Illinois rolls over Presbyterian

If you came to the Assembly Hall tonight hoping for a battle, you were probably bored after about 12 minutes. It was at that point in the game that the Illini started a 47-9 run that would last for over 16 minutes. It was all game situation practice from there. But how can you complain? After putting up 94 points tonight, the Illini bring their scoring average up to 90 points per game... Best in the Big Ten.

The first half started out with the Blue Hose running the floor at a much faster pace than expected. This is a team without a lot of depth, so it makes sense that they would try and slow things down a little... but when the shots are falling, you continue to take them. Luckily for the Illini though, DJ Richardson took Brandon Paul's place as the freshman with the hot hand. Richardson hit all four shots he took in the first 20 minutes, including three treys and a four point play. It was good to see DJ putting up shots after a set back with his elbow has slowed his offensive output. After the game, Richardson said about his elbow, "It's going pretty well thanks to Al (Martindale, Head Trainer), he's been giving it treatment. It still hurts when dribbling and passing.". Paul may have cooled off from deep, going 0-4, but he did shoot 4-7 from inside the stripe. Something both of the freshman should be proud of is combining for 7 assists and only 1 turnover... Add that to McCamey's 10 assists and only 2 TO, and you have some tough ball movement to defend.

After closing the first half strong, assistant coach Jerrance Howard told the guys at halftime to really focus on the first four minutes of the second half. Presbyterian is a team who slows things down, not scores at will. By coming out strong in the second half, the Illini forced the Blue Hose to play out of their comfort zone trying to play catch up.

Rebounding was impressive tonight as well as the scoring. Freshman Tyler set his young career high with 9 boards tonight, tying Mike Davis for most in the game. Davis ended up only that one rebound short of his third consecutive double-double, something Weber blamed on himself for taking him out too early. Rebounding in general was all Illinois tonight as the Illini logged more offensive rebounds (20) than Presbyterian did total rebounds (19).

Turnovers weren't much of an issue in this game. The Illini did commit 8 in the first half, but 4 of those came in a span of less than 2 minutes when we just rushed things. The second half only saw one turnover.

All in all the game was a success for Illinois. This was a team who played a completely different style than we had faced in the first two games, and that's good to have as the schedule gets tougher from here. The one thing that seems to come up in every game is the parallel between the level of energy and the performance of the team. Weber said, "We probably weren't quite on our toes, motivated." Which you can still understand, but against Wofford the energy needs to be there as the game will be a "tussle" according to the head coach.

When questioned on the spurt of turnovers the Illini committed late in the first half, Weber said he talked to his guys about just keeping it simple. "Make the easy play and pass... you don't have to hit a home run. The guy's open, just throw it to him. It's human nature to want to make the lob or the dunk, but you don't beat good teams that way."

When asked about only shooting 7 free throws, Weber stated, "Seven isn't enough, but we shot 54% and moved the ball well so I think they were having a hard time keeping up enough to foul." I agree. The free throws will come when we play more aggressive teams.

Illinois hadn't broken 90 in 4 years... and they have done it twice this season.

It doesn't get any easier for Presbyterian after these road games against Illinois and Clemson... The Blue Hose still have road games at North Carolina, Ohio State, Dayton, Marquette, Florida, and Bradley. In total, 11 home and 18 road. After the game I asked Head Coach Gregg Nibert what it was like keeping moral up with so many tough tests. "You get better by playing the best, and we're going to take some lumps. We had a killer schedule two years ago, and we won 12 games in Division-1 last year and it was from playing teams like Duke. I always think it's important how you play in your conference, so that's what we're setting our goals on this year."

Put it all together, and there is a lot to be excited about. Like I said, the schedule only gets harder from here, but this team really couldn't ask to be in a better spot after three games. The team chemistry is there, and that is obvious. The talent is there, and that is even more obvious than the chemistry. The Illini have a chance to be pretty darn good this year, and it will all come down to each guy taking care of business inside of his own role because we have all of the pieces.

Illinois vs Presbyterian

This game will be good for the Illini as the pace should be a little slower than the first two contests. Presbyterian is the youngest team in the nation, and we should be able to capitalize on that. Also, the Blue Hose have been turning the ball over 25 times per game.

I'm about to head down to the post game, Illini win this one big!

Bubba Chisholm in for the Illini as well... AND HE HITS A THREE!

Stan Simpson in for the Illini.

The Illini bigs are really getting aggressive on the board when it comes to the bench players.

Bill Cole does it again, this time with a dive to the floor for a loose ball.

It took Illinois 11:30 to commit a turnover in the second half after committing 8 in the first half. Presbyterian has 13 turnovers, and to be honest they are on pace to have a good statistical game for them in that category.

There was a miss by Cole a second ago, and Tyler Griffey just came in hard for the rebound. Nice hustle by the freshman.

Bill Cole with a nice block... again, doing the little things.

It's 68-30 with 12 minutes left in the game... holding the other team to 2 points in the first 8 minutes of the half is something to be proud of.

Bill Cole is still earning his minutes by playing his butt off the entire time that he is on the court. Also, I like how Cole isn't afraid to shoot it this year... speaking of shooting it, Alex Legion is now 2-3 from the floor.

The Illini are still really putting the peddle down on offense. The lead has been stretched to 55-30, and at this point it would pretty much take a miracle for the Illini to lose this game. It just isn't the Blue Hose's style to score a lot.


At the half, the Illini lead this one 43 to 28. The story so far has been the Illini's recovery from a terrible stretch of turnovers. The play was tightened up, and Illinois did a good job of taking control of the pace. Because the Blue Hose like to run clock and play a half court set, a 15 point lead at the half is right where you want to be... I know that's where you want to be anytime at the half, but especially against a team who likes to take their time on offense.

Mike Davis looks great this year. I know people have been on him for not taking enough shots, but he is up near the top in the Big Ten for both field goal % and rebounding... tonight he has stepped up the offense as well with 8 first half points on 6 shots.

The Illini have surged a bit and now have an 11 point lead.

DJ Richardson has taken over what Paul had been doing. 12 points in the first half after that 4 point play.

Davis and Semrau both pulled down offensive rebounds on that possession.

DJ Richardson sinks a three and bails out the Illini after what looked to be a 5th straight bad possession.

Two quick turnovers on Tisdale, then another by Keller, another by Paul... 4 in four possessions. The Illini already have 7 turnovers with 10 left to play in the half.

Presbyterian has really slowed the pace down from the first 5 minutes of this game.

Jeff Jordan got a nice round of applause as he checked in at the 12:45 mark.

The Illini are having a little bit of trouble passing the ball today. They aren't crisp.

To this point in the game the Illini are pushing it, and the Blue Hose are keeping up with hot shooting. Dominique Keller off the bench early and is giving the energy that the coaches wanted out of him.

Illinois is facing a zone defense here to start the game. We know the Illini can shoot threes, but to this point we aren't rebounding the misses very well.

Illinois tried to pull a Michigan State and went for an alley-oop in the first ten seconds.

Zook Meets the Press

Illini head coach Ron Zook met on Tuesday to talk about his team's bye week, Rejus Benn, Juice Williams, playing Cincinnati next week, and more. Find out what the fifth year head coach had to say in this recap.


On it being difficult to stay focused during the bye week: "I'm not going to lie and say it's not. Obviously the whole idea was that this would be a time to stay focused on what we have to do and get better. I've kind of figured out some things. We're not going to miss a lot of bowl practices now. We're going to get a chance to have some bowl practices, which is something you don't get a chance to do the week before Thanksgiving. We're at least going to be able to prolong the season a little bit and go from there. I'll tell you what - we have good kids. They're going to hang in there. Is it easy for them? No. It's up to us as a coaching staff to do some things where they can compete against each other and make it a little more fun than just the drudgery of going out there and preparing. Plus I think next week will be a whole lot easier. I was very impressed with yesterday, and I think today will be the same kind of thing. It's the three practices this week that are kind of a struggle maybe, but next week they have the opportunity to play a football team and once again, still make a name for themselves. Be a team that plays an awfully good football team and go out there and see what happens. See if we can be what we thought we could be. If yesterday was any indication, they were all there and they hung in there. I thought we had a good practice yesterday."

On Cincinnati's national attention motivating the team: "No question. They realize that this is the No. 5 team in the nation. You still have a chance to prove yourself."

On safety Donsay Hardeman's injury: "He did some X-rays yesterday, and they were negative. He has a stiff neck, and it's a day-to-day thing. He was not riding the bike yesterday. He did not practice, and I would not foresee him practicing this week. We're going to have to wait and see how he is next week."

On where Cincinnati fits in the national picture: "They're in it, they're pretty dang good. I watched quite a bit of tape of them yesterday. I kind of zeroed in on special teams this morning. They're a good football team, a team that has two quarterbacks who are both really good players. They have a receiver or returner that makes big plays. They play hard, they play physical, and it will be a matchup."

On expecting both Cincinnati quarterbacks to play: "That's what they've done recently. They did it the last game. So, yes, I think they'll both play."

On how different Cincinnati's quarterbacks are: "They're a little bit different from the standpoint of the big, tall kid, Tony Pike, who has the wrist problem will throw the football. He can throw it. Not that the other kids can't, Zach [Collaros] and Chazz [Anderson] both can, but they're more the runners. Tony is going to sit in and throw it, although he can run, but when you see the other ones in there you'll see more of the zone read option stuff."

On how much input a coach should have in making the schedule: "As much as the boss allows it. I don't think there's any question that the whole thing here that we're trying to get done is get seven or eight home games in this stadium. I think to be able to get it to work that way you maybe have to do some things you'd rather not do. The schedule is what it is. You've never heard me complain about the schedule, and that's just the way it is and we have to play it."

On it being important to play running back Justin Greene as a freshman rather than redshirt him: "Absolutely. I think we saw that last night. When they were out there going yesterday, I think there was a big difference. In a game atmosphere, the guy has scored a couple touchdowns and has played on special teams. There is no doubt. You can't buy experience. If you go back and look at Rashard Mendenhall, he didn't play much as a freshman. We had those other guys here, and he played a little bit as a sophomore and went on as a junior. There's no doubt in my mind that we did the right thing with Justin. I think Justin thinks that. There may be some other people that don't."

On playing the quarterbacks based on who can help win: "I haven't factored in 2010 at all. I think we owe it to these seniors to do everything we need to do to win these next two games. Obviously we're going to play the guys that we feel give us the best opportunity to win. Juice (Williams) probably could have played this past week if we had chosen to do that. On the same token, he could have ended his career on one play, so we just didn't feel like it was in his best interest to do that. If Juice can go, Juice is going to go."

On Rejus Benn getting a different helmet for his injury: "He's had two, it's not a recurring problem, it's two. He does have a different helmet."

On the year Rejus Benn has had: "First of all, he gets a high ankle sprain the third play of the season and plays in the next game just because he's a tough guy. He's had a shoulder, he's had a thigh, he's been dinged a couple times. It's just a combination of things. Is he frustrated? Absolutely. I'm sure he is as we all are. It's kind of one of those things, sometimes you're able to get through a season without guys getting hurt. The Rose Bowl year, I don't think we had a line that missed a start. Sometimes it's the rub of the green."

Illinois Vs. Northern Illinois

Minutes before tip off, the Illini are taking the court against the Huskies from up north. The crowd is still filling in the seats here at the Assembly Hall, and it looks like it's going to be another good crowd for an early game. Let's hope the Illini come out with the same energy that they did against SIU-E.

6 rebounds for Davis, 5 Assists for McCamey, and 16 points for Paul... a few guys having solid nights.

If anyone thinks Brandon Paul's big opening night was a fluke then you're probably not watching him tonight. He has 14 first half points, and we've only been playing for 9 minutes.

The Illini don't look too bad, they just need to match their intensity on defense that they show on offense.

Brandon Paul comes out shooting with a hot hand.

The pace has been fast so far. Both teams are really pushing it up the floor.

Illinois vs Northwestern for the first annual Land of Lincoln Trophy.

Welcome to the first annual Land of Lincoln trophy game between Illinois and Northwestern. Ron Zook's team needs to win out to go to a bowl, but first things first, beat the Wildcats.

I'm heading to the field now so this will be the end of the game blog... Check back after the game for quotes and a wrap up.

The Illini came so close to holding the Wildcats to a 3 and out, but pass interference was called on freshman corner Terry Hawthorne.

Illinois attempts a sneak onside kick and comes close to recovering the ball, but a great catch and secure by Hunter Bates keeps the ball with Northwestern.

Jacob Charest runs in for the touchdown! Now we attempt the two point conversion, but it falls no good. The fans here at Memorial sure didn't seem to like that much, they wanted a flag for pass interference.

Charest had Leshoure wide open, but he waited too long and by the time he threw it, Leshoure had gone too far to come back and get it.

Rejus Benn is down for the Illini. After a few minutes he popped up and ran off under his own power. Good to see.

Charest has us in the red zone for what I believe is the first time in the second half.

Jason Ford fumbles, but Jeff Allen recovers his second Illini fumble of the game.

Already you can see the difference in the offense from McGee to Charest. Eddie's a good kid who works hard, but he's not a Big Ten caliber quarterback.

Jacob Charest back in at quarterback.

416-205... that's how bad the Wildcats are beating us when they have the ball... and 300 of those yards came through the air. You're not going to win many like that.

Nate Bussey is limping off of the field after that extra point.

Arby Fields gets into the end zone, and with 13:30 left the Illini are really going to have to come out shooting to have a chance.

Tavon Wilson is getting beaten to the sidelines, and there have been a few big plays because of it.

Garrett Edwards just got called for a 15 yarder for roughing the passer. Northwestern looks really good with the short pass.

60,523 is today's announced attendance.

Northwestern is getting the ball back, and I have to say that I'm not liking the Eddie McGee offense. I know Charest had a shaky first half, but at least we were moving the ball some. Northwestern is stacking the box because they aren't scared of Eddie's arm.

Eddie McGee still in the game, and things have gotten very one dimensional... It has been all run since McGee took over.

Well, a punt stopping inside of the one isn't a whole lot of good when you let the other team march 99 yards... In fact, it's about as big of a momentum killer as there is for a defense. 14-3 Northwestern.

A great punt for the Illini, and Northwestern is literally inside of their 1 yard line.

PHEW!! McGee runs for a first down but fumbles... Jeff Allen recovers for the Illini... This is sort of confusing, Juice must really not be able to play.

Eddie McGee is in the game at quarterback... I didn't expect this.

The work has been done on defense, and now it's the offenses turn. Great way to start the half.

The Illini run defense has been great to this point. NW only put up 59 yards on the ground in the first half.

Donsay timed his hit just right, and the contact broke up that pass.

Dimke has a leg, I've seen some big kick offs from him this year.


How quickly things change. Charest was probably flying high right up until the point where he threw that pick. Here's to hoping that the young quarterback can just shake it off... and a defensive stop would go a long way towards taking some of the pressure off. Leshoure is running the ball well but not getting much help from his other backs. Ford started off looking good but has cooled since then. Let's just see some energy to start the half from a team who desperately needs a win.

28 yard touchdown pass from Kafka to Zeke Markshausen. 7-3 Northwestern, and that one hurts... The Illini were all set to go into halftime with at least a 3-0 lead, and in a matter of seconds we are losing, and the wildcats will get the ball back to start the half.

Northwestern is pretty good at the quick passing game. The Illini can't give up a touchdown here and then give the wildcats the ball to start the second half. 0:25 left in the half.

Illinois did a great job stopping Northwestern on downs and with 1:07 left in the half, Illinois will get the ball at the 43... right? Well we did, but the first play got picked over the middle.

Northwestern ball on their 16, 2:25 left in the half.

Illinois is forced to punt again. Obviously I'm glad to be winning, but it's a little disheartening that we haven't been able to put together a real drive.

Mikel Leshoure looked like he was about to be taken down early, but he fought for 10 yards.. He's really played with heart today.

The Illini are now starting inside their own ten yard line.

Fayson commits a mental error as he calls for the fair catch and then blocks the coverage.

Whitney Mercilus was just in on back to back tackles for loss.

The Illini were moving the ball, but again fell short of points. I know this offense can be dangerous, but it needs to be consistent.

It looks like Northwestern will save us here. It would have been third and 20, but a pass interference call gave the Illini a first down.

Wow what a play! Charest throws to McGee, McGee to Cumberland, Cumberland runs for about 14.

The defensive line is still causing problems for Northwestern. On that third down, Kafka had to flush out of the pocket and over threw his man on the run.

Tavon Wilson is chest bumping, but he just came very close to giving up a 35 yard pass... The WR simply dropped it when he hit the ground.

The Illini obviously have had enough of watching Eller miss field goals. Derek Dimke sends the ball through the uprights, and the Illini take a 3-0 lead, 12 minutes left in the half.

I'm not so sure about the play calling since we hit the red zone. Run, Run, throw on third and long.

Charest showed those feet he was talking about and ran for a nice first down on third and long. Good head by the freshman.

Leshoure showed great patience on that carry. There was nothing there, but after a hesitation, Mikel found 10 yards.

The first period comes to a close, and the score is still zero on both sides. Illinois has looked good on defense today with the exception of a couple of bad tackles. The offense looks like it has what it takes to move the ball, but like I said before, there is little consistency... I'm still waiting for that play-action pass from Charest.

Leshoure with another nice carry up the middle for 8 followed immediately by another for 11.

Both offenses are moving the ball in small amounts, but neither has a sense of rhythm.

Northwestern trying another field goal, this one about 48 yards... no good, it appeared to be wide left again.

Well, Doug Pilcher will get a sack for that, but he got lucky. He was being blocked, and I think Kafka just tripped over his ankle.

Charest almost hits Fayson up field on that third down play. As soon as he got off the field Juice ran to him, and you could tell they both saw how close that was to a big play.

Mikel Leshoure gets a carry and takes it for 13 yards and a first down.

Northwestern misses their field goal, and this game remains tied at 0. I'm interested to see whether we go down field on play action this drive.

Illinois holds on third down. Ian Thomas should get credit for a pass break up after that play.

Kafka passes long across the field a lot... If we jump a route, there's no way anyone would be able to catch up to a defender after an interception.

Donsay Hardeman is reverting back to his old ways... lowering his head and diving to tackle. He just missed his guy pretty badly.

Matt Eller just missed a field goal from less than 25 yards... that makes him 4 for 11 on the season, I believe, and very close to having the worst kicking percentage in the NCAA.

Charest may have overthrown Benn on that corner route to the back of the end zone, but he did a great job of putting the ball where only the receiver had a chance at it.

Jacob Charest to Jarred Fayson. It's great to have #11 back running routes for the Illini... 1st and ten from the 11.

Jack Ramsey was back to return the rugby punt, but after a 12 yard punt, Illinois takes over in great field position instead. Starting at the 35, we need to get some sort of points and set a pace for this game.

After a conference by the officials, NW is charged with intentional grounding. The Illini defensive line was in the backfield twice on that 3 and out.

Charest completing the short stuff early, but not for enough yardage to see a first down.

Daniel Dufrene gets the opening carry for the Illini... It's been a while since he's started.

Rejus Benn just broke a tackle and made something out of nothing on that kick return of 40+ yards.

Illinois Vs. SIU-Edwardsville

Here it is. The 2009 Illini basketball season is about to tip off and I couldn't be more ready. Bruce Weber has high hopes for this squad, and it is easy to see why. They have the potential to be a very good team, but it always takes a little bit for a new team to mesh. SIU-E shouldn't be too much of a test, but that's why they play these games.



Mike Davis needs to finish strong around the basket. Twice now he has gotten the ball down low and missed the lay-up.

The Illini have begun to slack off a little bit with the big lead, and the first area to show it is the turnovers. Illinois hasn't been very clean with the ball the last few minutes. 7:22 left, Illinois leads it 80-53.

Illinois is just killing SIU-E with this tempo. The Cougars can't get back in time, and the Illini are capitalizing with quick points.

Brandon Paul is having an outstanding debut. The freshman now has 19 points.

I just lost a big chunk of the blog... Let's pick it up with 15 left in the game, 63-34 Illinois.

DJ Richardson just completed a great bounce pass to Mike Davis for a dunk. The energy is there tonight unlike in the first half against Quincy.

Davis just didn't take his time on that first free throw... Much better on the second one.

SIU-E's head coach Lennox Forrester is really getting on his guys about getting back on defense after missed shots. Clearly the raised tempo that Illinois is employing is causing issues.

It's the Brandon Paul show early. Two straight 3's and a lay-up.

The offense is getting the ball to the bigs early. Lots of nice driving and dishing by the guards.

The starters for the Illini: Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale, DJ Richardson, Brandon Paul, and Demetri McCamey

Things to Watch for. SIU-Edwardsville.

How long have we been waiting for this day? The tip-off of another season of Illinois basketball and fans couldn't be more ready to get going. How long have we been discussing the arrival of this freshman class? It seems like these kids have played for Illinois for years. And if you think you're excited, well I can promise you the feelings they are experiencing are only yours times ten. But let's remember something very important... this is still the upperclassman's team. If we are going to be a top 25 team all year then the juniors are going to have to step up and lead the talented youth. With that being said, here is what I am looking for in tonight's opening game against SIU- Edwardsville.

1. Get the big men their touches. I have no problem with the freshman leading the team in scoring in the pre-season, but the Mike's need to be getting their shots as well. In the exhibition game against Quincy, Davis only put up 4 points in 25 minutes. That sounds like an off night, but he only took 4 shots. Against Missouri Southern State, Tisdale only had 3 points. I expect that this is mostly due to an effort to get the young guys adjusted... let's see what happens when the lights come on tonight.

2. Keep going to the basket. You have to love the aggressiveness of guys guys like Richardson, Paul, and McCamey. Illinois was lucky last year to have two great assist men in McCamey and Frazier, but there was no one to take it to the hole. After work in the off season by McCamey resulting in a slimmer frame, and the addition of the two aforementioned freshman, the Illini are now filled with aggressive guards. In the two exhibition games, Paul went to the line 14 times. I know I've mentioned this before, but that's such a pleasant change! Don't forget that last year's team set a record in the 47 year old Assembly Hall by not shooting a single free throw in a 33-38 loss to Penn State. This offense is at its best when all of the pieces are there and have the big men who can step out, we have the distributor who can get them the ball in McCamey, and not we have the slashing ability to compliment them both. Just remember, Illinois is 88-11 under Weber when they shoot more free throws than the other team.

3. Show more emotion to start the game. In interviews this week, a couple of players mentioned that the lack of emotion was due to them looking forward to the real season... so now let's see the emotion. To their defense, the crowd has been a little bit disappointing this season... and most of them have used the same excuse. So now the real season is here and we have every reason to be excited. We have the second leading rebounder from the Big Ten last year in Davis, the leader in assists for Big Ten play in McCamey, and a whole slew of new guys. I hope we come out swinging against SIU-E tongiht.

4. Use careful shot selection while still staying aggressive. There's a tight line isn't there? This task isn't easy, and it probably won't be worked out until later in the pre-season when we have a better feel of how this team plays in a game. Weber has been preaching shot selection from the sidelines. The offense is pushing the ball this year which is leading to some fast break points, but if that isn't there, run the offense. One player in particular who Weber has been on is Alex Legion. We all know Legion can get hot, but in the Quincy game, he took 10 shots in 13 minutes... That's more than Tisdale, Davis, Jordan, and Semrau combined over 75 minutes.

5.Things to Watch for.

Who will start?

Can the Illini come out with more emotion?

SIU-E plays uptempo. What will the turnover numbers look like?

Will Stan Simpson make his Illini debut?

Can the Illini win the rebounding battle which they lost against Quincy?

Is Illinois going to keep playing around with the zone that they have been working on?

Can Bill Cole keep pushing for playing time?

Prediction

I think the Illini have it easy in this one against a team who would probably lose to the Quincy team which just gave us first half trouble. SIU-E lost to Division 3 Illinois College in an exhibition, so if this is anything less than a 15 point win, I'd call it disappointing. 90-67 Illinois

Bruce Weber Pulls in Top-10 Class.

Richmond, Head and Leonard Officially Join Fighting Illini

Champaign, Ill.-Illinois head coach Bruce Weber announced today the signing of three student-athletes to national letters of intent in Jereme Richmond, Crandall Head and Meyers Leonard. The Recruiting Services Consensus Index lists all three players in the Top 75, giving the Fighting Illini the No. 4 class in the nation by ESPNU, No. 6 nationally by Scout.com and No. 10 nationally by Rivals.com.

"We are thrilled to officially welcome Jereme, Crandall and Meyers to the Fighting Illini family," Weber said. "They are three outstanding young men who have been committed to us for a long time. They are all tremendously talented players, extremely athletic, with the ability to play a mixture of positions. We are pleased to bring in three in-state products who are the top three seniors in the state of Illinois."

Richmond, a 6-8 wing from Waukegan, Ill., famously made a verbal commitment to the Illini program three years ago before ever playing a high school game. He is a consensus top-25 recruit who was named Chicago Sun-Times and Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette Player of the Year last season after leading Waukegan to a record of 26-5 and runner-up finish at the IHSA Class 4A State Tournament. Richmond averaged 20.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.3 blocks as a junior, and kept Waukegan on its path to Peoria by hitting a half court shot at the buzzer in a sectional final victory over Warren Township High School and future UI teammate, Brandon Paul. Richmond's coach at Waukegan is Ron Ashlaw. He is a member of the Mac Irvin Fire AAU program, coached by Mike Irvin.

Head, a 6-4 guard from Matteson, Ill., attends Rich South High School, coached by Scot Ritter. He is the younger brother of former Illini All-American guard Luther Head, currently a member of the Indiana Pacers. Head is a consensus top-75 recruit who earned first-team All-State honors for Class 3A by the Associated Press after averaging 21 points, seven rebounds and four steals last season at Chicago Crane High School, under the direction of coach Tim Anderson. Head recently underwent knee surgery to repair a torn ACL and is sidelined indefinitely. Head also is a member of the Mac Irvin Fire AAU program.

Leonard is a 7-0 center at Robinson High School. He is a consensus top-50 recruit who averaged 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks as a junior. Leonard won the IHSA Class 2A dunk contest and was an All-Apollo Conference selection, leading Robinson to a 21-8 record, conference title and IHSA Class 2A sectional appearance. His coach at Robinson is Bob Coffman. Like Richmond and Head, Leonard also is a member of the Mac Irvin Fire AAU program.


JEREME RICHMOND
Wing
6-8, 195
Hometown: Waukegan, Ill.
High School/Coach: Waukegan/Ron Ashlaw
AAU Program/Coach: Mac Irvin Fire/Mike Irvin
Rising Stars/Brian Davis

Notes: Consensus national top-25 recruit (No. 18 on rscihoops.com) ... Averaged 20.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.3 blocks as a junior ... Led Waukegan to state runner-up finish in IHSA Class 4A ... Ranked No. 16 nationally by Scout, No. 17 by both ESPNU and Hoopmasters, No. 18 by All Star Report, No. 21 by Prep Stars and No. 36 by Rivals ... Chicago Sun-Times and Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette Player of the Year in 2009 ... Consensus first-team All-State selection by the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette and Illinois Basketball Coaches Association in 2009.

Weber on Richmond: "Jereme is extremely talented and so versatile that he can play practically any position on the floor. He's a team-first player who makes everyone around him better and that was evident in the way he led Waukegan all the way to the state title game last year. Jereme has tremendous feel and knowledge for the game, and his best attribute of all might be his passing. He has excellent court vision. We've obviously been close to Jereme and the Richmond family for a number of years. We appreciate their loyalty and the commitment they've made to our program and university. I know Coach Ashlaw has been impressed with the growth and improvement Jereme has made, and they have big goals for his senior season."


CRANDALL HEAD
Guard
6-4, 180
Hometown: Matteson, Ill.
High School/Coach: Rich South/Scot Ritter
AAU Program/Coach: Mac Irvin Fire/Mike Irvin

Notes: Consensus national top-75 recruit (No. 59 on rscihoops.com) ... Averaged 21 points, seven rebounds and four steals as a junior ... Ranked No. 42 nationally by All Star Report, No. 53 by Hoopmasters, No. 59 by both Scout and Prep Stars and No. 73 by ESPNU ... First-team All-State selection by the Associated Press and Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette in 2009 ... Second-team All-State by the Chicago Sun-Times ... Special mention All-State by the Chicago Tribune ... Fourth-team All-State by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.

Weber on Head: "Crandall has been around us since he was in middle school, watching the success of his brother and our program during the Final Four run in 2005. So we've had a great relationship with him and his family through the years and are happy that Crandall also will be wearing that No. 4 Illini jersey. He has a lot of physical attributes that are similar to Luther, as he is extremely athletic and versatile with great jumping ability and is able to get to the basket. He has some rehab work ahead of him and needs to take his time and get fully healed. Sitting out will be a challenge because Crandall loves to play. "


MEYERS LEONARD
Center
7-0, 215
Hometown: Robinson, Ill.
High School/Coach: Robinson/Bob Coffman
AAU Program/Coach: Mac Irvin Fire/Mike Irvin
Team Ramey/Terrell Ramey

Notes: Consensus national top-50 recruit (No. 36 on rscihoops.com) ... Averaged 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks as a junior ... Ranked No. 39 nationally by both Rivals and Scout, No. 44 by All Star Report, No. 47 by Hoopmasters, No. 51 by Prep Stars and No. 52 by ESPNU ... Special mention All-State by the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette and Illinois Basketball Coaches Association in 2009.

Weber on Leonard: "I rarely have seen athleticism and mobility from a 7-footer like Meyers has. The progress he's made over the last two years has been impressive. He reminds our staff of James Augustine with that same ability to run the floor as a big man. He began his high school career as a guard but had an incredible growth spurt and then transitioned to center. I've known Coach Coffman for a long time. He does a great job and feels that Meyers has the ability to help Robinson contend for a state title this season."

Information Illinois DIA. Photo Adam Marsh.

Illini Freshmen Discuss the Season

D.J. Richardson

What are your thoughts on playing your first real game? "I can't wait to get out there and just get started. This is what I've wanted my entire life, to play college ball and Friday's my first day. So I'm ready."

You've been scoring. Do you think you are going to continue to be one of the main offensive options? "Hopefully I will. I'm just going to play the role that coach gives me. I just take open shots when there are opportunities for me to score. I'm going to do whatever it takes for our team to win, that's what I'm here for."

What are your thoughts on guarding the other team's top scorer? "I love to shut down top players. It's a goal for me. I like to set goals for myself. I think holding the other team's best players to under 10 points is a good goal."

Would you rather hold a guy under 10 than score 20 of your own? "Hold a guy under 10 points... Really I just want to make sure we win though."

A lot of people talk about the change in pace from High School to College. About how much faster it gets... How do you feel? "It's a lot quicker. The speed's faster, and the players are stronger. There's also a lot more people there watching so that can sort of pump you up."

How comfortable are you with Weber's offense? It can seem confusing at times for a fan. "I'm getting comfortable with it... it's about moving and picking and getting your teammates open for the shot, getting them the ball. It's a good offense."

You weren't on the team last year, but I'm sure you watched. Do you think this year's squad will be more dangerous offensively? "Hopefully we will. We have a lot of talented players... we did last year too. but I think we have more athleticism to get to the basket which will lead to more points."

Brandon Paul


What do you think about the team at this point? "I thought we came out a little slow the other night. We need more energy to start the games. I think we have a really good team, but it's a work in progress."

What do you think led to the slow start in the last game? "I think we were looking forward to the actual season starting, and we weren't thinking about that game as much as we should have been. Once we got into it and picked it up, we did better."

The new recruiting class signed today, and people are talking National Championship with your class and this one together. What do you think about talk like that? "They're all great players, and I think the line-up is just going to keep getting better. We try not to think too far ahead, but that's definitely one of our long term goals."

You started the final exhibition game. Do you care if you start or not the first real game? "I told myself it didn't matter if I started or not, but the more I thought about it.. it would be pretty cool to start my first college game."

D.J. says the key to the offense is to move and get guys open. Is that how you see it? "Yeah, you have to keep moving. Coach Weber is always yelling about not standing still. I think it's a great offense to be in for a guard, you just need to make sure you are clean with your passing."

What are you looking to accomplish in the game on Friday? "I want to work on my defense. I think I've shown that I can score, I've done pretty well on the offensive end. I want to show the coaches that they can rely on me on defense."

We're always hearing about the defense. That's pretty important to Weber isn't it? "(Laughing) Yeah, if you're going to play, you gotta play defense."

Jacob Charest Says all the Right Things

If Jacob Charest is going to continue to get this many snaps in football games, then he can also expect to be fielding questions from the media after practice. Number 12 walked over towards the tunnel after practice ended Monday night and and was greeted by a wall of reporters. After being congratulated by a few people on Saturday's win, Charest smiled and asked us all how his hair looked. And that's the type of charisma you want in a starting quarterback... especially one who is being thrown into the action before anyone thought he would see the field. Coming into the year, most expected Juice to carry the load and the rest to fall on back-up Eddie McGee, but in the game of football, things can change quickly.

When asked how this week was different from other weeks, Charest responded that it really wasn't much different. The amount of plays in his package has obviously gone up, but the flow of practice seemed the same. Four weeks ago, Charest wasn't getting on the field and things were heading downhill for the whole team... times were slow for a third stringer. "It feels like time has fast forwarded two years (since then). It doesn't even feel like it was this year that I wasn't getting reps... It all happened so fast. It's almost like I've been doing it all year." But he hasn't been doing it all year. And he didn't get to do it last year either. This Saturday Charest is facing a start for the first time in his college career.

So how has life changed since the playing time has gone up? "Sometimes it's kind of awkward because people will just look at me, and I'm like are you going to say 'hey' or what? I'm a friendly guy (laughing)." But not only are people starting to recognize him around campus, people are starting to talk about him around the conference. Is this new found spotlight encouraging Jacob to focus harder? It seems so. "I used to come in most days to watch film, now I go everyday. Even on Sundays I come in to get a head start, learn as much about the defense as possible."

Going into the game, Jacob thought he would be inserted into the offense... not thrown. One would expect that there would be some nervous build up, but sometimes a single play can calm your nerves. "The first corner I threw to Jeff (Cumberland), he didn't catch it... but I was like, alright, I got it in there. At least I know I can get the ball where it needs to be." It's important that the freshman signal caller doesn't put too much on his plate, and he realizes this. "I just need to get the ball in the hands of our play makers." And he showed that maturity in one third and long play where instead of running and being tackled probably short of the line, Charest pulled up at the last second and tossed a crucial first down pass. In live action, some were worried that Charest had crossed the line of scrimmage... and the thought entered his head as well. "Right after I threw it, I looked back and sighed... Are they going to call it? I was looking for flags."

If this weekend does mark the first start of his career, he won't have to face it alone. "My family is coming over with my brother. They came for the Michigan game, but I didn't get in. They were definitely happy we won, but a little bummed that they didn't get to see me." And when I say face it, I mean what some refer to as the Freshman Blitz... If you go up against an inexperienced play caller, just blitz, blitz, and blitz. See if he self-destructs. Minnesota tried, but wasn't successful in shaking his cool. "You have to have faith in the offensive line and not worry about getting hit... and I didn't get hit that often. Just try not to panic."

So here we are. Less than a week away from an important showdown with Northwestern over the first annual Land of Lincoln Trophy, and it looks like the starter will be Jacob Charest. Starting the season as the third stringer this year, Charest says he expected to play in two or three games and, "get a little playing time, but not what's happening now.". Even he admits that the opportunity is "bittersweet", however. "Nobody wants to see a teammate go down." But like the team player Juice Williams is, he has been nothing but supportive of the young quarterback. "He's played as a young guy. He's done pretty much everything that I'm going through right now so every little thing he can tell me is greatly appreciated."

The season may not be where Charest expected it to be, but he still believes that his team can go to a bowl game... and he knows what that would mean to the fans. But if this season ends, and the Illini are home for the holidays, remember that this is the type of valuable game experience that will only improve a player's future. I would be willing to bet that Jacob would trade his playing time for some more victories, but as for now, he is doing all that he can to lead his team one game at a time.

Sunday's Victory in Quotes.

After the victory on Sunday over Quincy, Mike Tisdale and D.J. Richardson were available for comment. Here is a look at some of the things that they had to say about the win over Quincy.

DJ on his 8 point scoring run when the Illini pulled away. "I just took open shots. They were there, so I took them. I think that that's what we need. Players ready to take open shots and knock them down."

Tisdale on the game starting off close and Quincy surprising some fans. "We knew they were a good team. They have a lot of Division I transfers. They've got players, they can shoot the ball, that's pretty obvious. We had to pick it up a little bit. We were a little sluggish in the beginning. We need to work on our defense a little bit. Once we adjusted, though, it helped us a lot."

Mike Tisdale on the benefits of being challenged in these games as opposed to blowing teams out. "It's always good to have a team come in here and challenge you. Especially for these young guys like D.J. and them. Playing in a close game like that and seeing what they can do. Also for us older guys too."

DJ Richardson on whether or not 31 three point shots is too many. "Yeah, we have to get more shots inside the paint. We have to get more guards to the foul line and even the posts to the foul line. We just need to get to the basket more."

Mike Tisdale on the faster pace this year changing the offense. "We have some guards that can get to the basket. Demetri, Brandon, DJ, they really push it, and that's good for us because that puts pressure on the defense. And it also lets me and Mike Davis step out a little bit, that we we're not sitting there clogging up the lane. There's no more letting the defense get back and set, then we run our motion. I think if we continue to do that we can be successful."

DJ on what he has learned from these games. "One thing is game fatigue. There's a difference in pace from a three hour practice to a game where you play four minute stretches. So fatigue is first and then just knowing I can go out there and perform in front of fans."

Bruce Weber joined us after the players were finished, and he spoke about today's game.

Opening comments. "I think it was a typical second exhibition game. The thing I talked about yesterday was playing with a passion... As a coach obviously talent is important, but if you have a player with no passion, it doesn't do you any good. That was our thought process that we talked about, and I did that because I knew that it's tough, especially for our older guys, to get motivated. You have to play everyday and whether it's practice... you have to have the right mental preparation, and obviously we didn't have great mental preparation. They (Quincy) have older guys. They are all Division I players, a lot of them are transfers. They've been through it, they have quick, undersized guys... tough for us to guard. They spread us, we had to back down a little bit with our pressure, contain the dribble... It was a good thing, a learning experience. I wish it would have been a little smoother with substitutions, maybe get some guys some more minutes, but it didn't go that way so now you can use it as a learning tool. As a coach, watch it on film... Shot too many threes, not enough post shots. When Tisdale got it, he scored. We didn't get to the glass. All the things we've talked about since the beginning of the year, and even since last season ended, we didn't really do those things. Hopefully we can make some strides and learn from this. I thought a positive was at least we made some threes even if we took too many... had a decent percentage. There was a nice run... Billy, D.J., Brandon... but we haven't gone against this kind of defense. They pack it basically... This will be a good learning point for our team, and hopefully some guys will take their focus and have a little better concentration, better intensity as we approach the regular season games."

When asked what is wrong with Mike Davis. "I think he's just gotta be more ready to play. Go to the glass, and run the court, get a tip dunk, you know... be active. He's so mobile and so athletic... I don't think he always uses his tools. He had a practice a couple of days ago where he was the best player on the court, there was no doubt. He's still a young kid when you look at it age wise, him and Tisdale. They've gotta find out how to get open. We've gotta look for them more too. They can do it though if they're not getting passes and post feeds by attacking the glass, get run outs, do different things. We need him to play well. He was one of our better players, a guy that was supposed to be one of our main stays, and he's gotta give us better production if we're gonna be really successful."

On Jeff Jordan playing today. "He gave us a little boost of energy. He was excited to get to play for the first time (sat out first game due to rejoining team mid-year). He went 'til exhaustion, and that's part of his conditioning, he needs to still catch up. He got to a point in the first half where he just stopped, and it's our fault for leaving him in too long. He gave us a nice little boost, pushed the basketball... that's what he's been doing, and he can give us some defense. He's never going to be a great scorer, but he can do some things that maybe our other guys can't do."

On being unhappy with Legion's shot selection. "Well he come's in there and takes a couple quick, makes them. Now he's got the heat check going, and in 13 minutes he's got ten shots. A couple of them are forced. I mean one, if you're guarded don't take the shot, and two, the tempo of the game... you can't just go and play, it means something. That's where he's got to get a little better. He scored some points for us, but he's gotta figure out when to shoot it and when not to."

What is the word on Stan Simpson who hasn't played yet this year due to academics? "He's gotta show us that it's really important to him. School's important, being here's important, having a passion. I probably would have played him to be honest, but the game (was close). I only got Semrau 7 minutes, Tyler 10. I'm not sure I wanted to have a Syracuse on our hands."

There were only 6 turnovers tonight, much better than last time. "Yeah, but they're not a pressure team, it was a different thing. They were letting us move the ball, and then we'd throw up a 3. Last week, they were pressing us, and today we played a totally different style. And that's good that we've played two different styles, and it's something to learn from."

What are the offensive expectations for D.J. Richardson? "He's had his moments where he's been pretty productive. In one of the scrimmages, he had 32 points in a 22 minute scrimmage so he can score some points. The thing I think is most impressive is his perimeter shooting over the last year, even two years... he's gotten better. He's always been someone who can get to the basket. He's someone who can slash, and he has that pull up and he shoots the ball with a lot of confidence. Ironically, he's actually struggled the last four or five days of practice. I think he had hit a freshmen wall, and then tonight he almost saved us . . . For D.J., going to the prep school probably helped him get used to the travel and home sickness and all the things that freshmen go through. And the coaches there were tough on him, they had hard practices, so I think his transition has been easier than for some of the other guys."

What is the status of Joseph Bertrand and his knee? "We've actually rested him 5 or 6 days now, since Tuesday. We're hoping to get him back in this Tuesday. To his credit, he's showed a lot of toughness, more than I thought. He's wanted it and showed that he wanted it. He almost went too hard and might have hurt himself a little bit. Now we've just got to get the swelling down and work him back in and see what happens with him."

The rebounding could have been a little bit better. "It was not very good, and, in fact, early it was really bad. It was 12-4 or something like that, and we talked about it at the timeouts, and it's something that we've emphasized. We even put it on the board. We don't need 7 foot, 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9 safeties, we need them going to crash the boards. That dunk Tisdale had was one of the most impressive plays he's had since he's been here. Maybe that's good for him, to be assertive and not back down."

Illinois Vs. Quincy

The Illini take the court today against a Quincy team that is favored to win their division of the Great Lakes Valley conference. Bruce Weber's team got a warm up against Missouri Southern State and are prepared to kick it up a little bit as the competition should be higher tonight. Joseph Bertrand will not play this evening due to injury. Take a look at my article on what the Illini need to show in today's game, and I will try to let you know how I think they did on those points.

Final score 84-63 Illini Win!

Bill Cole nails his third three!

Bubba Chisholm into the game for the Illini, but no Stan Simpson. I'm sure we will find out during the post game why he was out again. Last week it was academics, so I assume it's the same thing.

With 2 minutes left, the game is in hand for the Illini. It certainly wasn't the prettiest display of Illinois basketball in recent memory, but it got the job done.

Finally the Illini have woken up. Demetri McCamey just made a nice reverse lay-up, and the lead is stretched to 17 points. 78-61 Illinois.

DJ Richardson makes it look easy. Guys like he and Brandon Paul just seem to glide out there.

Bill Cole hits a three, and the lead has grown to 14 points.

Only six turnovers to this point for Illinois.

DJ Richardson hits back to back threes followed by a lay-up and gives the Illini their biggest lead in a while. The Illini are ahead here 69 to 56. Richardson has really stepped up his game in the last few minutes. 6 left in the game.

Quincy calls a timeout with 9 minutes left in the game, and this one is a lot closer than it should be. 59-54 Illinois. Don't get me wrong, Quincy has played a tough game, but Illinois should be able to beat these guys by at least 15 or 20.

The Illini go down low to Tisdale, and it works. The tallest guy on the floors for the Hawks is 6'8", so the heigth advantage is there.

Quincy has been hanging around all game, and I keep waiting for the Illini to put things together, but to this point there are few guys really working extra hard. 51-47 Illinois.

Mike Tisdale just flushed home a rebound that woke the crowd up a little bit. The atmosphere in this building has been sub-par for most of the game, and I can't wait until these things matter so I can hear from my Orange Krush!

The Illini seem to be a little shaky today. There has been a real lack of flow in this game for both teams.

DJ just earned a Matto point by diving on the floor for a loose ball and giving us all that nice sound of skin rubbing on hardwood...

The Illini have only committed 4 turnovers, but they have taken a lot of bad shots which are just as bad.

At halftime the Illini lead Quincy 37-30.

DJ Richardson continues to impress as he sinks another shot from behind the arc. He leads the Illini with 11 points.

The offense is still trying to make the outside shot work for them. There has been a lot less driving than I wanted to see, but that has a lot to do with the type of defense Quincy is using.

DJ Richardson for three. If we keep shooting like this, Quincy will have to start opening up the lane a little.

Mike Davis with another deep shot.

Quincy is really packing the lane on defense and giving the Illini the three point shot. Now that DJ and Brandon have made a couple, let's see if they change their philosophy.

Quincy is murdering the Illini from the paint and on the offensive glass. To this point the rebounding edge is +7 for the Hawks.

Alex Legion started off hot, but since that point he has missed 3 straight and the coaches are all over him for his shot selection.

Josh Edmonds is on fire for the Hawks. To this point the junior has 10 of Quincy's 17 points.

Alex Legion hits another three. 2-2 with 6 points.

Jeff Jordan checks into the game for the first time this year. He was ready last week, but Weber felt he needed to work a little longer to get back on the team.

Alex Legion comes into the game off of the bench and hits a three pointer. Hopefully Legion will see this as an opportunity to show that he belongs on the court.

The attendance today is disappointing again.

The team looks asleep to this point with the exception of Brandon Paul, and he's rushing things a little bit. The advantage in athleticism is obvious for the Illini, but to this point the Quincy Hawks just want it a lot worse.

Mike Tisdale used his size early to grab a board, but since then he has been a little soft down low.

Brandon Paul starts where he left off last game when he had 10 trips to the line as he goes aggressively to the hole and is fouled. Paul makes both free throws.

Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson are joining the starting line-up in only their second game under Bruce Weber.

What I Want to See

The Illinois basketball team had a good showing in their first outing of the season. They will return to the court this weekend to take on Quincy University who will already be battle tested after a match-up with Notre Dame taking place tonight. I expect the Illini to win obviously, but for me to call the game a success, there are a few things I will be looking for in particular.

1. Rebounding with attitude. A lot has been said about this team's lack of a true bruiser down low. Mike Davis is an exceptional rebounder for someone with his body type. Mike Tisdale, who has a similar frame to that of Davis, has a little more trouble banging the boards. I never expect Tisdale to pull in 8 rebounds per night, but the number needs to be higher than 4 like it was last year. He did a good job against an undersized Missouri Southern last week and led the game with 9 boards. Guys like Tyler Griffey, Dominique Keller, and Bill Cole can up their playing time in a big way by showing this coaching staff that they are able to grab some missed shots. Overall, this team is going to out rebound others by hustling and not pure rebounding prowess... and that's ok. Bruce Weber has really gotten the whole team, including the freshman, to buy into the Matto Chart, and I would say that one thing his teams always do is work hard.

2. Cut down the turnovers. Demetri McCamey said after last week's game that the turnovers were obviously an issue for a team that runs an offense hinging on clean passes and crisp ball control. He did, however, say that it wasn't a concern, and it's something every team will go through while knocking the rust off. Either way you have to agree with McCamey that the turnovers are understandable at this point. Out of the 200 minutes played for the Illini in the first game, 78 of them went to freshman... and so did just under half of the turnovers. I'm not trying to say that 19 turnovers is ever acceptable, but I'm not worried about that aspect of our team just yet.

3. Take it to the hole. How much fun is it watching the guys go strong to the bucket and look to score? I think the whole mentality of this offense has changed. Brandon Paul tells us that coach Weber doesn't want the team constantly walking the ball up the floor anymore. There were a few times already against Missouri Southern where you saw this quick pace create advantages for our offense. Brandon Paul had 10 free throw attempts, D.J. Richardson made 4 of 4, Griffey 2 of 2, and while Bertrand didn't shoot his the best, he took 6. Once again you can see the impact these freshman are making as over half of the team's 37 free throw attempts came from first year players.

4. Someone become a consistent threat from deep. The team shot only 3 of 15 from behind the three point line against Missouri Southern, and that's not going to cut it. The Illini have had a problem in the past with occasionally falling in love with the three. 15 shots aren't too many to take in a game, but we are capable of hitting a better percentage than that. I hope we will start seeing some open looks this year from deep as the freshman guards continue to attack the basket. Trent Meacham would have benefited from having these guys on the team.

5. Get this zone business worked out. Bruce Weber's man to man defense is a model for many high school coaches... so why then is he implementing a zone defense? Well before you get upset, don't expect to see the face of this defense change any. Weber is still a master at getting his guys fired up on defense, but with the zone, you can do some different line-ups out there which create match-up problems on the other end. If you watch a Louisville game, look at how they work in that zone. Every player is working just as hard as Weber's guys do in the man to man set-up... and that's the key to a zone. You may think it's for teams who don't have the ability to keep up on defense, but to run a good zone, every player has to work their butt off.

A Few Minutes with Brandon Paul

The 2009 recruiting class will probably be the one that changes Bruce Weber's reputation in the national media outlets as a great X's and O's guy, but not the world's best recruiter. The now-freshmen from that recruiting class have only played in one exhibition game so far, but it is easy to see the elevated athleticism and talent on this team from top to bottom. One of those freshman is 2009 Illinois Mr. Basketball recipient Brandon Paul. I was able to speak with Brandon for a few minutes before practice on Thursday, and this is what I got.

How are you getting used to coach Weber, both playing and practicing for him?

I'm getting used to him. He's a great coach... you just have to grind it out in practice and keep getting better. He's fun between games, but when you get on the court it's serious... Coach McClain can get even louder than coach Weber. If you do something wrong he's going to let you know whether it's in a funny way or a serious way... He takes it seriously, but at the same time likes to joke around a little bit.

How much different are these practices than the ones you were a part of in high school?

It's a lot different... different pace... you get less breaks. It's about just grinding through it and getting better.

Describe a little bit what it was like after all that time being committed and then practicing, to actually play a game in the Assembly Hall.

There was a little bit of nervous energy built up. It was my first game so obviously I'm going to be a little nervous. But when I got in, I just wanted to do what I can do best and that's score, get to the basket, and play good defense.

It seems like the crowd was trying to make the freshmen feel welcome last Friday. Did you get a sense of that?

Yeah, it was real fun seeing all the orange and people calling us by our names... Hearing "Good job Brandon" and stuff like that. It just makes things more exciting, and you want to build on the season.

Do you feel like you were able to play your type of basketball out there?

Yeah, I definitely think I did. I wanted to really grind it out, because coach said we'd be coming in and out a lot. So I decided to just play really hard and not pace myself.

You got to the free throw line 10 times, a lot of which were from you driving the lane. Illinois really hasn't had a player like that in the last couple of years. Is that something we can expect with you as far as being aggressive and going to the basket?

Yeah, I want to get to the line and draw fouls for our team. I just need to be smart because coach stresses that he doesn't want me to fall in love with the three.

What sort of things would you like to concentrate or improve on for this next game?

I want to improve on ball pressure a little more, causing a few turnovers maybe. I want to get on the Matto Chart (points for hustle plays dedicated to the late Matt Heldman), diving for loose balls, taking charges, help my team on defense.

Mike Tisdale said the tempo of the offense was a lot faster than in the past, and at times it could slow down a little... Is that hard for you to do?

Yeah a little bit, we're fast paced and have a lot of depth in our team. I look forward to moving the ball up the court, coach doesn't want us walking it up every time.

You were committed to Illinois for a while before you actually signed your letter of intent. How big of a deal was it for you to actually get that done?

It was a big deal. I had a little party at my school afterward. A lot of my friends came out and supported me. It was just really fun and thinking about it is exciting to this day.

Brandon was sporting some stitches above his left eye. Where did those come from?

I got elbowed by Tis (Mike Tisdale) on... I think it was Sunday. I had to get a couple of stitches but nothing serious, it's just basketball.

You said that your hand was giving you a little bit of trouble. How are you doing with that?

It got jammed hustling for the ball. It's doing pretty well, but it's still not
100%... but I'm gonna keep working on it.

Is it important to settle into a routine on game days?

Yeah, I make sure I get my meals in. You gotta eat well. Then just start preparing for the game. I like to get a lot of shots up.

When it comes to routines, do you feel like you've settled into student life pretty well?

I'm in a pretty good routine. I make sure I go to all my classes and focus on what I need to focus on so I can get good grades.

Will the Ground Game Keep Rolling Against Minnesota?

The last time the Minnesota Golden Gophers gave up 100 yards rushing to two players in a game, it was Juice Williams and current Pittsburgh Steeler Rashard Mendenhall doing the damage. Last week, the Illini came within 3 yards of having 3 different players eclipse the century mark in the form of Williams, Jason Ford, and the surging Mikel Leshoure. If the Illini plan to keep the momentum going after the emotional win over Michigan, the ground attack is going to have to perform.

The Gophers' coaching staff has some connections to the Illini as head coach Tim Brewster played TE for Illinois and was a key player on the 1983 Big Ten Championship team that played in the Rose Bowl. Also, co-defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove was an assistant at Illinois for seven years in the 80's, coaching his current boss Brewster.

Sometimes one play can turn around an entire season. No, this team cannot still compete for a New Year's Day bowl, and the reality is that they will probably spend their second straight season at home during bowl season, but you just get a sense that the enormous weight these players have been carrying has been lessened substantially. The play, of course, was the 77 yard touchdown saving tackle from freshman Terry Hawthorne. The play was all about heart and hustle, and that says something about a kid who is probably having a little bit different of a season than expected. Hawthorne starred at East St. Louis high school last year and helped bring the Flyers a state championship with the help of fellow Illini Tommie Hopkins. Most thought that Hawthorne would be a member of what was touted as a top 10 receiving corps preseason by a number of publications. Instead, the freshman finds himself learning the nuances of the defensive side of the ball, and let's face it, the learning process for a defensive back takes longer than that for a receiver. But instead of giving up, the player that most thought was the best offensive prospect in the state last year is showing his true colors as a team player on the defense. Obviously the credit for this turnaround needs to be given to the rest of the defense as well which stopped Michigan four times from the one yard line, without which the run down by Hawthorne would have become a side note about good hustle.

The Illini will be much closer to full strength when they visit Minnesota as well. I don't think the Illini Nation realizes all of the guys we were missing when we beat the Wolverines twice in a row for the first time since Buddy Holly died. Number two wide receiver Jarred Fayson was on the bench with an injury along with AJ Jenkins. Starting tight end Michael Hoomanawanui and his back up Hubie Graham were also in street clothes. Zook had to go young when it came to his safety because of the absence of starter Donsay Hardeman. According to Zook during his address to the media on Tuesday though, all of these guys have a good chance of playing on Saturday.

My hope is that the trend continues from the last two meetings with Brewster coached Minnesota teams, and that trend is very offensive football... and I don't mean offensive like the first half of this season. In 2007, the future Rose Bowl squad recorded the third most yards in a game by an Illinois team with 655. Last year the game's outcome wasn't quite as good as in '07, but the offense was able to put up another 550 yards. Looking at the Big Ten stats, Illinois and Minnesota come into the game as the bottom two teams in the Big Ten when it comes to scoring points, but that isn't enough to convince me that there won't be a lot of points put up this weekend as the scoring defenses are ranked almost as bad.

There are a few guys on this team who hope that they can repeat big games from last year. Then-freshman AJ Jenkins caught three passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns. I would say that 39 yards per catch and a 66% touchdown rate is the definition of productivity. Meanwhile, Rejus Benn was having a career day as well, but doing it with consistency--12 Catches for 181 yards. Lastly, Juice Williams had an enormous day, putting up over 500 yards of offense and breaking the Memorial Stadium record of single game production. These things all lead me to believe that the offense has a chance to keep the momentum going.

Something that I think was a big deal last week was the ball control by the Illini in the first quarter. The truth is that we only came away with seven points, but when you dominate the clock like we did (9:30), it is much easier to get into a rhythm later in the game. Playing catch-up isn't this team's strong point, and anything that you can do to get that ball rolling early is a plus.

The Golden Gophers will be without the most productive wide receiver in the conference for the rest of the season. Senior Eric Decker was pulling in a conference best 95 yards per game. Since the injury to the star hands man, quarterback Adam Weber has had to spread the ball around the field... and he did it very well last week in their big win over Michigan State. Weber went off for 400 plus yards and 5 touchdown passes. Something you might not have expected without his star running routes.

Win or lose this weekend, I think the bottom line is that we cannot get beaten badly. This needs to be a competitive game of football against a team most thought would be a win before the season started. Ron Zook no doubt picked a good game to win, but the truth is that the Illini aren't going to win the majority of the recruiting battles with Michigan. The teams Illinois really needs to be beating are the Purdues, the Minnesotas, and the Michigan States. These teams recruit against Illinois every year for guys, and it goes a long way to show some results.

You will have to wait until Saturday afternoon to ask me whether or not the final score mirrored a competitive football game, but the bottom line is that the fans are expecting results. If this game goes poorly, the victory over Michigan is going to be forgotten quickly, and the memory will be replaced with another loss to a team we should be beating at this stage in our program's progression.

Kristina Anderson up for Athlon Sideline Spirit Award

Vote Here!

Athlon Sports has selected University of Illinois senior cheerleader Kristina Anderson to represent her school, community and the Big Ten category in round four of this year's Sideline Spirit contest. Voting for round four will begin on Saturday, October 31st at 12 a.m. and will run through 11:59 p.m. on Friday, November 20th. Those wishing to vote must have an Athlon Sports account. Voting is limited to 20 times per day per account.

The Athlon Sports Sideline Spirit Contest is entering its seventh year and has proven to be one of the most popular programs on our website. At least thirty two spirit contestants from across the country will be chosen to participate in this contest, which runs from the beginning of the college football season in September until the bowl season starts in December.

The program is broken up into four rounds, featuring seven cheerleaders or dancers in each round (one from each BCS conference and one non-BCS representative). Visitors to the Athlon website get the opportunity to show their school spirit by voting for their favorite spirit contestant. Lively message boards bring out the very best in school spirit and the rivalry of college sports. At the conclusion of the regular season, spirit contestants will advance to the championship round. She can advance to the championship round by either obtaining the most votes in her round OR securing the most votes in her conference. The winner of the championship round is titled the overall winner of the contest.

The winner will be featured in the 2010 Athlon Sports College Football annuals and her squad will receive $2,000, plus a JVC HD Everio Camera and a JVC Micro System with iPod dock!

For more information and to place your vote, visit www.athlonsports.com/spirit or find Athlon on Facebook. Information and Picture from Illinois DIA.