CHAMPAIGN – The Illini have taken steps forward with a recent Elite Eight berth and a football team that cracked 10 wins for the first time in more than two decades.

And just as the Illini have some real momentum and coaches signed to long-term deals with non-compete clauses, the Illinois athletic department wades into the new world of college sports beginning next week with a determination to take advantage of chaos in the industry.

By being creative, aggressive and forward thinking, athletic director Josh Whitman said Thursday during a media round table, the Illini plan to maximize opportunity in the greatest era of change of college athletics. Following the House settlement, the game changes Tuesday, July 1, when schools essentially pay players to play, even if the semantics created let you think otherwise.

“I’ve said this for years. Disruption is our opportunity,’’ Whitman said. “We have an industry that is continuing to experience intense disruption. We’re very disciplined in the way we talk about it and think about it. Within Illinois athletics, we see this as our moment and see the change happening across college athletics as an opportunity for Fighting Illini athletics to out-think, out-strategize and out-execute our opposition.

“We will continue to find ways to think differently, to be creative, to maybe zig when others are zagging, to create a competitive advantage for the Fighting Illini going forward. The changes are all around us.’’

Whitman, like his coaches, aren’t sitting back after a couple good seasons.

“We will never confuse being pleased with being satisfied,’’ he said. “We have so much more work to do, so much more opportunity in front of us. We’re really happy with the progress we’ve made, but we have a lot more opportunity in front of us.’’

The revenue sharing starts next week, when the Illini plan to pay out the maximum allowed at $20.5 million, even as they lose a little more than a million from NCAA distributions. While the Illini plan to spread the wealth close to a 75-15-5-5 plan adopted by most schools in the Power 4, Whitman wouldn’t go into much detail, other than saying 98 percent of the revenue would be distributed among the four sports where tickets are sold – football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and volleyball.

“We’re not exactly in line with that (75-15-5-5), but we’re not far from that,’’ Whitman said. “It’s a significant investment in those four sports.’’

Through a Big Ten Conference licensing agreement, athletes will sign a contract selling their exclusive rights to promote the university, the Illinois athletic department, the Big Ten and NCAA while retaining their ability to cut deals otherwise in the sponsorship market. The university would retain the athlete’s contract for the length of their eligibility. If the athlete wishes to transfer, Illinois would negotiate with the other school in determining a settlement for those NIL rights.

“A transfer to another school has no mechanism to pay them, unless there’s an agreement between the three parties,’’ Whitman said.

Other power conferences are setting up similar deals. Whitman stressed it’s not pay to play, rather the schools purchasing the NIL rights.

Whatever you want to call it, I guess.

While the number of athletes at Illinois will likely fall from about 500 to 450, about 150 will be paid through NIL. Whitman said no state dollars will be used, even at a time when the university is phasing out student athletic fees.

The Illini are unlikely to fund the maximum number of scholarships allowed in all sports. It makes less sense to fill the jump in scholarships allowed in baseball (up from 11.9 to 34), because of the disadvantages for northern programs, than spreading the money to sports where the Illini face a more level playing field.

Athletic department officials will help athletes secure sponsorship dals through Illini Icon, the former collective’s now shifting to become a conduit between the players and the marketplace.

For this new system to work, schools must still follow the rules. Under-the-table payouts, a long tradition in college sports, would still keep that level playing field from truly existing, so it’s imperative for the College Sports Commission – the new sheriff in town – to keep things clean. Everyone is thinking the same thing. Good luck with that.

The commission needs to “investigate fast, punish hard,’’ Whitman said. “In order for this to work, that has to be the mandate. We want the College Sports Commission work quickly and swing a big hammer. We need to demonstrate early that it’s different from what we’ve known from the NCAA.’’

Whitman called this new era “the most ambitious, comprehensive project in the history of athletics.’’ But without enforcement in an arena where dark money flows at a remarkable pace, creating true change might be impossible.

If the old guard continues to spread the wealth past the $20.5 million (a number that increases 4 percent annually), will they take the slap on the wrist, or is that when the true upper crust splits again, leaving the rest of the programs to realign.

While those powerhouses can still spend more money than others on facilities, coaching salaries and the day-to-day expenditures, the perceived level playing field comes with the roster construction tied to revenue sharing and outside sponsorship deals passing through an NIL clearinghouse.

“This is a new ballgame,’’ Whitman said. “We’re building teams largely year to year with the ability to compensate them. As we move into the new environment, that’s a really significant variable exerted into the mix that’s not been there before.’’

Like previous seasons, football is driving the boat, and Whitman has great confidence in coach Bret Bielema’s ability to carry Illini athletics into the future.

“If we can get within spitting distance of our competitors, I’m here to ride with the guy in the Smith Center, because he’s pretty good,’’ Whitman said.

The new game officially begins Tuesday. It’s sink or swim for the Illini, like everyone else in the Power 4.