Written by Brent Yarina, BTN.comLike it or not, Twitter is becoming a part of our everyday lives. Here at BTN.com, we’re constantly monitoring the social media site for all the latest news, analysis and happenings from each of the Big Ten’s 12 institutions. While we all have our collection of follows that we trust and rely on, we wanted to take this time to share our favorite school-specific accounts. Up first: Illinois.
The Illini have a bunch of worthy follows, from informative beat writers (@PKlee_IlliniHQ) to dedicated bloggers (@Hailtotheorange) to famous and passionate alumni (@williamfleitch). In other words, whatever you’re looking for, Illinois has a presence on Twitter.
See our list of recommended Illinois follows below:
Name: Paul Klee
Twitter handle: @PKlee_IlliniHQ
Twitter profile: “University of Illinois and college basketball writer for The News-Gazette. Fly fisher. Dog owner. Pilot. Denver native. 2011 Jerome champ.”
Followers: 5,353
Sample tweet:
Here's an offseason project. Can anyone fix basketball in the state of Illinois? It's broken and desperately needs an overhaul.—
Paul Klee (@PKlee_IlliniHQ) April 05, 2012
Name: Shannon Ryan
Twitter handle: @sryantribune
Twitter profile: “College football and basketball reporter for Chicago Tribune.”
Followers: 3,165
Sample tweet:
If you told me this was from The Onion, I would totally believe it. Louisville-Kentucky fans fight at dialysis center: bit.ly/Hi4pDm—
Shannon Ryan (@sryantribune) March 27, 2012
Name: Jeremy Werner
Twitter handle: @WernerConnectFM
Twitter profile: “Co-host, Tay and J Show, 3-6, 93.5, 95.3 ConnectFM, myconnectfm.com. Call 217-359-2255. Text 70236. Illini columnist, OrangeandBlueNews.com.”
Followers: 2,030
Sample tweet:
Spence TFL, Buchanan with his fourth sack. #illini slowly becoming D-Line U. Liuget, Mercilus and at least 2 more pros on this line.—
Jeremy Werner (@WernerConnectFM) April 14, 2012
Name: Mark Tupper
Twitter handle: @MarkTupper
Twitter profile: “Decatur (Ill.) Herald & Review executive sports editor; frustrated cook; walleye dreamer; Soft Machine/Hendrix fan; wine lover.”
Followers: 2,288
Sample tweet:
Wanted: JC big man now that Meyers Leonard has declared for the NBA draft. Press conference Tuesday in Champaign. #dechr—
Mark Tupper (@MarkTupper) April 03, 2012
Name: Bob Asmussen
Twitter handle: @BobAsmussen
Twitter profile: “Bob Asmussen is the Illinois football beat writer for the Champaign News-Gazette and IlliniHQ.com.”
Followers: 2,110
Sample tweet:
The fans in the stands today should be handed free season tickets on their way out of the stadium. Or at least a free Coke.—
Bob Asmussen (@BobAsmussen) April 14, 2012
Name: Stu Durando
Twitter handle: @StuDurando
Twitter profile: “Beat writer covering University of Illinois sports, college sports in general and other assorted topics for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.”
Followers: 2,144
Sample tweet:
Didn't see this coming: Illinois players voted freshman guard Tracy Abrams team MVP. He averaged 4.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists.—
stu durando (@studurando) April 11, 2012
Name: Doug Bucshon
Twitter handle: @IllinoisRivals
Twitter profile: “The official Twitter account for Orange&BlueNews.com (Rivals.com). The inside scoop on Illinois Fighting Illini football, basketball, and recruiting.”
Followers: 983
Sample tweet:
DE Michael Buchanan will be a stud for #Illini this fall. 8 tackles and 2 sacks in 1st half of spring game—
Doug Bucshon (@IllinoisRivals) April 14, 2012
Name: Frank the Tank
Twitter handle: @frankthetank111
Twitter profile: “Lawyer that blogs about the college sports business at Frank the Tank’s Slant. Diehard fan of the Illini, Bears, Bulls, White Sox and Blackhawks.”
Followers: 2,349
Sample tweet:
Zoooook almost rhymes with sooooooey, right? #ArkansasCoachingSearch—
Frank the Tank (@frankthetank111) April 10, 2012
Name: Joe Kutsunis
Twitter handle: @Hailtotheorange
Twitter profile: “The source for timely Illini news and pathetic attempts at humor.”
Followers: 1,137
Sample tweet:
This is a good opportunity to pontificate on the problems of college basketball too. One year rule: bad. It is throwing college out of whack—
Joe K (@Hailtotheorange) April 03, 2012
Name: Herb Gould
Twitter handle: @HerbGould
Twitter profile: “sportswriter, brewer, hacker (swings right, putts left).”
Followers: 1,408
Sample tweet:
How many #illini fans could have picked Mike Thomas, Tim Beckman and John Groce out of a lineup a year ago? Hypothetically, of course.—
Herb Gould (@HerbGould) April 14, 2012
Name: Dan O’Brien
Twitter handle: @IllinoisLoyalty
Twitter profile: “The glory and heartbreak of Fighting Illini Athletics.”
Followers: 4,007
Sample tweet:
Direct message to Chris Collins: Superb timing on that Chicago media blitz—
Dan O'Brien (@IllinoisLoyalty) March 17, 2012
Name: Will Leitch
Twitter handle: @williamfleitch
Twitter profile: “Contributing Editor for New York Magazine, Deadspin founder, Mattoonian.”
Followers: 30,452
Sample tweet:
Wait … let me get this straight … K-State fans are mad they hired Bruce Weber over … Doug Gottlieb? Seriously? bringonthecats.com—
Will Leitch (@williamfleitch) March 31, 2012
Name: A Lion Eye
Twitter handle: @ALionEye
Twitter profile: “One of the 17 Illini fans who cares more about football than basketball. Because of that, everyone thinks I hate basketball.”
Followers: 1,753
Sample tweet:
So Purdue, Cincy, Indiana, and Nebraska all cancel their spring games today because of rain. ILLINI AREN'T AFRAID OF RAIN. #itssomething—
A Lion Eye (@ALionEye) April 14, 2012
Name: Nick Smith
Twitter handle: @thechainsaw45
Twitter profile: “Tallest Player in Illini basketball history. You can call me Nick if you want, but I much prefer Chainsaw.”
Followers: 209
Sample tweet:
It looks like Groce bought one of those ties Bruce was auctioning off.—
Nick Smith (@thechainsaw45) March 29, 2012
Name: Chief Illiniwek
Twitter handle: @cheifilliniwek
Twitter profile: “Official Twitter Account for the Chief. About all things #illini We’re gone, but not forgotten.”
Followers: 506
Sample tweet:
How awkward would it have been to have gotten Frank Martin, only for KSU to get Weber.—
Chief Illiniwek (@chiefilliniwek) March 31, 2012
Name: Dave Wischnowsky
Twitter handle: @wischlist
Twitter profile: “CBSChicago.com Sports blogger. WischList.com newspaper columnist. Cubs fan. Illini. Chicagoan. Yeah, that about covers it.”
Followers: 806
Sample tweet:
Ferris State's nickname should really be the Buellers. #frozenfour—
Dave Wischnowsky (@wischlist) April 08, 2012
Name: Big Ten Network
Twitter handle: @BTN_Illinois
Twitter profile: “Illinois Fighting Illini video & headlines from @BigTenNetwork.”
Followers: 2,485
Sample tweet:
The Illinois spring football game will stream live on BTN2Go and The Big Ten Digital Network at 3 PM ET. #Illini—
Big Ten Network (@BTN_Illinois) April 14, 2012
Have a worthy Illini Twitter account that we missed? Leave it as a comment in the box below.
Brent Yarina is a web editor and blogger for BTN.com. Find all of his work here and follow him on twitter at @BTNBrentYarina.
Seriously, you can’t make a list of Illini twitter accounts to follow and not include @ALionEye – one of the most passionate and devoted Illini bloggers out there.
Added! Thanks for the addition.
@ALionEye – best blogger for all things Illinois sports
Illinois Loyalty is not really a dedicated blogger, in fact he’s not really a blogger at all. His site is a message board that does a good job of posting other peoples content quickly. He provides no original content of his own. If you look closely, all of his “posts” are just links to message board threads that start with someone else’s info (newspaper, twitter, etc.)
Also, I’m pretty sure the Nick Smith account is not the ‘real’ Nick Smith. It’s a funny parody account thought.
John Supinie is notably absent. He covers so many Illini sports for PJS and others.