CHAMPAIGN — The radio broadcast team for Illinois basketball is complete once again. Loren Tate reported on Tuesday’s SportsTalk on WDWS 1400-AM that Illinois all-time leading scorer Deon Thomas would join play-by-play man Brian Barnhart for the 2016-17 season.
The analyst position came open following the 2015-16 season when former Illini Jerry Hester stepped away from radio to spend more time with his family and his job in the insurance business. Thomas, who was an assistant coach the past two seasons at Illinois-Chicago following a five-year stint as the athletic director and basketball coach Lewis & Clark Community College, will continue the trend of former Illini on the radio team, following Hester and Stephen Bardo.