Sunday Morning: Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball News for October 24-30
By Editorial Staff
It was a busy week for the Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball program, beginning with the Orange and Blue Scrimmage last Sunday, including mid-week decisions from recruits Chasson Randle and Mike Shaw, moving to Big Ten Media Day on Thursday and concluding with a sloppy and ugly victory against Lewis during an exhibition opener on Friday night.
Here’s a recap of the week that was in Illinois basketball.
Have a safe and happy Halloween.
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL PLAYER NEWS
#4 Crandall Head, Freshman Guard/Forward
As Illinois head coach Bruce Weber noted, Head played a bit too fast during the exhibition opener, when he scored 6 points in 12 minutes.
→ ILLINI FRESHMAN CRANDALL HEAD LOOKING TO MAKE HIS OWN LEGACY
→ HEAD TRYING TO PROVE HIMSELF AS DEFENSIVE STOPPER
→ CRANDALL HEAD POST-ORANGE & BLUE SCRIMMAGE THOUGHTS
#12 Meyers Leonard, Freshman Center
After stealing the show during the Orange & Blue Scrimmage, Leonard provided good activity against Lewis, finishing with 4 points and 5 rebounds but leaving a couple of easy baskets out on the floor in 15 minutes.
→ ILLINI BASKETBALL FRESHMAN IS ALREADY ON THE RUN
→ FRESHMAN LEONARD LIGHTS IT UP IN ILLINI SCRIMMAGE
#22 Jereme Richmond, Freshman Guard/Forward
Arguably the best Illinois player during the first half of the Lewis win, Richmond (11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 19 minutes) did turn the ball over 6 times on Friday night.
→ RICHMOND HAS FINE DEBUT FOR ILLINOIS
→ TOP FRESHMEN TO WATCH IN 2010-2011
→ SUPER FRESHMAN JEREME RICHMOND SHOULD START FOR THE ILLINI
#24 Mike Davis, Senior Forward
Of all the seniors, Davis brought the best activity in the Lewis win, finishing with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal and 3 turnovers in 26 minutes.
→ DAVIS, ILLINI READY TO DEFEND THE ASSEMBLY HALL
#32 Demetri McCamey, Senior Point Guard
McCamey left a lot to be desired on Friday night, finishing with 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting but making some questionable decisions on the fast break.
→ KLEE’S PRESEASON PICKS: MCCAMEY TOPS LIST
→ ILLINOIS’ MCCAMEY HAS GREAT EXPECTATIONS
→ MCCAMEY NAMED PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN
→ ‘M’ FOR MCCAMEY ALSO FOR MATURITY
#54 Mike Tisdale, Senior Center
After an early baseline jumper, Tisdale was very quiet in the first half before being a little more recognizable in the second 20 minutes en route to finishing with 8 points and just 3 rebounds in 18 nondescript minutes.
→ ILLINI LOOKING TO MIKE TISDALE AS 3-POINT THREAT
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL TEAM NEWS
General Team News
Here are some various stories on Illini hoops.
→ ILLINI SHOW FIGHT IN PRACTICE
→ 2010-2011 PREVIEW: BEST BACKCOURTS
→ HISTORY OF 2011 BASKETBALL SEASON WILL BE WRITTEN BY SENIORS
→ ILLINOIS RANKED 13TH IN PRESEASON AP HOOPS POLL
→ HOOPS TEAM GEARING UP WHILE WAITING FOR SHAW
→ ANNUAL ALLEY-OOP FOR AUTISM ENLISTS ILLINOIS BASKETBALL TEAM
Next Opponent: Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles
Illinois will host Southern Indiana on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the second and final exhibition game.
→ TUESDAY GAME PREVIEW: USI AT ILLINOIS
Illinois-Lewis Exhibition Opener
Quite simply, Illinois has a lot to work on after an unimpressive win, beginning with playing with greater urgency from the start.
→ ILLINOIS STRUGGLES IN 75-65 EXHIBITION VICTORY
→ LIVE FROM UI-LEWIS EXHIBITION
Big Ten Media Day
Here are some contributions from the Illini at Thursday’s Big Ten Media Day.
→ ILLINOIS COACH BRUCE WEBER’S COMMENTS AT MEDIA DAY
→ ILLINI THIRD IN SUN-TIMES BIG TEN MEN’S BASKETBALL POLL
→ ILLINOIS SNUBBED IN BIG TEN POLL
→ 2010 BIG TEN MEN’S BASKETBALL MEDIA DAY: COACHES QUOTES
Orange and Blue Scrimmage
Leonard and Davis were the stars at Sunday’s O&B Scrimmage.
→ FRESHMEN SHINE AT HOOPS SCRIMMAGE
→ FRESHMEN STAND OUT IN SCRIMMAGE
→ TATE: I HAVE ONE MAJOR STICKING POINT
→ BRUCE WEBER POST-ORANGE & BLUE SCRIMMAGE
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL COACHING NEWS
Head Coach Bruce Weber
To Weber’s credit, he showed more defensive pressure against Lewis, although the Illini struggled again to contain penetration.
→ WEBER TO EXPERIMENT WITH LINEUPS
→ WEBER HAS ILLINI FIGHTING FOR SPOTS
→ WEBER FOCUSED ON DEFENSE, PLAYING HARD
→ ILLINI’S WEBER EXPECTS STARTING LINEUP TO STAY FLUID
FORMER ILLINOIS BASKETBALL PLAYER NEWS
#4 Luther Head (2001-2005)
Luther Head is currently playing for the Sacramento Kings, as detailed in this Daily Deron from Writing Illini.
→ MEMORY LANE: LUTHER HEAD, UI FRESHMAN
#33 Richard McBride (2003-2007)
Rich McBride is currently the head basketball coach for the boys’ varsity team at Cairo High School in Cairo, Illinois.
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL RECRUITING NEWS
Mike Shaw, Chicago De La Salle Forward
On Thursday, Shaw chose the Illini over DePaul, Marquette and West Virginia, ending a 5-year recruitment by the Illinois coaching staff.
→ FOUR-STAR FORWARD SHAW COMMITS TO ILLINOIS
→ MIKE SHAW VERBALLY COMMITS TO ILLINOIS
→ DE LA SALLE FORWARD SHAW PICKS ILLINOIS
→ ESPNU 100 FORWARD MIKE SHAW COMMITS TO ILLINOIS
Chasson Randle, Rock Island Guard
On Wednesday, Randle chose Stanford over Illinois and Purdue during a decision that was not all that surprising.
→ CHASSON RANDLE COMMITS TO STANFORD
→ CHASSON RANDLE HEADING TO STANFORD
→ ESPNU 100 POINT GUARD CHASSON RANDLE PICKS STANFORD
BIG TEN/COLLEGE BASKETBALL NEWS
Here are some various Media Day stories on other Big Ten basketball programs.
→ MICHIGAN STATE LEADS BIG TEN PRESEASON HOOPS POLL
→ BIG TEN MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAMS LOOK SCARY INDEED
→ BIG TEN COACHES EVALUATE JULY
→ BIG TEN MEDIA DAY NEWS AND NOTES
→ MICHIGAN STATE’S KALIN LUCAS MAY LEAD BIG TEN
→ IN SENIOR YEAR, PURDUE’S JAJUAN JOHNSON IS ONE OF NATION’S BEST
→ TUBBY SMITH’S BIG JOB: SORTING OUT ROLES
→ BIG TEN MEDIA TAB MICHIGAN STATE AS CONFERENCE’S PRESEASON FAVORITE
→ RUPTURED HOPES FOR PURDUE HOOPS
→ LEUER BEGINS HIS SENIOR SEASON WITH CONFIDENCE, ACCOLADES
→ NU’S SHURNA AN UNASSUMING STAR
→ OAKLAND’S KEITH BENSON READY FOR NBA AUDITIONS
Alright.
Until tomorrow.