Men's Basketball: Wendling, Stallworth take aim on GLVC Tournament

Athens High School graduate Matt Wendling had to find another outlet at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which arrived just days following the end of the University of Illinois Springfield men’s basketball 2019-20 season.

The senior guard recently reunited with the rest of the team for the first time since the pandemic on Oct. 15 for the first day of official practice. Players may be required to wear masks virtually at all times unless they’re on the court, but hey, it’s something.

“There’s nothing like playing five on five,” Wendling said.

Wendling, a 6-foot-6 transfer from Carl Sandburg College, emerged as one of the team’s most reliable contributors in coach Matt Brock’s first season averaging 10.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. His scoring average ranked fifth best on the team.

“It was a good year coming in with a new system,” Wendling said. “There was a lot to learn and a lot that we can certainly improve on. But I think moving forward we’ll be even better this year. We know the foundation that coach wants and it’s just us implementing it and keeping that high standard that he loves and work as hard as we can.”

UIS last reached the GLVC Tournament in 2016 and has only qualified four times since joining the league in 2009.

“It’s going to be tough but I think we got the right guys and the right coaches to do it,” UIS senior forward Collin Stallworth said. “We just have to control what we can control.”

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on October 31, 2020.

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Women's Basketball: UIS women ready to take a big leap

University of Illinois Springfield women’s basketball junior transfer Katryel Clark practiced as much as she could back home in Auburn during the coronavirus pandemic.

There was nobody else around but her sister, Karlissa, from eighth grade — a basketball player to be sure, just not in the same age group.

“I didn’t really know anyone here yet ... so me and my sister went out there and got our own work in,” Clark said. “She also plays basketball, so we went out there because there’s nothing else to do — go out and shoot and get a bunch of shots up.”

Clark returned to the college level for UIS’ first day of official practice on Oct. 15 after two seasons at Lincoln Land Community College. 

Coach Casey Thousand said building a positive culture was her biggest priority last season.

“Even though the record might not have shown it, we really got a lot out of it and we’re headed in the right direction,” Thousand said.

“We did a lot of supporting each other, team bonding and really sticking together. It was a really close group coming in, so it was kind of hard for the coaches. We had to make way and make sure that we got in the group as well, but I think by the end of the year everybody was bonded and getting together. That was really what we were striving for that first year, changing the culture and changing our drive with what we’re going with and how we’re doing things.”

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on October 30, 2020. 

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UIS Performing Arts Center - Sangamon Auditorium selected as best live music large venue

 The University of Illinois Springfield's Performing Arts Center was selected by Illinois Times readers as the best live large music venue in Springfield for 2020. Runners up in the process were the State Fair Grandstand, Boondocks, Hoogland Center for the Arts and the BOS Center.

Read the entire list of 2020 Best Of winners online at the Illinois Times.