LAS VEGAS — Tuesday marked the start of Big Ten Media Day, where Illinois football players Xavier Scott, Luke Altmyer, J.C. Davis and head coach Bret Bielema made the trip down to Sin City for media availability ahead of a heavily anticipated 2025 season.
Scott, a senior defensive back, had a decision to make following the Illini’s Citrus Bowl victory last season: test the NFL draft waters, or come back to Champaign for one final season.
In the end, Scott, like a lot of his teammates, opted to stick
with the Orange and Blue, a decision that wasn’t so difficult after all.
“It’s truly love, it’s truly family there and it’s truly like everybody’s there just to help you get better,” Scott said. “So, it’s definitely an easy decision on my part, and I think on a couple of other people’s part.”
But more than just a couple of players are returning to Illinois, as they’re bringing back the second-most starters (18) amongst all the teams in the Power 5 conferences.
Like Scott, the Illini’s other two Media Day representatives’ statuses to return were up in the air, with Altmyer being courted to enter the transfer portal by several other schools and Davis needing to get approved for another year of eligibility by the NCAA.
Needless to say, these are things that ended up working out in the Illini fans’ favor.
Player retention and an impressive season in 2024-25 are two things that have tacked on some preseason hype for Illinois, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Bielema.
“I’m excited about this, our football team is one that has gained a lot of headlines, just by the way we finished a year ago with 10 wins, have a number of players, whether it’s 16, 17, 18, however you wanna cut it, of our 22 starters coming back,” Bielema said.
With expectations high and kickoff getting closer, Scott is going to be a player that the Illini will count on on the defensive side of the ball.
A season ago, he proved he could be a difference-maker, finishing the season with 49 total tackles and a Big Ten second-best four interceptions, one of which was a huge pick-six in the Illini’s upset win over the Kansas Jayhawks.
Xavier Scott's massive pick-six gives Illinois the lead over No. 19 Kansas at the half #B1GFootball x @IlliniFootball pic.twitter.com/eI7sB8MasL
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 8, 2024
When asked about the driving forces that led to him staying with the Illini, Scott emphasized that he’s ready to take the field playing for the university that he committed to back in 2022, for one last go.
“Not only [are] we coming off a great season, just to get one more time to do this thing with my boys and have another opportunity to get out there on the football field and represent the University of Illinois.”
