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Headache of an Illinois spring

A southeastern Illinois farmer says it’s been a rough spring.

“Well, it’s been a headache.”

Karl Probst, who grows corn, soybeans, and wheat, tells Brownfield he hopes to finish soybean planting before the next rain.

“Early we were sitting good and then it started raining.”  He says, “The month of April here on the farm we got 7.3 inches. I didn’t get anything done in April. I think I was sidelined for 45 days.”

Probst finally started planting on May 13^th, and he says despite the delays he’s still optimistic.

“Yeah, it’s a little later. The corn going in, but I’ve got good emergence, and the color is good. So I’m not too worried about that,” he says.  “Only trouble is, it’s just gonna pollinate just a little bit later.”

Probst isn’t alone trying to finish up planting.  The USDA’s latest crop progress report shows 20% of Illinois corn and 28% of soybeans have yet to be planted. 

AUDIO: Karl Probst – Coles County, IL farmer

Kellen Francis can’t wait to play football in Champaign.

The 2023 Princeville grad committed to join Illinois on Saturday, choosing the Fighting Illini over scholarship offers from Arkansas, Houston, Texas State, Ohio, Marshall and Eastern Illinois. He becomes the fourth Illinois offensive lineman to transfer in for the 2024 season.

“It happened pretty fast,” the 6-foot-6, 310-pound right tackle said, “so I don’t think it settled in it yet, but yeah, I’m really excited. I just want to get down there. … I’ve always wanted to play for Illinois.”

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Francis spent the 2023 campaign at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kan., playing offensive guard and garnered all-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference honorable mention honors. He made the position move during spring practice after growing an inch and putting on 10 pounds.

A lot of the credit, according to the 2022 all-Lincoln Trail Conference first-team o-lineman, goes to the Butler strength and conditioning coach Kyle Woodall for helping him work harder to become bigger, stronger and faster in the offseason. Plus, on winter break, Francis spent countless hours in the gym, training with his brother, Jack Arnett.

“There was a big jump from my fall season to spring practice,” Francis said of his overall improvement, “so that’s kind of what it was.”

His recruitment really took off after May 7 when he posted his spring practice highlights on social media. EIU offered him two days later, with four more schools following suit in less than a week.

Just 10 days after his initial offer, Francis, who is the grandson of the late Princeville coach Rollin Arnett, was in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on an official visit with the Razorbacks.

But his dream was to be an Illini.

“The Arkansas visit was great,” Francis said, “so that was kind of in the back of my mind, but I knew pretty quick right when we got to Champaign that I was going to commit there.

Everything from the football facilities to the weightroom and training tables were all big selling points for him. He met with Tank Wright, the Director of Football Strength and Conditioning, and o-line coach Bart Miller.

Francis, who is looking to enroll next week, has no intentions of redshirting and plans to compete right away for a starting job in any of the five offensive line spots.

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“I want to get in there,” he said, “and learn the playbook and get as big and as fast and as strong as I can.”

Francis has advice to any hungry small-school players looking to leap the junior college ranks to playing major college football: “As long as you keep that end goal in mind,” he said, “… if you really want to play Division-I then it won’t be too hard to stay motivated.”

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins officially withdrew his name from the 2024 NBA Draft on Wednesday evening. He relayed the news to The Field of 68. And he also officially entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.

According to Aaron Torres, his agent has already reached out to let schools know he’s looking for a pay day on par with Great Osobor (reported $2 million).

The senior averaged 12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last season, boosting Illinois on a historic run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Illini lost to UConn in the postseason as their season came to an end. Against the Huskies, he only had five points and four rebounds. Hawkins stuffed the stat sheet with double digits against the other three teams they faced in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Iowa State (12 points), Duquesne (11 points), and Morehead State (10 points).

Illinois basketball finished with a 29-9 overall record, finishing second in the Big Ten Conference in the regular season. They went on an impressive run in the postseason, defeating Wisconsin in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament Championship. It was the Fighting Illini’s second conference tournament title in four seasons and their fourth all-time.

Coleman Hawkins is a versatile big man who can score in a variety of ways. He signed with Illinois as a three-star recruit and the No. 151 overall player in the country in the class of 2020, per the On3 Industry rankings.

As a freshman in 2020-21, Coleman Hawkins played in 25 games, averaging 6 minutes per game. In 2021-22, Hawkins saw his role increase. He played in 33 games, including making 14 starts. That season, he averaged 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

During the 2022-23 season, as a junior, Hawkins moved into a prominent position with Illinois. He averaged 9.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, ranking third in the team in scoring and leading the Fighting Illini in rebounding.

This past season he had his best year yet, averaging double figures in scoring for the first time. Now, Hawkins will look to capitalize on his success and take the next step in his journey.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

On3’s Matt Connolly also contributed to this article.