Illinois
Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice art exhibit highlights the ongoing fight for pretrial fairness
Years of work to reform Illinois’ cash bail came to pass in September of last year. And now almost six months later, the artists who helped in the effort’s passing are in the spotlight.
DragonFly Gallery and Creative Spaces is hosting “Art in Action: How Artists Helped Illinois End Money Bond,” an exhibit by the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, an amalgamation of organizations working to reduce pretrial/mass incarceration and address root causes of inequity in Illinois’ legal system.
The East Garfield Park space will showcase visual media produced by artists documenting the movement to celebrate the three-year anniversary of the Pretrial Fairness Act being signed into law. The Pretrial Fairness Act was part of a broad array of criminal justice reforms passed as part of the SAFE-T Act, signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2021. The act abolished cash bail as a potential condition for release and changed the way pretrial hearings are conducted.
Artist and exhibit organizer Cori Nakamura Lin said artists within the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, the Chicago-based For the People Artists Collective, and Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative created prints, banners, signs, short films and photos about the pretrial campaign. Lin said the show will run into the spring, with different events bringing together the community, legislators and artists so they can share more about the process and engage in the discussion about pretrial fairness.
“Artwork does a great job of telling not just the facts, but also the stories and the emotions that can help bring Chicago and Illinois together,” she said. “We’re excited to celebrate the art that has helped make this work possible. It’s sometimes hard for folks to imagine something different than the structure that currently exists. Artists have a way of taking that idea and showing it to us — that can help build the imagination we need to build a new system.”
Matt McLoughlin, co-founder of the Chicago Community Bond Fund and a campaign strategist with the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, said May marks nine years of organizing around the issue of end money bail, but the work continues.
“We do need to stay on it,” he said. “We got a long way to go, but I’m excited about this first step that we’ve taken here in Illinois.”
As far as next steps, McLoughlin said the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice is focused on having community members watch court proceedings to make sure the Pretrial Fairness Act is being properly implemented through the first year. Community education is ongoing about the new law, with guides set to be distributed at the gallery.
“We’ve been thrilled to hear reports throughout the state that the law is having its intended impact,” McLoughlin said. “Previously under the money bond system, people had their freedom decided in less than three minutes. It was just a matter of how large their bank account was whether or not they got to go home to their families. Those hearings are now taking dramatically longer. There’s much more intentionality going into every decision that’s being made, and it’s prioritizing people’s rights.”
New legislation called the Pretrial Success Act was filed this month. A follow-up to the Pretrial Fairness Act, the new act is meant to minimize the number of people detained pretrial by ensuring access to community-based pretrial supports and services. The act hopes to ensure people returning to the community are getting the resources they need be successful while awaiting trial and make it back to court, including mental health assistance, substance use treatment, transportation and childcare.
“Illinois right now is setting the example for the rest of the country about what is possible,” McLoughlin said. “I know there are a number of states right now that are considering making similar changes. It’s really important to us that we get this right, not just for our community, but for the entire country where there are countless people suffering under the money bond system. Illinois has the opportunity to show that there’s another way that we can protect people’s rights and prioritize community safety in a way that hasn’t happened historically.”
“Art in Action: How Artists Helped Illinois End Money Bond” launches 2-4 p.m. Feb. 25 at DragonFly Gallery and Creative Spaces, 2436 W. Madison Street. Admission is free, register for tickets at eventbrite.com
Happy Friday, Illinois Land!
Instead of doing the usual column with post-Thanksgiving word puns involving side dishes and jokes about turkeys, I will use my time to point out a few things that I now know about college basketball in 2025, and the place that Illinois occupies inside of that stratosphere.
I will also discuss where Illinois fits into the landscape of the Big Ten. I think you’ll like how I see that unfolding. My pending Big Ten Analysis will highlight the lack of good depth in the conference.
It is not exactly a banner year for the Big Ten in men’s college basketball. To say the least.
Despite the fact that the Big Ten has dropped in the national landscape, and despite the fact that Illinois lost to a True Elite in 2025 against Alabama in Birmingham by double digits, it’s great beyond words to have a head basketball coach leading your program playing basketball the way it needs to be played at this present date.
Brad Underwood has turned Illinois into a National Program. Do not confuse this with being a national powerhouse.
As I see it, here are the five levels of Illinois basketball. National Championship Contender can replace Blue Blood for Illinois. There was no way for me to get in a shot at Indiana and its fans unless I constituted it this way.
For reference: Indiana is now No. 61 in KenPom (76 in OER, and 51 in DER). I was told that they are the conference favorite. I was also told Illinois cannot play defense. More on this in a bit.
- Conference Bottomfeeder (Year 1-2): 26-39 in his first two seasons, 11-27 in the Big Ten. I would call this 1990s Era coaching. Up the line, full court pressure, etc.
- Respected NCAA Tournament Team (Year 3+): This will be five-straight non-bubble NCAATs for Underwood, six if you count the COVID-19 cancellation of 2020.
- Big Ten Power (Year 3+): In turn, this makes you a Final Four contender on semi-annual basis, at a minimum. I don’t mean make a Final Four, but be a Top Four seed. No one believes that NC State had a better season than Illinois last year.
- National (and International) Program (Year 4+): Playing games on CBS on Thanksgiving by request, re-hiring arguably the country’s top assistant coach (Orlando Antigua), signing two potential lottery picks from two countries outside the United States. I could go on, but I won’t. You get it.
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- Blue Blood (Never): This outdated term continues to keep Indiana fans from jumping off the nearest bridge for the last three-plus decades. Illinois will never be here. UCONN can’t get into the club with six National Championships since 1999.
Having said that, I’m going to say this.
John Calipari is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He has taken three different programs to the Final Four: Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky. He is an all-time great coach with a dazzling record (814-260, for a .758 winning percentage).
Calipari won an NCAA Tournament and cut down the nets in 2012, his third year in Lexington leading the Cats. He was outstanding at Kentucky (410-123), winning games at a .769 clip during his 15-year tenure.
He inexplicably missed the NCAA Tournament twice, going just 9-16 in 2021. His last three years, Kentucky lost 30 games and twice in the NCAAT to vastly inferior teams against No. 15 St. Peter’s and last year against No. 14 Oakland.
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Please read the words I type. Do not create a false narrative around comparing Calipari and Underwood, in totality.
Underwood certainly has not had the career of Calipari — it’s not close — nor will he likely end up in the Hall of Fame anywhere outside of Champaign. Not impossible, but not likely.
Looking to the future, it’s clear which coach of the pair from the Thanksgiving matchup in Kansas City has the brighter future. This isn’t close, either.
While Underwood’s Illini blitzed Arkansas with a barrage of threes, high ball screens and floor spacing for play makers, Calipari and Kentu…Arkansas…had a plan “to attack the rim all game,” according to Calipari post-game.
Arkansas ATTEMPTED 17 threes. Illinois MADE 15. Illinois was +30 in in this category.
Frees (points at the free throw line) and threes (points behind the arc) is something I look at during every halftime, and after every game.
Illinois was +29 in this category. BU’s squad scored 90 points on the elite Arkansas defense, which was ranked No. 8 in KenPom DER prior to the contest.
The Illini had 60 of their 90 points (67.7%) of their points on Frees and Threes. Check on this stat every game that Underwood and Illinois play the entirety of the season. It will likely tell the story.
Factor in 2P% defense and you can get the winner of every game Illinois plays this year. The defensive strategy of Illinois is to defend the bucket and the arc. Despite giving a bucket full to Alabama in the lone loss (100-87), Illinois is currently No. 21 in DER.
Let’s take a look at pace of play, and how it affects efficiency, from a large scale perspective. What Illinois is doing is hard to copy.
For that matter, the Illinois offense is now No. 18 in OER (Offensive Efficiency Rating). Of the top 21 in DER on KenPom, Illinois has the FASTEST tempo, at No. 36.
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In summary, Illinois plays in the Top 10% in pace of play and ranks even better in efficiency at both ends. It’s not only extremely difficult to do, but largely unnecessary.
When you play fast and efficient on offense, defense lessens in importance in direct correlation with how more efficient your offense can be. In short, play fast and good on offense and you outscore your opponent and win based on simple math.
Here are the avearages for defensive and offensive efficiency. The lower the number, the faster the pace.
Top 5 DERs in terms of pace average: 260.6
Top 5 OERs in terms of pace average: 66.8
Illinois pace of play: 36 (Top 21 in both DER and OER)
I know it’s a lot of numbers. I get it. Underwood has embraced the numbers game and turned Illinois from a Big Ten Bottomfeeder to a National Program.
You may not like it, but you’re gonna learn to love it.
Please take The Scientific Poll.
Poll
What is the win ceiling for Illinois men’s basketball in 2024-25?
This is threes and frees. This is creating space. This is the winning formula.
This is Illinois Basketball.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Freshman Kasparas Jakucionis scored a season-high 23 points, Tomislav Ivisic had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Illinois beat No. 19 Arkansas 90-77 on Thursday in the Thanksgiving Hoops Showcase.
Jakucionis hit two free throws to give Illinois a double-digit lead with 3:49 remaining in the game. Arkansas had a turnover and a missed jumper on its next two possessions and Jakucionis hit an open 3-pointer to make it 85-71 at 2:42.
Kylan Boswell added 18 points for Illinois (6-1). Head coach Brad Underwood broke a tie with J. Craig Ruby (1922-36) for fifth place in program history with 149 wins.
Adou Thiero went 12 of 21 from the line and scored 26 points for Arkansas (5-2). Zvonimir Ivisic had 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Takeaways
Tomislav Ivisic won the battle against his twin brother, Zvonimir. Along with his double-double, Tomislav Ivisic made 6 of 9 3-pointers and blocked three shots. The 7-foot-1 center, playing his first college season, had 13 points and seven rebounds in the first half.
Key moment
Illinois stated the game on a 21-6 run and maintained at least a nine-point lead the rest of the way. Ben Humrichous made the Illini’s fifth 3-pointer with 12:36 left in the first half while Arkansas was 3 of 9 from the field.
Key stat
Illinois made 55% of its shots in the first half, including 9 of 16 from 3-point range, while Arkansas was 0 for 7 from long distance and shot 44% overall. The Illini finished 15 of 31 from distance. Arkansas shot 5 of 17 beyond the arc.
Up next
Arkansas plays at Miami in the second SEC/ACC Challenge on Tuesday. Illinois plays at Northwestern on Dec. 6 to begin Big Ten play.
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