VIDEO: Illini Now/SI Morning Update With Matthew Stevens - July 1, 2020

The Illini Now/Sports Illustrated 'Morning Update' with publisher Matthew Stevens gives you a look at the top stories involving Illinois athletics.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illini Now/Sports Illustrated publisher/editor Matthew Stevens focuses on the story of The University of Illinois athletics department obtaining and operating Stone Creek Golf Club for the purpose of turning the property into the home course for the Illini men’s and women’s golf programs.

The Illinois athletics department announced Tuesday morning via a media release that a prominent booster family (The Atkins Group) donated more than 300 acres of real estate in southeast Urbana, highlighted by Stone Creek Golf Club and its associated buildings and equipment, to the University of Illinois and the University of Illinois Foundation.

The facility upgrades also include the Illinois athletics department hiring a golf course management company and developing plans to reopen the restaurant and dining facilities, the pro shop and other banquet and hospitality spaces. The newly formulated Atkins Golf Club at the University of Illinois is expected to open for public play in the spring of 2021.

“The overwhelming generosity of the Atkins family towards the (athletics department) has been a constant for many years,” Illinois men’s golf head coach Mike Small said. “Our golf teams have always felt very welcome at Stone Creek, and we have been privileged to call Stone Creek our home for close to 20 years. Now, with the gifting of the golf course, we can continue to improve and update the facility with the intent to rival the top collegiate golf courses in the nation.”. 

The gift also includes significant real estate in and around the golf club, including more than 100 residential lots, 70 acres of undeveloped acreage, and a large commercial parcel.

• Some other items Stevens hits on are Lovie Smith's return to campus for the first time since COVID-19 shut down the U of I campus and the Illini beginning to recruit a 2021 OL who is the son of a former and current Big Ten coach