The Illinois Fighting Illini women’s basketball team has been one of the best stories of the 2022-23 college hoops season. First-year head coach Shauna Green has helped lead the Illini to a 21-win regular season and an 11-7 mark in Big Ten action. Most notbaly, the Orange & Blue will be competing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in TWENTY YEARS. It’s been a truly remarkable turnaround to witness, an eye-popping season for a program that was in tumult for nearly a decade.
For some context, then-Athletic Director “Mid-Major Mike” Thomas hired former UW-Green Bay women’s basketball coach Matt Bollant to take over the Illini in 2012.