When we started this list, we were going to combine both football and Illini basketball into one list, preferably ten. Then we saw that the gridiron material just didn’t move the needle too much. No disrespect to Lovie Smith and company, it’s unfortunately just the way it is.
Thus we had to make it all basketball, and shorten the list a bit.
Illinois plays their annual United Center contest tomorrow (game preview and prediction here at this link) and we figured a big event like this, as the year winds down, was the perfect time to recap our five most popular Illini basketball stories of 2016.
Enjoy this list and the game tomorrow night!
1. Jay Williams of ESPN Gives Very Strong Take on Illini Basketball 3,881
2. Seven Compelling Illini Basketball Head Coaching Candidates 1,832
3. Illini Basketball: Let’s Talk that #1 in the B1G Ranked Recruiting Class 712
4. Illini Basketball Fans, How to Survive the Recruiting News Cycle 634
The Sports Bank Most Popular Stories of 2016 Series:
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.