CHAMPAIGN — During a wide-ranging media roundtable on Tuesday at the Bielfeldt Athletic Administration Building, Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman went on a tangent about the history and tradition the Illini have carved in 120 years of competition.
At one point early on during his tenure that began in February of 2016, the former Illinois football player thought to himself, "Wow, we've got some unbelievable pioneers in sport as part of our athletic family. Let's celebrate that."
Whitman and about 600 others will do just that on Friday at Chicago's Field Museum during the inaugural Illinois Hall of Fame Gala, where the 28 members of the initial class will be toasted.