When Illinois came calling for Shauna Green, the reaction around her was mostly the same: don’t do it.
That wasn’t because Green lacked options. She had built a strong reputation as a mid-major coach on the rise, with other programs interested and a Dayton job she loved sitting right there in front of her. Illinois, by contrast, was a Big Ten program with a long way to go and very little recent success to sell.
Green was so unconvinced that she nearly shut the door herself. Her career path had taken her from an assistant role at Division III Loras College to stops at Providence, Dayton, Northwestern and then back to Dayton, and Illinois did not look like the natural next step.
Then Josh Whitman got involved.
The Illinois athletics director pushed his way into an interview and then into Green’s home, where he laid out what he believed the program could become. That visit changed the conversation, even if it didn’t immediately change Green’s mind. The first person to come around was her husband, Andy Green, who had originally been in the same camp as everyone else: pass on the job.
Illinois had given people plenty of reasons to be skeptical. The program had only three winning seasons since 2007, had won three or fewer Big Ten games nine times in that span, and had not reached the NCAA Tournament since 2002-03. Its last NCAA Tournament win came in 1999-00.
It was not, by any stretch, a place that looked ready-made for a coach with momentum.
“After the first time Josh was at our house, Andy told me that he thinks I should take it, and I wasn't even sold on that,” Shauna Green told Illini Inquirer from her corner office inside the Ubben Practice Facility. “I'm just like, 'Why?'
But he just had that feeling. So no one else, I don't remember anyone else besides him, to be honest, telling me that it was a good decision.”
In Other News...
Brad Underwood Is Already Chasing Illinois Next Frontcourt Anchor
Illinois is already looking past the current frontcourt cycle, and that is no small thing for a program that has leaned on size to shape its identity. With the Ivisic brothers moving toward graduation and David Mirkovic potentially headed for the NBA Draft, Brad Underwood and his staff are doing what good staffs do - lining up the next wave before the roster churn arrives.
One of the names now on the radar is Benjamin Berrouet, a rising national prospect from Dallas who has drawn major attention from across the country. Illinois sees a player whose size and style could fit the same lane Mirkovic occupies now, but the Illini are hardly alone in that evaluation, which means this one could turn into a real recruiting fight before it settles into anything more concrete. [Read more 🡒]
Shauna Green May Have Found Illinois Next Frontcourt Cornerstone
Shauna Green has spent the offseason continuing to shape Illinois into a team with real size inside, and the early signs suggest the frontcourt may be the next area to take another step. Berry Wallace and Cearah Parchment already give the Illini a solid interior base, but the program is also looking ahead, and that means identifying the kind of post presence that can fit alongside a perimeter-heavy attack.
One name to watch is Eve Fowler, a highly regarded center from Sage Hill in Newport Beach who has already drawn an Illinois scholarship offer. Fowlers profile points to the kind of player who can anchor the paint with post scoring and defense, traits that would make her a natural complement to what Green is building. With Wallace set to move on eventually, Illinois is clearly thinking beyond the present and trying to line up its next frontcourt cornerstone before the need becomes urgent. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Still Has One Huge Stefan Vaaks Question To Answer
The Big Tens lead-guard picture for 2026-27 is starting to take shape, and Illinois has a name right in the middle of it. Stefan Vaaks is being sized up alongside the conferences best ball-handlers, a sign of how much attention his game is already drawing before he has even settled into his next role in Champaign. For Illinois, the appeal is obvious: a guard with enough skill and versatility to matter in a league that is expected to lean heavily on perimeter creators again.
What still makes Vaaks such a fascinating puzzle is how Illinois will actually deploy him. The conversation around him is not just about whether he belongs near the top of the Big Tens lead-guard group, but whether he becomes the primary organizer or spends time working both on and off the ball. However the Illini choose to use him, that decision could shape the way their offense looks next season, and it is the kind of detail that will tell a lot about how high his ceiling really goes. [Read more 🡒]