Illinois News & Links

- Josh Cunningham commits to Dayton over Illinois. The Bradley transfer has announced that he'll be finishing his career with the Dayton Flyers. Click here for more.

- Illinois vs. Western Illinois game time set. The Illini will kickoff against Western Illinois at 11:00am CT on September 12th. The game will televised by the Big Ten Network.

- Thomas Detry will compete in the Palmer Cup this weekend. The Cup will be played at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, IL. Detry, who was selected to play for Team Europe earlier this Spring, is the third Illini to ever participate in the Palmer Cup (Thomas Pieters, Scott Langley). You can click here to view the entire press release.

- Dan Hartleb, Tyler Jay named finalists for national awards. Hartleb was named one of eight managers up for National Coach of the Year, while Jay is one of three players up for National Pitcher of the Year.

- Cory Liuget signs 5 year, $50 million extension with the Chargers. The NFL Pro-Bowler and former Fighting Illini defensive lineman inked a huge extension with the San Diego Chargers this week.

"This is a dream come true. The Chargers are the only team I’ve ever wanted to play for since they drafted me and my number-one goal now as it has always been is just to continue to prepare and play at a high level to show them how much I appreciate their confidence in me."

~ Cory Liuget

You can click here to view the entire press release

National News & Links

- North Carolina scandal impacting entire school. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the commission that accredits the University of North Carolina, has placed UNC on 12 months probation after seven violations including academic integrity and a failure to monitor sports.

- NJIT will join the Atlantic Sun. The NJIT Highlanders have found a home. The last Division I school left without a conference will reportedly join the Atlantic Sun Conference for this upcoming season.

- Notre Dame Football in academic trouble? Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly had something to say on university academic standards in football, via the South Bend Tribune's Eric Hansen:

I think we recognized that all of my football players are at risk. All of them, really. Honestly, I don't know that any of our players would get into the school by themselves right now, with the academic standards the way they are. Maybe one or two of our players that are on scholarship.

~ Brian Kelly

Click here to see the rest of Kelly's comments.

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