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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
Eastern Illinois graduate Sean Payton will be back in Charleston on June 1 for 'An Evening with Champions' that also includes former EIU standouts Tony Romo, Mike Shanahan and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. Four Eastern Illinois graduate who made their name in the NFL are coming back to their alma mater in Charleston in a little more than a month on June 1.
➜ 2. Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton, CBS analyst and former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, two-time Super Bowl winning coach with the Broncos Mike Shanahan and current Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will headline ‘An Evening with the Champions,’ at Groniger Arena.
➜ 3. This fundraising opportunity at EIU — where former EIU quarterbacks Payton, Romo, Shanahan and Garoppolo will spin stories from their careers with tickets starting at $300 — will benefit the Panthers’ athletic department. A dinner, cash bar and live auction are all part of the night.
From left, Luke Goode, Terrence Shannon Jr., Dain Dainja, Marcus Domask and Ty Rodgers near the end of the Illini's Elite Eight game against Connecticut at TD Garden in Boston on March 30. Of the five players in this photo, only Rodgers is slated to play at Illinois next season. Shannon and Domask are out of eligibility, with Goode and Dainja transferring.
Numbers game: 9.56
Percent of the points returning on the Illinois men’s basketball roster for the 2024-25 season. Of the 3,168 points the Illini scored last season en route to becoming one of the nation’s most prolific offenses, only Ty Rodgers (234 points), Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (66 points) and walk-on AJ Redd (three points) are players who actually made a basket for Illinois last season and seem to be sticking around. At least right now. The rest of the roster is either out of eligibility (Terrence Shannon Jr., Marcus Domask, Quincy Guerrier, Justin Harmon, Max Williams), declaring for the NBA draft (Coleman Hawkins) or transferring (Dain Dainja, Luke Goode, Amani Hansberry, Sencire Harris, Nico Moretti). Welcome to college basketball in 2024.
Monticello junior Ike Young connects on a hit during the Sages’ baseball practice in late April in Monticello. Young, along with Urbana girls' soccer player Chloe Sikora, are the latest recipients of The News-Gazette's High School Athletes of the Week, powered by Copper Creek Contractors.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. Indiana State at Illinois baseball. We’ll see if the Illini can add to their Big Ten-leading 76 home runs on Tuesday night in this nonconference game that gets underway at 6 p.m. at Illinois Field.
➜ 2. Lincoln Land at Parkland softball. The top-ranked Cobras finished off the regular season Sunday with a sweep of Heartland and carry a 52-4 record into Thursday’s Region 24 tournament game against the Loggers (14-32). First pitch is at 2 p.m. in Champaign.
➜ 3. Monticello at St. Joseph-Ogden baseball. The Illini Prairie conference showdown between the Sages (24-2) and Spartans (23-2) at Meier Field in St. Joseph was rained out Monday, but is rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. on May 6.
Provided
Danville Area Community College men's golf coach Terry French
Coach’s corner
Three questions with Danville Area Community College men’s golf coach Terry French. The former Bismarck-Henning golf coach, who won The N-G’s Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2015, is in his fifth season coaching the Jaguars. DACC plays Tuesday at the NJCAA Central District Championship at Weibring Golf Club in Normal:
➜ 1. My favorite sports teams are ... the Illinois golf and basketball teams.
➜ 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are ... Mike Small, Brad Underwood and Matt Painter. It would be great to hear their coaching philosophies with athletes in today’s world.
➜ 3. My biggest pet peeve is ... being late for anything.
