Sunday Morning: Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball Headlines for Oct. 10-16
By Editorial Staff
Well, the 2010-2011 basketball season is finally here, with the Illini officially practicing as of Friday.
In what was a busy week, Illinois held its Media Day on Tuesday afternoon and Midnight Madness on Friday night, with tons of recruits on hand to watch redshirt freshman Joseph Bertrand win the slam dunk and knockout contests.
Here’s a recap on the week that was, including the latest on the devastating (and quite unfortunate) season-ending ACL injury to Purdue senior Robbie Hummel.
ILLINI BASKETBALL PLAYER NEWS
#1 D.J. Richardson, Sophomore Guard
While the Illini senior and freshman classes get a lot of attention, don’t forget about the sophomores like the impressive Richardson.
→ D.J. RICHARDSON MEDIA DAY THOUGHTS
#3 Brandon Paul, Sophomore Guard
Will Paul be more consistent or struggle to get time with a logjam at the wing during his sophomore season? That’s a question worth watching in 2010-2011.
→ BRANDON PAUL MEDIA DAY THOUGHTS
#22 Jereme Richmond, Freshman Center
I have to admit that it feels great to see Richmond finally in an Illinois uniform.
→ RICHMOND A FRESHMAN OF INFLUENCE FOR WEBER’S ILLINI
→ ILLINI’S WEBER WELCOMES RICHMOND’S VERSATILITY
→ RICHMOND EXPECTATIONS SUPER-SIZED
→ SI’S TOP 16 IMPACT FRESHMAN: #13 JEREME RICHMOND
→ KLEE: RICHMOND, RECRUITS AND RANKINGS
→ RICHMOND PREPS FOR HEAVY LIFTING
→ MEMORY LANE: JEREME RICHMOND
#24 Mike Davis, Senior Forward
After an up-and-down junior season, Mike Davis apparently has had an attitude change heading into his senior season. I’ll believe it when I see it on the court.
→ DAVIS OUT TO PROVE HE’S AN NBA CALIBER PLAYER
#32 Demetri McCamey, Senior Point Guard
McCamey took big steps as a junior…can he step up his defense and leadership during his last season in Champaign-Urbana?
→ DEMETRI MCCAMEY READY TO TAKE NEXT STEP (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED)
→ ILLINI PONDER SUBSTITUTE FOR MCCAMEY
#54 Mike Tisdale, Senior Center
Mike Tisdale’s coursework may not compare to Matt Leinart’s last semester at USC but it still sounds like a breeze.
→ BIGGER TISDALE TACKLING SMALLER WORKLOAD IN CLASSROOM
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL TEAM NEWS
If there’s one thing certain about this season’s Illinois team, it’s that the Illini are freaking deep.
→ WITH FIVE STARTERS BACK, ILLINOIS HAS HIGH HOPES
→ RETURNING STARTERS AND 3 PROMISING FRESHMEN RAISE EXPECTATIONS FOR ILLINI
→ ILLINI HOOPS SENIORS SEEK TO MAKE THEIR MARK
→ ILLINOIS FRESHMEN AIM TO LIGHT COMPETITIVE FIRE
→ THE HOOPS REPORT’S TOP 65 TEAM PREVIEWS: #19 ILLINOIS
→ SI’S TOP 16 COLLEGE FRONTCOURTS: #6 ILLINOIS
→ ILLINI BASKETBALL HAS A GOOD PROBLEM
→ ILLINI BASKETBALL HAS HIGH EXPECTATIONS
→ ILLINOIS WEEKLY BASKETBALL CHAT
→ ILLINI BASKETBALL: 10 BURNING QUESTIONS FOR 2010-2011
Illini Media Day
The class act that he is, Weber acknowledged the passing of former Illini manager Jeremy Izzo at the beginning of his media day press conference. Be sure to check out the basketball media day photos below.
→ BRUCE WEBER MEDIA DAY PRESS CONFERENCE
→ BRUCE WEBER MEDIA DAY THOUGHTS
→ MORE ILLINOIS MEDIA DAY PHOTOS
→ ILLINI HOOPS MEDIA DAY NOTABLE QUOTABLES WITH VIDEO
→ MEDIA DAY 2010 MARKS START OF THE SEASON
Illini Madness
The Illini packed Huff Hall for Friday night’s Midnight madness, which saw a plethora of recruits in attendance, including Chasson Randle.
→ LARGE GROUP OF RECRUITS HIGHLIGHT MADNESS
→ BIG NIGHT, BIG NAMES FOR ILLINI MADNESS
→ ILLINI MIDNIGHT MADNESS DUNK CONTEST
→ ILLINI MADNESS A PARTY FOR RECRUITS AS MUCH AS CURRENT PLAYERS
→ ILLINOIS BASKETBALL KICKS OFF SEASON
→ ‘BIG TEN HOOPS HYSTERIA’ TO TIP-OFF BASKETBALL SEASON ON BIG TEN NETWORK
→ LOCAL BASKETBALL RECRUITS ATTEND ILLINI MADNESS
→ ILLINI BASKETBALL MADNESS 2010
→ MIDNIGHT MADNESS MORE THAN JUST HOOPS AT NIGHT
→ ILLINOIS BASKETBALL RECRUITS TO ATTEND MIDNIGHT MADNESS
→ ILLINI MADNESS INVADES HUFF HALL
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL COACHING NEWS
Head Coach Bruce Weber
Illinois looks great on paper, but let’s hold off on the 2004-2005 references, not that Weber’s making them.
→ WEBER: ILLINI HAVE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS IN 2010
→ BRUCE WEBER EAGER TO DISPLAY ILLINI TEAM (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED)
→ AND WEBER’S STARTING LINEUP IS…
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL RECRUITING NEWS
Chasson Randle, Rock Island Guard, and Mike Shaw, De La Salle Forward
Randle and Shaw are the Illini’s top two remaining targets in the Class of 2011. After spending last weekend at Stanford, Randle was in attendance at Midnight Madness. Shaw was not, attending Marquette’s Midnight Madness. According to Joe Henricksen of the City/Suburban Hoops Report, he sees Randle attending Illinois ahead of Purdue and Stanford, and Shaw choosing either Illinois or Marquette. Personally, I would not dismiss Stanford in the Randle recruitment and feel that Shaw will choose Marquette.
→ DOWN TO RANDLE, BOATRIGHT AND SHAW
→ CHASSON RANDLE HAD A GREAT WEEKEND AT STANFORD
Mycheal Henry, Orr Guard
The folks at Illinois Prep Bulls Eye are comparing Henry to former Illini great Nick Anderson.
→ HENRY ETCHES HIS RANKING IN STONE
BIG TEN/COLLEGE BASKETBALL NEWS
Of course, I would be remiss not to mention Hummel’s terrible injury, which will once again derail Purdue’s dream of the Final Four. More importantly, Hummel is a great kid coming off a horrific injury last season.
→ HUMMEL’S INJURY LEAVES PURDUE IN SHAMBLES
→ SIU TURNS TO TRANSFERS TO RIGHT THE SHIP
→ BIG TEN BASKETBALL: TEN BIG QUESTIONS HEADING INTO THE SEASON
→ ANDY KATZ: AFTER FIVE MONTHS, TIME FOR A NEW TOP 25
Alright.
Writing Illini hopes to jack up the basketball coverage in the next week or so, once graduate school calms down a bit.
Sadly, I still have to finish the Illinois Basketball Summer (make that Fall/Winter) School series on Brandon Paul and Tyler Griffey.
With that said, I promise those features in the next week or so.
Until then.