Big Ten Media Day: 3 Key Takeaways from Illinois AD Josh Whitman

Josh Whitman addresses progress of Illini programs and latest Big Ten developments

Dec 29, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Josh Whitman, Director of Athletics at the University of Illinois, addresses the media over the suspension of player Terrence Shannon Jr. after a rape charge on Dec.5. The address to the media came before a game with Fairleigh Dickinson at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images / Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Big Ten Media Day: Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman

ROSEMONT, Illinois – At Thursday's Big Ten men's basketball media day, Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman found himself in the unique position of addressing the media at a moment when his school's football team is nationally ranked (No. 24 in the latest AP coaches poll) and the men's and women's basketball squads are being mentioned by many pundits as top-25 programs headed into the 2024-25 season.

That development, of course, has hinged on the rapid respective growth of Bret Bielema's 4-1 football squad and Shauna Green's women's basketball team, which appears to be on the upswing after a 19-15 season and landing a verbal commitment from five-star recruit Destiny Jackson.

Day 2 of ⁦@bigten⁩ Basketball Media Days underway! Looking forward to another exciting season of ⁦@IlliniMBB⁩! #EveryDayGuys #ILL 🔶🔷🏀 pic.twitter.com/71yQj8jnNw

— Josh Whitman (@IlliniAD) October 3, 2024

"It certainly doesn't mean we've arrived," Whitman said. "But it might be that we've made some really good progress, and I would be really proud of that if that's able to happen – something that certainly, nine years ago, when I came here, we were a long way from that. And if you'd said nine years later that we were going to have a chance to have all three of those programs ranked in the top 25, that would have felt like a really meaningful achievement."

Here are three additional takeaways from a brief media meet with Illinois AD Josh Whitman:

1) Illinois needs to make the NCAA Tournament, again and again

Whitman said he's "really, really proud of where the basketball program stands" and called the fan turnout for Illinois tournament games "incredible," all of which stands to reason. But, for some, the perception of early NCAA Tournament exits for the Illini remains even after last season's Elite Eight run. Is that fair?

"I've said this several times: I think that the NCAA Tournament is a unique animal," Whitman said. "You look at what some of our professional counterparts do, they don't play the one-and-done tournaments, because the objective is to try and find the best team. The NCAA Tournament is a television phenomenon, right? It's an incredible sporting event. It's unlike anything else that we do here in the United States. So for us, we just want to keep getting back into that tournament. We want to keep we want to keep getting back there, having great regular seasons, so that we can put ourselves in the best position we possibly can through the seeding process. And every once in a while, if you're able to do that, you're going to catch it."

2) Big Ten and SEC talks

With Big Ten and SEC officials set to meet next week to reportedly discuss college football automatic bids and a possible non-conference scheduling agreement, Whitman said he's excited at the prospect of hearing different perspectives and trading ideas. But he recognizes that part of the mission is to simply bring together reps from the NCAA's two most significant conference powers as part of the process of attempting to budge a relatively immovable object.

"I think, as an industry, college athletics is in a bit of a logjam," Whitman said. "There's things that we need to do differently, but our system isn't built for meaningful change. And so if there's a necessity or an opportunity for a couple organizations – in this case, two conferences – to come together and help lead some of that change, then I think that could be a positive step for the entire ecosystem of common sports."

3) An NIL opportunity afoot?

When Whitman was asked about the recent $2.8 billion NCAA lawsuit settlement related to denied NIL opportunities – which will require schools to pony up large-sum payouts to former athletes, plus $22 million in annual payments moving forward – the Illinois AD had an interesting take on what that commitment and the necessary adjustments required by it would mean for his athletics department:

"My understanding of the settlement is that most of those decisions are going to be pushed down to the school levels, and so those are autonomous choices that each institution will be in a position to make," Whitman said. "And I think it's really a fascinating opportunity, because it opens up a lot of variability in terms of giving schools optionality around developing their own strategy and how that strategy aligns with different support programs under their umbrella. And so we do expect to be in that position to make some of those decisions around how to support some of our different sport programs and hopefully put them in a position to be competitive going forward."