VIDEO: Illini Now/SI Morning Update With Matthew Stevens

Illini Now/Sports Illustrated 'Morning Update' publisher Matthew Stevens gives you a look at the top three stories involving Illinois athletics.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- In this first edition of the Illini Now/Sports Illustrated 'Morning Update' video, publisher Matthew Stevens gives you a look at the top three stories involving Illinois athletics. 

Here are the news topics Stevens hits on for Fighting Illini fans: 

1. IN-PERSON CLASSES ARE PLANNED AT ILLINOIS FOR FALL SEMESTER: The University of Illinois announces they anticipate having in-person classes for this fall semester. The NCAA Division I Council approved on Wednesday a six-week preseason practice model for teams preparing for the 2020 college football season. This model was originally proposed by the Division I Football Oversight Committee. Under this approved preseason model, the Illinois football program can open preseason camps on Aug. 6. Stevens explains why this letter by the educational officials of the University of Illinois system to the general public sets the stage for fall sports to start on time. 

Illinois center Kofi Cockburn (21) shoots a hook shot against the Michigan Wolverines during the second half at State Farm Center in Champaign :: Patrick Gorski/USA TODAY Sports

2. KOFI IS BACK IN TOWN BUT NO FUTURE BASKETBALL PLANS ANNOUNCED: Illinois head coach Brad Underwood confirms Kofi Cockburn, the 7-foot center, who just finished his first season of college basketball as the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year selection, has returned to Champaign-Urbana after spending most of the spring in a COVID-19 stay-at-home order inside the Queens neighborhood of his hometown of New York. Stevens explains why this is great news for Cockburn's well-being but also the likelihood he'll return to the Illini for his sophomore season. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director, National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing on how the U.S. is responding to COVID-19, the Novel Coronavirus on March 3, 2020 in Washington, DC :: Jack Gruber/USA TODAY News

3. ILLINI STILL PLANNING ON SEPT. 4 OPENER VS. ILLINOIS STATE BUT Dr. FAUCI HAS DOUBTS ABOUT FOOTBALL IN THE FALL: Less than a day after the NCAA rolled out a six-week preseason practice plan, arguably the nation’s most trusted immunologist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has a different idea about football beginning in the fall. Will the season end on time? Nobody knows. Will it start on time? Stevens says he's hearing administrators and coaches are still moving forward on the plan that it will.