Sunday Morning: Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball Headlines for Oct. 3-9
By Editorial Staff
Less than a week away from Midnight Madness, the Illinois men’s basketball season is tantalizingly close, with Demetri McCamey getting named to the preseason Wooden Award list, Mike Tisdale dealing with shin splints after gaining some much-need weight this past summer, and the News Gazette’s Paul Klee including the Illini in his preseason top-10.
Check out the recap of this week’s Fighting Illini basketball news after the jump.
On a serious note, Writing Illini would like to offer condolences to the family of Jeremy Izzo, the head coach of the Joliet Catholic boys basketball team and a former Illini basketball team manager who died suddenly on Friday at the age of 29.
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL PLAYER NEWS
#32 Demetri McCamey, Senior Guard
As expected, McCamey has been named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list, along with 9 other Big Ten players, including Purdue’s JaJuan Johnson, Robbie Hummel, and E’Twaun Moore, Northwestern’s John Shurna, Penn State’s Talor Battle, Ohio State’s William Buford, Wisconsin’s Jon Leuer, and Michigan State’s Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers. Weeks after Mike Tisdale weighed in at #44 on the Rivals.com Preseason Top 50 players of 2010-2011, McCamey came in at #34.
→ MCCAMEY ON WOODEN AWARD LIST
→ A LOOK AT THE BIGGEST SNUBS FROM THE WOODEN AWARD NOMINEES
→ NO. 34: ILLINOIS GUARD DEMETRI MCCAMEY
#42 Tyler Griffey, Sophomore Forward
Check out today’s feature on Griffey from the News Gazette’s Paul Klee. If Griffey isn’t one of your favorite Illini basketball players, he should be after this read. Putting Griffey’s love for life and blogging to the side, this kid can seriously play and needs to be a much bigger part of the Illini rotation in 2010-2011.
#54 Mike Tisdale, Senior Center
After packing on some much-needed weight this past summer, Tisdale apparently has been suffering from some leg pain due to shin splints, forcing him to miss a couple of workouts.
→ ILLINI’S TISDALE SUFFERING FROM SHIN SPLINTS
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL TEAM NEWS
Drinking the Orange Kool-Aid?
Somewhat surprising, Klee had the Illini at number-10 in his preseason college basketball top 10 rankings. While Klee knows the team better than anyone else when it comes to Illini beat reporters, his rankings are a bit optimistic as of right now. While the Illini have been saying and doing all of the right things since losing to Dayton in the NIT, apparently having a positive attitude change in the process, there are still a lot of questions that remain to be answered for me to put this team in the top-10. Will seniors Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale become more consistent? Will Demetri McCamey play any defense? How will Bruce Weber utilize his deepest team at Illinois, balancing the playing time of a talented sophomore and freshman class with the experience of 4 seniors? I could go on and on, but until I see this team start bringing a more consistent approach to actual games, I’m hesitant to get my hopes too high, despite all of the promise.
→ KLEE’S TOP 10: ILLINI MAKE THE CUT
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL COACHING NEWS
Head Coach Bruce Weber
As detailed in last week’s “Sunday Morning,” Bruce Weber recently visted Capitol Hill to lobby for more funding for cancer research. Here’s another story on “Mr. Weber Goes to Washington.”
→ WEBER’S PROMISE FULFILLED AT U.S. CAPITOL
→ COACHES VS. CANCER EVENT TO FEATURE CHRIS LOWERY, BRUCE WEBER
Assistant Coach Wayne McClain
Long-time Illini assistant Wayne McClain recently discussed the progress and prospects of the 2010-2011 basketball team with InsideIllini.com.
→ WAYNE MCCLAIN DISCUSSES ILLINI BASKETBALL (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED)
→ WAYNE MCCLAIN IS A MAN OF HIS WORD (MUST READ)
Former Illinois manager dies at age 29
On a sad note, Joliet Catholic boys basketball coach and former Illinois basketball manager Jeremy Izzo died on Friday, apparently due to complications from Marfan syndrome. Only 29 years old, Izzo leaves behind a wife and one-year-old daughter. While I was not familiar with Izzo’s name, I remembered him quite well when seeing his picture online. Izzo was a team manager under Lon Kruger, Bill Self and Bruce Weber and was often seen right behind the Illini bench during games. Condolences to the Izzo family on this unfortunate news.
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL RECRUITING NEWS
Updates on Illinois recruit Chasson Randle
During an interview with The Bootleg, a Stanford-related sports Web site, Rock Island guard Chasson Randle said he would like to make a decision about his college choice by the day before Thanksgiving (that would be November 24th). Randle has Illinois, Stanford and Purdue in his final three, and will be at Illinois’ Midnight Madness on October 15th.
→ THE LATEST HANDLE ON MR. RANDLE
Illinois Weekly Basketball Chat Talks about Devin Langford
In his weekly basketball chat, Klee details how Illinois really likes Devin Langford, a 6’6’’, 190-lb. senior guard from Huntsville, Alabama. Klee suggests that Langford could be an Illini backup plan if Chasson Randle chooses to go to Stanford or Purdue. Illinois fans will get a chance to see Langford play on December 11th when his Huntsville (Ala.) team will participate in the Shootout at the Hall on the Illini campus. For more on the Shootout, including the daily lineup, see the Springfield Lanphier story below.
→ LANPHIER TO PLAY BASKETBALL AT ASSEMBLY HALL IN DECEMBER
Simeon’s Jabari Parker to attend Midnight Madness on October 15th
Along with Illinois recruits Randle and DeJuan Marrero, heavily-recruited Simeon sophomore Jabari Parker will be at Huff Hall on October 15th during the Illini Midnight Madness festivities, as detailed by Joe Henricksen of the City/Suburban Hoops Report. For more information on Illinois commitment Mycheal Henry and recruiting targets like Tommie Hamilton Jr. and Paul White, check out Henricksen’s report below.
→ PARKER TO ILLINI MIDNIGHT MADNESS
→ ILLINOIS MIDNIGHT MADNESS TO BE STREAMED ONLINE VIA BIG TEN NETWORK
Some cool pictures of Illinois recruits at the Ohio State football game
De La Salle senior forward Mike Shaw was one of several Illini recruits at last weekend’s Ohio State-Illinois game at Memorial Stadium, as captured by these cool pictures from Smile Politely.
→ A FEW NEW FACES IN THE CROWD
Illinois continues to recruit the state of Indiana hard
With the state of Indiana boasting a stacked roster of preps recruits in the class of 2012, Illinois has been working hard in Hoosier Country, as evidenced by a scholarship offer to Warren Central High School (Indianapolis) sophomore Devin Davis, who will graduate in 2013.
→ EXPLOSIVE 2013 DEVIN DAVIS HAS ILLINI OFFER (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED)
→ DEVIN DAVIS ENJOYS SATURDAY TRIP TO BLOOMINGTON
State of Illinois class of 2014 generating a lot of hype
The aforementioned Henricksen ranks the top 8 freshman basketball players in the state of Illinois, including Illini offers Paul Turner (St. Joseph’s) and Jahlil Okafor and Paul White (both at Whitney Young).
→ OFFERS + TALENT = HYPE FOR CLASS OF 2014
FORMER ILLINI BASKETBALL PLAYER NEWS
Kenny Battle
It seems like it was just yesterday when Battle and the Flyin’ Illini were soaring their way to the 1989 Final Four. Today, Battle turns 46. Happy birthday to the Illinois basketball legend, who will always be a high-flier, regardless of age.
Deron Williams
File this one under “No kidding.”
→ NBA GENERAL MANAGERS PICK DERON WILLIAMS AS LEAGUE’S BEST POINT GUARD
Alright.
Later this week, I hope to finish the Illinois Basketball Summer School series on Brandon Paul and Tyler Griffey, and start previewing the men’s basketball season in more detail.
Until then.