FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas men’s basketball is reportedly set to play Illinois at a “planned Thanksgiving event” in Kansas City on Nov. 28 on CBS.
Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman confirmed the game during an annual media roundtable, according to reports Thursday. Whitman reportedly said the game will be televised by CBS following the network’s NFL game that day between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears, which would put it around 3 p.m..
This is the fourth nonconference game reported for the Razorbacks. They are also set to play Miami in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 3; Michigan on Dec. 10 at Madison Square Garden; and a guarantee game against Oakland on Dec. 30 at Bud Walton Arena.
Only the Miami game has been officially announced by Arkansas.
The Razorbacks will play Illinois for the second time in three seasons. Arkansas defeated the Fighting Illini 73-63 during the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.
The teams were part of the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City in November 2021 but did not play against each other. Illinois has a 5-1 lead in the all-time series against Arkansas.
Like the Razorbacks, the Fighting Illini will have a new-look roster heading into the 2024-25 season, with Terrence Shannon and Marcus Damask both graduating and Coleman Hawkins (Kansas State) and Dain Dainja (Memphis) transferring. Illinois needed to replace production from its Elite Eight run and did so through the transfer portal.
Illinois lost to eventual champion Connecticut in the national quarterfinal.
Coach Brad Underwood added impact transfers. Kylan Boswell (Arizona) is the standout name, but Ben Humrichous (Evansville), Jake Davis (Mercer), Carey Booth (Notre Dame) and Tre Davis (Louisville) will be expected to contribute. Underwood also added freshman Tomislav Ivisic, the brother of Arkansas’ Zvonimir Ivisic.
Ty Rodgers is Illinois’ leading returner after starting in every game last season, averaging 6.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He and sophomore Dra Gibbs-Lawthorn could be expected to take on larger roles.
Arkansas enters the new season under new coach John Calipari with a nearly entirely new roster than what it had in former coach Eric Musselman’s final season. Trevon Brazile and walk-on Lawson Blake are the only returners from last year’s team.
They will be joined by transfers transfers Zvonimir Ivisic (Kentucky), Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee), Johnell Davis (Florida Atlantic), Adou Thiero (Kentucky) and DJ Wagner (Kentucky), and freshmen Karter Knox, Johnuel “Boogie” Fland and Billy Richmond.