However, the Illinois head man may not have enough horses to compete with the
big boys in the Big Ten this year. Especially now that Jamar Smith is out of
the equation for this season and one of team’s best freshmen may not qualify academically.
Smith, who pleaded guilty to aggravated driving under the influence and missed
the second half of last season, will sit out this season and work to fulfill
his legal obligations before trying to re-join the Illini.
Freshman Quinton Watkins, a talented guard out of Compton, Calif., who was expected to vie for a starting spot, remains
on the west coast trying to get through the NCAA clearinghouse.
There’s no Dee Brown, Deron Williams or Luther Head on the Illini roster. It’s
no secret that Weber and his staff have had difficulty keeping the top in-state
talent in Champaign.
It started with Jon Scheyer (Duke) and Sherron Collins (Kansas) and has continued with the likes of Derrick Rose (Memphis), Michael Dunigan (Oregon) and now Iman Shumpert.
It’s not as if the cupboard is bare. There’s still talent in the program and if
there’s anyone that can develop guys and get the most out of his players, it’s
Weber – who is one of the best X’s and O’s guys in the entire country.
He’s got a team this season that will be built around talented big man Shaun
Pruitt (11.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg), fellow senior Brian Randle (9.6 ppg) and junior
guard Chester Frazier. The key will be whether he can get quality play from sophomore
big man Brian Carlwell and also whether freshman Demetri McCamey can come right
in and make an immediate impact.
No one expected the Illini to go 23-12 a year ago, so it’s hard to count Weber
out – no matter what hand he’s dealt.
Weber will get his first look at his new guys – who also include in-state
forwards Bill Cole and Mike Tisdale and junior college forward Rodney Alexander
- when the team departs for Canada over Labor Day.
TIDE ROLLS
There was no shortage of news coming out of Tuscaloosa this week.
Ron Steele’s younger brother, Andrew, committed to the Crimson Tide. Then Ron scheduled yet another surgery – he is having his left knee scoped today to remove a piece of
loose cartilage and will be out yet another month or so.
Mark Gottfried and his staff landed elite in-state big man prospect JaMychal
Green late Wednesday night. The 6-foot-8 St. Jude standout also considered Ole
Miss and Georgia Tech, but he and the younger Steele made it clear they wanted
to play together at the next level.
Green is ranked 17th in the country by Scout.com, but when you factor
in all the intangibles, he’s probably a legitimate Top 10 player in the class –
and a sure-fire McDonald’s All-American.
Green will be the ideal replacement for Richard Hendrix in Tuscaloosa.
MCCONATHY NETS KEY LATE ADDITION
Northwestern State coach Mike McConathy was the beneficiary of the
recent mess at Ball State when he got a commitment from C.J. Clark, a 6-foot-7
forward out of Houston who got his release from Ball State after Ronny Thompson was fired.
Clark played a dozen games his freshman season at Colorado State before
spending last year at Panola Junior College. Hawaii and Wisconsin-Milwaukee
both showed interest after Clark and Ball State recently parted ways, but
McConathy believes that a big key was that Clark was able to watch his team
practice this past weekend prior to Friday’s trip to the Bahamas - the program’s
first-ever preseason trip.
``C.J. coming is better than we could have ever dreamed of,” McConathy said. “He
fits in perfectly. He’s got 15 to 17-foot range, is an aggressive defender and
runs the floor like a deer.”
McConathy said that redshirt freshman Devin White has been the team’s biggest
surprise through the first three practices.
Only UK fans would think that they are such an elite program that no one could steal a prospect from them. In case you haven't noticed, top prospects haven't exactly been flocking to Lexington the past few years. Maybe the new coach will change some of that, we'll see.
Before you start making your biased speculations, make sure that you can at least spell everything that you are talking about. (Weber, notice one B...it's all over the article man)
Oh and by the way, I wouldn't be too caught up in your precious "Wildcats". They have been every bit of pathetic over the last five years, losing Coach Smith didn't with that at all. If anything Kentucky will lose recruits because of this move.
Last edited by ncaabasketballprofessor on August 24th at 10:51 PM.
Coach Weber is a class act.Unless it is an NCAA rule i am sure there are a lot of schools that would not have suspended a star player for a year with no gaurantee for reinstatement.The ILLINI are fortunate to have him and if they get back to winning 30 games a year they should know that it was done the right way.
I wish Kentucky fans would get off their high horse. I agree with mkboyd, because Kentucky fans what you did back when Rupp was around does not matter anymore. What have you done lately? I do beleive Billy G. will start to turn the proram around. The only problem with that is, you UK fans, will not except anything shy of a national title. You can not expect miracles in one season.
Kelvan Sampson and Indiana University should be investigated over the Gordon situation.The whole thing smells a little fishy.Sampsons past record leads me to believe this is warranted
OK kowz999, who should be investigated for all these other problems illinois is having? Stop trying to blame everyone else for the illni's rapid fall back to mediocrity - where they belong.
What other problems?Sampson Shows up at IU after getting caught cheating at his previous job,then a talented player changes his mind and signs with IU.Why?I just think someone needs to check into it.
Jeff Goodman is a senior college basketball writer for FOXSports.com - This is the only place you'll find continuous daily updates from the world of college basketball, so check back as often as you'd like.
