By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
NOTE: In mid-June, University of Illinois Director of Athletics Josh Whitman met with reporters from around the state for his annual media roundtable. Whitman's wide-ranging topics included an in-depth review of all of the unique factors that surrounded the highly unusual 2020-21 athletic season, the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics' aggressive plan to expand its facilities, the myriad controversial issues that currently surround college athletics, and a look forward to the future of the Fighting Illini.
In part one of this four-part series, Whitman shares his thoughts about Illinois' abnormal but successful athletic season, the student-athletes' all-star performance in the classroom, and UI athletics' response to social justice.
There's no more appropriate way to describe the University of Illinois' athletic season of 2020-21 than unusual, but Josh Whitman sprinkled in numerous other adjectives to illustrate "the year that was" for his coaches and student-athletes.
"They showed remarkable character, commitment and resiliency throughout 2020-21," he said. "We threw a lot of things at them that in ordinary times would have been considered unthinkable. We put schedules in front of them two to three weeks before seasons were supposed to start. Think about how crazy that is. The cancellations and rescheduling … they showed just an incredible amount of flexibility."
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, competing in totally empty arenas became the norm for the Illini.
"As a comparison, in 2018-19 we hosted 145 home athletic events and we welcomed 550,000 people to those events," Whitman said. "In 2019-20, which was cut short in the Spring, we hosted 111 home events and 583,000 people were in attendance. This past year, we hosted 110 home events and had approximately 4,000 people in attendance, none of whom paid to be there."
Despite the lack of moral support from their fans, Illinois' teams had an exceptional year, particularly in the face of the circumstances that existed around it.
Men's golf won its sixth consecutive Big Ten championship and 11th in the last 12 years. Mike Small's program qualified for the NCAA Championship for the 13th consecutive season and advanced to match play for the seventh time in the 11 years that that format has existed.
"Mike continues to be the greatest golf coach in the country and we're very proud of him leading our program," Whitman said.
Men's tennis, under Brad Dancer's leadership, had another exceptional season—23-3 overall record and 15-1 in the Big Ten. A dramatic victory in the Big Ten tournament finals and a return to the NCAA Sweet 16 highlighted Illinois' season.
"To see the match they had against Ohio State was one of those that will go down in record books," Whitman said. "It was an epic performance and a tremendous accomplishment."
Success for the Illini men's basketball team continued to flourish in 2020-21. It finished with a school record 16 Big Ten victories, captured the Big Ten Tournament championship, finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the AP poll, and captured a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
"For us to post the best Big Ten record over the last two seasons during what has arguably been one of the strongest conferences in the history of college basketball speaks volumes about where we've been and where we are headed," Whitman said. "Hats off to Ayo (Dosunmu) and Kofi (Cockburn), two guys who have left their names in the record books and will eventually have their jerseys in the rafters at State Farm Center."
Academically speaking, it was an even more impressive performance for Illinois student-athletes this past season. For the first time ever, all 19 varsity sports posted consecutive semesters (Fall 2020 and Spring 2021) of 3.00 grade point averages (GPA) or better.
"That hadn't happened once (in recorded history), let alone twice," Whitman said.
Scholastic achievements by Illini student-athletes were especially impressive during the Spring semester. Their combined GPA this past semester was 3.54, including best-ever marks by football, basketball, baseball, men's track and field, men's cross country, women's track and field, women's cross country and women's tennis. Female student-athletes checked in with a combined GPA of 3.66, while their male counterparts were 3.40. In all, a stunning 82 percent of the more than 500 student-athletes achieved at least a 3.0 average, while an even more staggering 82 athletes posted perfect 4.0 GPAs.
"I was pretty academically motivated," Whitman said, "but I can't imagine having to take an entire year of classes in a virtual space. Personally, I wouldn't have had the discipline to do it. So, I have such appreciation and respect for our student-athletes and academic support staff for doing the things that were necessary to continue to perform at that level."
The 2020-21 season also was one that centered around social justice. Fortunately, the DIA's infrastructure pre-dated George Floyd, focusing on this for the last five years. Shortly after Whitman took over as Illinois' athletic director in 2016, he was instrumental in creating a group that specifically addressed diversity and inclusion.
"We were proactive about social justice long before George Floyd, so we have every intention of continuing to be proactive on that front," Whitman said. "I challenged our student-athletes last summer. When this subject fades to the second page of the newspaper and it's no longer a daily topic of conversation, I told our student-athletes that they needed to hold me accountable and make sure that our program is remaining active in this space. I'm proud to say that we've continued to do that. We're in the process of hiring a new leader who will have daily responsibility to make sure this conversation remains active. I think that you will continue to see us be influential in the local community and in the college athletics space. It's an important part of our identity."
Part two of the series will focus on Illinois' continued fundraising success, the DIA's aggressive facilities expansion, and Josh Whitman's phase two construction plan.
