, Inc., found a high probability of success for the hockey program to transition to NCAA Division I.

Men's rugby

Founded in 1963, the University of Illinois Men's Rugby Football Club plays in Division 1-A in the Big Ten Universities conference. The Illini have experienced success in

college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...

, including winning several Big 10 championships in the 1980s and reaching the national semifinals in 1980, 1983 and 1985. The Illini play their home matches in Urbana at the Complex Fields.

Wheelchair basketball

The men's wheelchair basketball team was founded in 1948 by Dr. Timothy Nugent in response to a large number of disabled veterans using the G.I. Bill to attend the University of Illinois. Dr. Nugent later started a women's team in 1970. A total of 29 national championships are claimed between the men and women's teams.

Rowing

Founded in 2005, Illini Rowing is one of the youngest university rowing teams in the country. They practice on Clinton Lake and in the ARC. On Clinton Lake, they host the Illinois Collegiate Rowing Invitational where they race against many other midwestern universities. They compete across the country in the

American Collegiate Rowing Association American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) is one of the governing bodies of college rowing in the United States, together with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA). History Estab ...

Athletic facilities

Current facilities

* Activities and Recreation Center (ARC Pool) — Women's swimming and diving * Atkins Tennis Center — Men's and women's tennis * Eichelberger Field — Softball *

— Men's and women's gymnastics, women's volleyball, wrestling * Illinois Field — Baseball * Demirjian Park — Women's soccer, Men's and women's outdoor track and field * Memorial Stadium — Football * State Farm Center (formerly Assembly Hall) — Men's and women's basketball *

— Men's and women's golf * University of Illinois Arboretum — Men's and women's cross country * University of Illinois Armory — Men's and women's indoor track and field

Practice facilities

*Demirjian Golf Practice Facility — Men's and women's golf indoor practice facility *Irwin Indoor Practice Facility — Football, women's soccer, baseball, softball * Kenney Gym and Kenney Gym Annex — Men's and women's gymnastics *Lauritsen/Wohlers Outdoor Golf Practice Facility — Men's and women's golf outdoor practice facility *U of I Orange and Blue Golf Courses — Men's and women's golf short-game practice center

Former facilities

— Men's basketball (1925–1963) * Original Illinois Field — Baseball (1884–1987) and football (1893–1922) * Kenney Gym and Kenney Gym Annex — Men's basketball (1905–1925)

Club and intramural facilities

* Activities and Recreation Center — Intramural sports * Complex Fields — Intramural sports * CRCE — Intramural sports * University of Illinois Ice Arena — Men's and women's club hockey, Synchronized skating

Illinois traditions

Marching Illini

The Marching Illini is the

marching band A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...

of the university. The Marching Illini is an organization which annually includes approximately 350 students. Part of the College of Fine and Applied Arts and the School of Music, the Marching Illini represent virtually every college, discipline, and major on the University's diverse Urbana-Champaign campus. The band primarily performs before, during, and after University of Illinois home football games. The band also performs an indoor concert at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts featuring special lighting effects, performances by individual sections, and slightly pithy comic routines. The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music houses a collection of University Band recordings and performances and recording sessions from 1940–1987. The band has several traditions such as the Pregame Show, Three-In-One, Illinois Loyalty and Oskee Wow-Wow.

Illinois Loyalty

Illinois Loyalty is the main school song of the university. It was first performed on March 3, 1906 and is one of the oldest songs of its kind in the United States. The song was written by Thacher Howland Guild (1879-1914), instructor in rhetoric and a member of the band's solo cornet section. Due to the song's length, it is normally played only at the beginning, halftime, and end of football games.

Oskee Wow-Wow

Oskee Wow-Wow is the official fight song of the University of Illinois. Most commonly, it is played "from the hold" at the start of the chorus, when the "O" in "Oskee Wow-Wow" is held out. This version is played after first downs and touchdowns in football, and leading into time outs in

. Coincidentally, the buzzers at nearly every arena are in the same chord as the hold. For many years, the band started playing the song "from the top" toward the end of the warmup period in basketball. When conducted correctly, the "hold" is played just as the buzzer sounds.

Oskee Wow-Wow yell

The Oskee Wow-Wow yell is a University of Illinois spirit yell originated in 1899. The yell was modified in 1912 and 1916.

Athletic directors

* Edward K. Hall (1892–1894) * Fred D. Dodge (1894–1895) * Henry H. Everett (1895–1898) * Jacob K. Shell (1898–1901) * George Huff (1901–1936) * Wendell S. Wilson (1936–1941) *

Douglas R. Mills Douglas Raymond "Gaga" Mills (April 9, 1907 – August 12, 1993), a native of Elgin, Illinois, was a high school and college basketball player and coach in the state of Illinois. During high school, Mills was the first player in the state to lead ...

(1941–1966) * Leslie Bryan (1966–1967) *

Gene Vance Ellis Eugene Vance (February 25, 1923 – February 16, 2012) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Chicago Stags and Tri-Cities ...

(1967–1972) * Charles E. Flynn (1972) * Cecil Coleman (1972–1979) * Ray Eliot (1979) * Neale Stoner (1980–1988) * Ron Guenther (1988) * Karol A. Kahrs (1988) *

John Mackovic John Mackovic (born October 1, 1943) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach of the Italy national American football team, which was formed to compete in the EFAF European Championship. Previously, Mackovic served as the he ...

(1988–1991) * Robert Todd (1991–1992) * Ron Guenther (1992–2011) * Mike Thomas (2011–2015) * Paul Kowalczyk (2015) * Josh Whitman (2016–present)

Notable alumni

The University has a number of notable alumni and administrators in the world of athletics. In football, notable Alumni include Dick Butkus,

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...

Jeff George Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

, Simeon Rice, Ray Nitschke and George Halas. Famous basketball alumni include Dee Brown,

Deron Williams Deron Michael Williams ( ; born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. A thr ...

, Luther Head,

Derek Harper Derek Ricardo Harper (born October 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A second-team All-American at the University of Illinois, he was the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft and spent 16 seasons as a point guar ...

, Nick Anderson,

Chuck Carney Charles Roslyn Carney (August 25, 1900 – September 5, 1984) was an American football and basketball player. Carney was born in Chicago in 1900. He enrolled at the University of Illinois where he excelled in both football and basketball. H ...

, Brian Cook, Kendall Gill, Steve Bardo, Jerry Colangelo, and Johnny Orr. Notable athletes in baseball include Lou Boudreau, Hoot Evers and

Ken Holtzman Kenneth Dale Holtzman (born November 3, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Chicago Cubs for whom he pitch ...

. The University has also a number of Olympic athletes that include George Kerr, Don Laz, Daniel Kinsey, Harold Osborn,

Bob Richards Robert Eugene Richards (born February 20, 1926) is an American retired athlete, minister, and politician. He made three U.S. Olympic Teams in two events: the 1948, 1952, and 1956 Summer Olympics as a pole vaulter and as a decathlete in 1956. He ...

, and Justin Spring,

Mascot controversy

From 1926 to 2007,

Chief Illiniwek Chief Illiniwek was the mascot of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign (UIUC), associated with the university's intercollegiate athletic programs, from October 30, 1926, to February 21, 2007. Chief Illiniwek was portrayed by a student t ...

was the symbol for the Fighting Illini. Chief Illiniwek was a Native American symbol portrayed by a white student. Chief Illiniwek symbolized the Illini, a confederation of indigenous tribes who historically had inhabited much of present-day Illinois; however the clothing and regalia for the symbol was from the Sioux nation. Chief Illiniwek would perform during halftime at Illinois football and basketball games, wearing a feathered headdress and buckskin clothes, and dancing while the

played "Three in One", an arrangement of three original songs. It was customary for Illinois fans and attendees to raise their arms at the end of the halftime proceedings and, in unison, yell 'chief.' In 2005, the Chief was one of 18 mascots (though Illiniwek was considered a symbol and not a mascot) cited as "hostile or abusive" by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in a

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

that banned schools from full participation in postseason activities as long as they continued to use such mascots. The University of Illinois retired Chief Illiniwek in 2007. Debate about the Chief has continued to this day. The university chancellor appointed a Commission on Native Imagery to recommend ways "to provide closure, healing and reconciliation... to facilitate the establishment of new traditions... ndto honor and partner with the Native Nations for whom Illinois is their ancestral home." The Fighting Illini are one of three Big Ten programs that do not have a mascot. (The other two are the

Wolverines The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscu ...

and the Hoosiers.) In the 2020 student elections, the student body voted 4222 to 3597 for a preliminary proposal to adopt a new mascot, the belted kingfisher. The female belted kingfisher, who is "naturally true to the orange and blue", would be the first female mascot in the Big Ten. The referendum was downplayed by the university administration who said that the "results will be shared with the university administration and the board of trustees but will not result in a new mascot at this time."

References

External links

* {{Illinois Sports 1879 establishments in Illinois Sports clubs established in 1879