Illinois took a major hit when Jamar Smith was kicked off the team on Thursday.

Smith was serving a probation after an alcohol-related car accident last year. According to a source close to the situation, Smith will remain in school and has no plans to transfer.

While the chances of him ever playing in an Illini uniform again are slim, the larger concern is about Smith's personal issues at this point.

``This is about a kid's health," the source said. ``He's just trying to get his life together."

Remember, this is a kid who left teammate Brian Carlwell at the scene of a car accident a year ago. It's clear that there are some things he needs to work through

Smith's probation included a ban on drinking and while he wasn't inside a bar when the police saw him on Friday morning, he did admit to drinking, according to the police report.

Smith is one of the best perimeter shooters in the entire country and his return, along with the addition of Kentucky transfer Alex Legion, was supposed to put the Illini back in the NCAA tournament this season.

Now Bruce Weber's team may have to wait another year - when an impressive 2009 recruiting class lands on campus.

WAKE UP

There's no doubt that the addition of Al-Farouq Aminu, Tony Woods and Ty Walker were huge for Wake Forest, but these guys won't necessarily be the ones responsible for getting the Demon Deacons into the Big Dance next season.

The core of Wake's team will be the backcourt of Ishmael Smith and Jeff Teague and forward James Johnson.

``I think they are really good players that can come in and improve the program," Wake coach Dino Gaudio said of the heralded freshman class. "We'll be a better team because of them."

Gaudio said he welcomes the expectations of being a Top 25 Preseason club because, frankly, he was on the other end of it when he was the head coach at Army.

``I don't mind it at all," Gaudio said. "When I was at Army, there were no expectations. I've been on the other side of the fence and I'd much rather have it this way."

Gaudio admitted that the key to the team's success this season is team chemistry, but he also said someone - or more than one person - will need to step up and provide quality leadership.

``If we get one good leader, we can be good," Gaudio said. "If we get a few, we can be great."

SAM HOUSTON ESTABLISHING TRADITION IN LONE STAR STATE

How about the fact that Sam Houston State, since head coach Bob Marlin arrived a decade ago, is the second-winningest program in the state of Texas (behind Rick Barnes' Longhorns).

Marlin has won 182 games in Huntsville and despite the fact that the Bearkats lost a pair of all-league players in Ryan Bright and Shamir McDaniel, Sam Houston should still be battling for the league title.

``We couldn't score last year," Marlin said. "But it was the best defensive team I've had."

That should change with the addition of Corey Allmond and Preston Brown - a pair of junior college kids who should step right in.

By the way, if you're a non-conference team, you probably don't want to go to Huntsville because Marlin & Co. have won 44 consecutive non-conference home games - which ranks second in the nation behind Duke.

RANDOM NOTES: Villanova received a verbal commitment from junior James Bell, a New Jersey native who is transferring from Arlington Country Day to Montverde Academy in Florida. ... Missouri landed local senior point guard Michael Dixon of Lee's Summit West High.