Sunday Morning

Each Sunday morning, Writing Illini basketball blogger Chris Maynard recaps the previous week’s events surrounding the Illinois Fighting Illini basketball program, including many, many links to recent news stories and some commentary.

Learn what Sunday morning means to me and why I gave the section this name here.

Or just listen to the song at the bottom of this page to get a feel for what I’m talking about.

Here’s hoping that Writing Illini’s Sunday Morning will be a perfect place for Illinois hoops fans to stay updated/catch up on the latest happenings with the team and even serve as an archive for past stories on the Fighting Illini players and coaches.

Sunday Morning Fighting Illini Basketball Headlines

• September 12-18: Looks ahead to the Orange and Blue Scrimmage and covers visits by current recruits.
• September 5-11: Karma comes back to bite Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl and McCamey is listed as one of the top senior draft prospects.
• August 29-September 4: Surprise ESPN prediction has Illinois winning the Big Ten and former Illini star Dee Brown heads to Dallas.
• August 22-28, 2010: Details the return of Chester Frazier and the addition of walk-on Kevin Berardini, and provides some early predictions on Illinois’ recently-released Big Ten schedule.
• August 15-21, 2010: Recaps the European basketball exploits of Brandon Paul, Tyler Griffey and Jay Price; Illinois’ three Super Tuesday games on ESPN; and Bruce Weber’s comments about the Illini possibly competing for a Big Ten title.
• August 8-14, 2010: Examines Illinois’ challenging 2010 non-conference schedule, the whereabouts of Illini sophomores D.J. Richardson, Brandon Paul, Tyler Griffey and Joseph Bertrand (technically, he’s a redshirt freshman), and the upcoming back surgery for 2011 recruit Nnanna Egwu.
• August 1-7, 2010: Discusses Jerrance Howard staying put, Brandon Paul and Tyler Griffey heading to Europe, Mike Shaw visiting the UI campus, and the parents of Anthony Davis allegedly preparing to sue the Chicago Sun-Times.
• July 25-31, 2010: Highlights the summer improvements of Mike Davis, the top 20 players in the Big Ten, Illinois’ defensive deficiencies in 2009/2010, and the recruitment of De La Salle power forward Mike Shaw.
• July 18-24, 2010: Includes stories on Mike Tisdale’s most excellent summer, Crandall Head’s recovery from a knee injury, Jimmy Collins retiring from UIC, Jerrance Howard’s contract extension, and Jarrod Uthoff’s commitment to Wisconsin.
• July 11-17, 2010: Examines the position battle between Jereme Richmond and Bill Cole, provides an update on Brandon Paul’s summer progress and congratulates Richard McBride for getting named the head basketball coach at Cairo High School in Cairo, Illinois.
• July 4-10, 2010: Details Mike Tisdale getting named to the college select team, Demetri McCamey participating at the Lebron James Skills Academy, and Jereme Richmond finally arriving on campus.
• June 27-July 3, 2010: Fourth of July edition revisits Illinois offering a scholarship to Josh Oglesby, Jereme Richmond winning gold, and Dee Brown and Roger Powell Jr. returning to Champaign-Urbana for different reasons.
• June 20-26, 2010: Details UI team camp performances of Tracy Abrams, Mycheal Henry, Gary Harris and Josh Oglesby, confirms Jeff Jordan’s transfer to UCF and talks about Demetri McCamey as a camp counselor at the Deron Williams’ Skills Academy.
• June 13-19, 2010: Father’s Day edition features link to touching Bruce Weber/Jamar Smith story from the classy Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports, salutes Jereme Richmond for getting named to the U18 team, and details Richmond, Meyers Leonard and Crandall Head choosing their Illini jersey numbers.
• June 6-12, 2010: Tracks Joseph Bertrand’s summer progress in Poland, details the AAU exploits of 2011 Illini recruit Mycheal Henry, and catches up with former Illini Dee Brown, James Augustine, Frank Williams and Trent Meacham.
• May 30-June 5, 2010: Highlights a link to a Peoria Journal Star feature on Meyers Leonard.
• May 23-29, 2010: Includes a link to Paul Klee’s profile on Illini center Meyers Leonard and discovers Tyler Griffey’s blog.