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On Tuesday, the University of Illinois announced that they have hired Petros Kyprianou as the team's newest head coach. He has signed a five-year deal with the university.
Earlier this month, Illinois released a statement saying that they had parted ways with former head coach Mike Turk, citing performance-related shortcomings from the team at the BIG 10 level.
Kyprianou is a home-run hire for the midwestern university. The newest Illinois head coach formerly coached at Georgia, an SEC and NCAA powerhouse, but parted ways with the university in the summer of 2021.
The Bulldogs' Athletic Department had reportedly tried to resign Kyprianou on a multi-year deal, but rumors of Kyprianou pushing for better facilities ultimately caused the two parties to split in the summer of 2021.
Former USC head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, who helped the Trojan women earn the outdoor national title in the spring of 2021 before she left for Athens, now leads the Bulldogs.
Kyprianou had monumental success at the University of Georgia, helping his women's team earn the indoor national title in 2018 and his men's team earn the outdoor national title in 2018. His unconventional field and multis speciality stood out in a Southeastern Conference that was (and still is) sprints-heavy.
Now, Kyprianou will reevaluate the current state of Illinois' roster and aim to construct scoring lineups that can not only compete with current BIG 10 powerhouses, but also the incoming track and field stalwarts of USC and UCLA in 2024 (or sooner).