Mike Thomas

There's no rush to judgment. You know we will go through an investigative process, and when that process is complete we will look at the next steps, ... I think you and I could be watching practice, and you could hear a coach say something to two different kids, those two different kids might take it a different way and you and I might take it a different way. So I think for coaches, not just at the University of Illinois but across the country, these are the kind of things that we're going to be paying attention to moving forward.

At the end of the day, it's about the student-athlete experience, and part of that is their safety, well-being and health, and abuse is not acceptable. We hold our staff to a high standard. That line of what's acceptable and not acceptable is really under the microscope right now.

I was certainly troubled by all the allegations. And those allegations don't match our core values, certainly our student athletes need to be in an environment that's safe, that's healthy, that takes their well-being as primary importance.

Anytime you receive these types of allegations, it brings you gre... by Mike Thomas

Anytime you receive these types of allegations, it brings you great concern.

Obviously, I know and think that if I play well I should and could have a chance to win, but I can't necessarily go in saying I expect to win because I just have to take it for what it is.

It's a lot, I don't think it's really set in, i know all the emotions and excitement has definitely hit me in terms of crashing -- I'm very tired and worn out, but I'm very excited.

It's crazy how good he's hitting — and far he's hitting — for what he's been through, it's impressive where he's at.