News
The Illini Esports Spring LAN is coming up!
We will be having our Spring LAN on Sunday, Feb 25th from 12pm to 9pm at the Illini Union Ballrooms! There will a lot of fun games, tournaments, 2v2s, trivia,…
New Semester, New Quad Day & General Meeting
Group picture after the general meeting Illini Esports is off to a great start this year, with Quad Day and the general meeting in the books. At Quad Day,…
Quad Day, General Meeting, and Open Gaming Hours!
Illini Esports will be at Quad Day from 12 to 4 PM! We’ll be on the South Quad. Come by to learn more about Illini Esports and get some free…
Invitational Happening RIGHT NOW!
Check out the website for more information about the Invitational, which is running from March 31st to April 2nd: Event Website
VaLANtine’s Day Spring LAN
This past weekend, over 200 people attended Illini Esports spring LAN, “VaLANtine’s Day”. This semester, it was hosted in the Digital Computer Laboratory, hearkening back to LAN’s of the past.…
Player Spotlight: Jacob “SilverRitter” Demos
This is Jacob “SilverRitter” Demos, a senior at UIUC majoring in economics with a minor in business. He is the ADC (Attack Damage Carry) player for the Illini Black…
Player Spotlight: Max “mac” Cincinnati
Meet Max “mac” Cincinnati, the Smite Coordinator for Illini Esports! He’s from Rockford, IL and is a senior here at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, graduating with a…
The Simplified Esports Scholarships
For more information on scholarships: Illini_Esports_Press_Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE From: Illini Esports President & Board of Directors Email: esports@illinois.edu Illini Esports now offering Scholarships! Illini Esports is officially working…
Player Spotlight: Seth “Skoss” Kossoff
Illini Esports has continued to grow its loyal membership year after year. As the vision of the organization begins to shift towards a more communal, casual atmosphere, members are…
Player Spotlight: Angela “AngieDovey” Yang
A face you might recognize from past years here at Illini Esports is Angela “AngieDovey” Yang, the new Director of Competitive and the current competitive coordinator of Valorant as well.…
Player Spotlight: Daniel “Miamiphins13” King
One of the newer admins here at Illini Esports is Daniel “Miamiphins13” King, the community coordinator for Rainbow 6 Siege. Yet, his face would be familiar to long-time Illini Esports…
Get to Meet Illini’s Twin Players: Zach and Sam Krauter
Another week, another interview. But today we have a two-in-one combo! Introducing Zach and Sam, our twin players in Illini Esports. Each plays on different teams and has different experiences.…
Player Spotlight: Luis “SLK” Salik
Illini Esport’s Rocket League team is starting to take form this year stronger than ever and at the helm of it all is Illini Esport’s Rocket League competitive coordinator and…
The Illini Esports 1st Invitational!
This past April was Illini Esports’ first Invitational! I got the chance to interview our Director of Operations, Lis “Sladex”, our President AJ “SyncShips” Taylor, and our Event Logistics Director,…
Player Spotlight: Kai “A Nice Egg” Jaeger
Meet Kai “A Nice Egg” Jaeger. Kai is a rising senior and a new face around Illini Esports. He is a substitute player for the C Rocket League team and…
Player Spotlight: Snoop
What year and major are you in? I am a senior majoring in Clinical Psychology. I also am minoring in Philosophy as well as Spanish. How involved in Esports were…
Player Spotlight: Eric “IraqCanada” Canaday
The main season of Overwatch came to a close a few weeks ago and one of our players, from the Overwatch Blue team (one of the two Overwatch teams here…
Evil Geniuses joins the Illini Esports Invitational
Evil Geniuses has joined as a supporter of our prizes! Outside of their competitive edge, EG also supports the collegiate esports community! Join Discord their discord for community tourneys, viewing…
Hamul Leads Community Event at Illini Esports Invitational
We are excited to announce Hamul as a partner for our Illini Esports Invitational! Hamul brings in a face to face experience into many supported games via their overlay! We…
Player Spotlight: Rocket League’s tnek
For this week’s spotlight, I have had the pleasure to interview tnek, or Kent Lullo, from the Illini Esports Rocket League team! See what tnek has to say when it…
HyperX partnering with Illini Esports for the Illini Esports Invitational!
We are proud to announce that HyperX will be returning as a partner of a major semester event! This Spring we are doing our first intercollegiate tournament, the Illini Esports…
WGN interviews Illini Esports President
The president of Illini Esports AJ Taylor was recently interviewed by WGN Radio 720 about the rise of Esports as a spectator sport. Listen to the full interview below, AJ…
Player Spotlight: Sparsh “JustChilln” Singh
While Illini Esports continues to dominate in collegiate League of Legends, not a lot of spotlight is thrown on the junior varsity players who are the next generation of players…
Get to know Twig!
Join me, Hanny, as I sat down with IGN’s Benas Alcauskas, also known as Twig! Read more to find out more about Twig and their involvement with esports. 1.) Tell…
RECAP: Illini Esports and Gaming on Campus
Last week Illini Esports and faculty affiliates went live for a panel presentation and discussion on the state of Illini Esports and Gaming on campus at the University of Illinois,…
Interview with our Madden Player
Learn more about Madden in the Illini Esports from our player Jacob Turner interviewed by Hanna. Are you currently in school? If so, what year are you in and what…
Illini Esports and Gaming on Campus
On February 11th from 12-1pm, join Illini Esports, along with their supporting staff and faculty affiliates, for a panel presentation and discussion on the state of Illini Esports and Gaming…
A Recap with our Hearthstone Competitive Leader
We close the chapter of October with a busy November for the Hearthstone team for Illini Esports! Known on the Discord community as Trido2, the Hearthstone’s Competitive Leader, was kind…
Illinois Advances in Inaugural Maui Esports Invitational
Illini Esports’ Rocket League team will be competing in the Maui Esports Invitational Quarterfinals on Thursday, November 19th live on ESPNU and the official Rocket League channel on Twitch. Over…
Illini Esports in the Pandemic
Illini Esports discusses how the competitive teams have been playing without being all together, how their community aspect has been affected, and changes to the upcoming League of Legends Worlds…
Talking with Illini Esports
Get to know AJ and Dirk, members of the Illini Esports League of Legends team that won the Collegiate Championship this year! They discuss how they got into gaming, their…
Illini Esports in the News!
Illini Esports talks about challenges during the pandemic, a recent League of Legends Championship, and seeking more support from the University (including making esports a varsity athletics sport). Thanks to…
North America’s 2020 Collegiate League of Legends Champions!
The University of Illinois takes StarLeague’s North American 2020 League of Legends Championship! They faced Longhorn Gaming, University of Texas in the Grand Finals and took the win. Congratulations to…
Fortnite National Championship Winners!
Out of hundreds of teams in Collegiate StarLeague’s $25,000 prize pool Fall Fortnite League, these schools rose to the top. Congrats to the Top 10 collegiate Fortnite teams in North…
Illini Sports Night
“E-sports fans, the Illinois E-Sports team season has begun.” – Liam Dwyer, Illinois Sport Night
Illinois Journeys: Esports
Illinois Journeys, a website that features a variety of student perspectives, featured Illini Esports and what it’s like to be a student balancing esports and academics at Illinois. Read the…
Esports and Media Camp 2019
The Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning and Illini Esports teamed together to help with the College of Media and their 2019 Media Summer Camp. We hosted 60+ high…
Illinois Esports Summit
Illini Esports in conjunction with Gies College of Business and the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning held the 2019 Illinois Esports Summit, to bring together campus around the…
Playful by Design Symposium
Illinios Esports has been involved in the Playful by Design Symposium since it’s inception. We believe that gaming isn’t just for fun or competition, but also a part of a…
2019 Big Ten Network League of Legends Champions
Watch Illini Esports League of Legends team take the 2019 Big Ten Network League of Legends Champions!
SMITE Champions
In championship game, Illini Esports SMITE takes home the NACE Collegiate SMITE Championship title! The team fought against Carleton University at Dreamhack Atlanta 2018, after a long road of eliminations.
IE CS:GO competes at IEM Chicago
After fighting Michigan State University for the spot in the finals, Illini Esports (Illinois Orange) will face off against RMU Eagles at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena. This match was made possible…