Champaign - Illinois Athletics has made it a goal to get their student-athletes and members of the athletic department to vote in the election.

“It [voting] is one of the great parts about being a citizen of the United States of America is we get the right to vote and that is pretty powerful,” Head Illinois Men's Basketball Coach Brad Underwood said.

There are few things that Illinois’ Head Football Coach Lovie Smith enjoys talking about more than voting and social engagement. He is proud to speak on social issues and the importance of voting.

“The best way to be involved, where you can really make a difference, is at the ballot box by voting,” Smith said. “There are a lot of people who fought really hard for some of us to have a right to vote, so it would be a shame not to use that.”

Smith was proud to see his players, most notably right guard Kendrick Green, organize a march in September to raise continued awareness on equal justice. However, Smith said that a peaceful march would lose impact if the Illini didn’t show up to vote.

“Coach Smith was really in favor of doing the march, but he also said that we should get everyone registered to vote,” Green said. “I have never voted a day in my life. This will be my first time voting. I had never thought about the importance of voting until he spoke with me about that. Voting together is something that I know we are excited to do as a team.”

Nancy Fahey, the women’s basketball coach, made it a goal to bring her team together – albeit social distanced – to converse about topics going on in America and to learn more about what her players are going through in their personal life.

“I have learned a ton over the last three months,” Fahey said. “That’s the important part of sharing. They have had a lot to deal with, the social injustice and COVID, but the more we have talked the closer we have gotten.”

When Smith was in college at Tulsa he experienced the 1976 election between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, but Smith didn’t vote. He didn’t understand the importance of voting, but he wants his players now to understand how important it is to vote for candidates on the ballot.

“I was not as engaged back then,” Smith said. “I was part of the group that didn’t know the importance of the vote. That is why I am making sure our guys know how important the vote is now.”

As important as it is for his players to go vote, Underwood wants to stress the importance of being an educated voter. Underwood and his staff have made an effort to educate their players before they vote.

“It’s not about what you see on social media, it is about learning the facts and the personnel, researching their own states,” Underwood said.