If you have yet to get over the NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday snub or simply tuned out Illinois basketball since the loss to Dayton in the NIT’s Upper Left Bracket Regional Final (are you joking, NIT?), here’s a recap of some of the big stories surrounding the program since the end of the 2009-2010 campaign.
● Juniors Demetri McCamey and Mike Davis Declare, Then Withdraw from NBA Draft
After a very solid junior season in which his decision-making and leadership skills improved greatly en route to an All-Big Ten first team selection, junior point guard Demetri McCamey expectedly tested the NBA Draft waters, thankfully without an agent. Projected at the highest to be a late second round pick, McCamey withdrew from the draft by the May 10th deadline, ensuring that the Illini will have an experienced point guard for the 2010-2011 campaign rather than forcing on-the-job starting training for inexperienced redshirt freshman Joseph Bertrand. McCamey, who worked out for the Houston Rockets, will need to improve on familiar areas of his game – defense, even more consistency, and smarter decision making – to shore up this dreams of competing for a Big Ten Championship and being selected in the 2011 NBA Draft.
A bit more surprising, enigmatic junior forward Mike Davis also tested the draft waters, working out for the Portland Trail Blazers before returning to Champaign. Following an up-and-down junior season in which he posted a near double-double (10.7 points, 9.2 rebounds) but drifted mentally at times and even found himself benched for several games in the Big Ten season, Davis needs to be a more consistent force in his final collegiate season. With sophomore Tyler Griffey and freshmen Jereme Richmond and Meyers Leonard waiting in the wings, the stakes are higher for Davis to play with more urgency and compete with the consistency and maturity of an upperclassman.
Head Coach Bruce Weber ultimately expressed his pride towards the way McCamey and Davis both handled the process. Here’s hoping that these juniors have senior years more similar to Roger Powell in 2005 and Dee Brown in 2006 than Shaun Pruitt in 2008 (all three of these former Illini declared but withdrew from the draft following their junior seasons, Brown due to a broken foot suffered at the pre-Draft camp in Chicago).
● Kentucky Comes Sniffing at Assistant Jerrance Howard, Who Remains with Illini
Former Illini backup point guard, fourth-year assistant coach and recruiting whiz Jerrance Howard drew interest yet again from the Evil Empire, (i.e. Kentucky University and incredibly slimy head coach John Calipari), but chose to remain in Champaign-Urbana. A catalyst behind Illinois’ recent recruiting success (although credit also needs to go to Weber’s tireless work ethic and strong relationship with Illinois high school coaches, and the entire Illini staff for that matter on getting to targets earlier in the process), Howard has been approached twice by Kentucky in recent years about becoming an Assistant Coach in Lexington. Following the 2008-2009 season, Howard received a salary bump and contract extension; he is expected to receive another raise from the U-of-I.
Calipari, who recently demoted assistant Rod Strickland to an administrative position following the former NBA star point guard’s fourth DUI arrest, is of course close friends with noted NBA power broker William Wesley, aka “Worldwide Wes”, with whom Howard reportedly has a cordial relationship. Clearly Calipari was trying to accomplish two things here: tighten his “at-all-costs, anything goes” stranglehold on college recruiting by poaching Howard from Illinois, thus weakening Illinois’ recent recruiting success with the state’s best players while making even more major inroads in Chicago. With Kansas’ Bill Self and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski always major players for the very best (i.e. nationally top-rated) players in Chicago, the last thing that Illini fans want to see is Calipari further infiltrate the city (after plucking Simeon’s Derrick Rose in 2007).
With recent rumors that Wesley is possibly angling for Calipari to coach Lebron James in the NBA, Howard’s decision to stay at Illinois looks like a good one. Simply put, Calipari is a guy that cannot be trusted, since he’s always looking out for the next gig to serve his own gain, if that means leaving everything behind in flames or simply generating enough interest to get yet another pay raise. Still, with such frequent overtures, Illini fans should wonder how long Howard will stay at the school, specifically if raises become an off-season requirement. Given his ties to the Peoria area, his loyalty to the University of Illinois and close relationship with future recruits, Howard will likely be here for a couple of more seasons before getting an inevitable head coaching job, hopefully at a smaller school where he can hone his coaching skills. Howard has said in the past that his dream head coaching job would be at the U-of-I.
If/when Howard does go in time, Illinois fans should be clamoring for a one-man/fast break replacement: Brown. Weber had the insight to hire Howard (an administrator at the time for Billy Gillispie when he was at Kentucky), and would likely make overtures to the most popular player in Illinois history. In fact, it would be good principle for Weber to keep things in the Illini family, by bringing in qualified assistants who played for Illinois and are loyal to the school (similar to what Duke has done, without the obnoxiousness, arrogance and total country club exclusivity).
While Howard has received much of the attention among Illinois assistant coaches, Jay Price was also in the news, interviewing for the Wisconsin Green Bay job (which was ultimately given to former Hinsdale Central standout and Marquette Golden Eagle Brian Wardle). An assistant with Weber at Purdue and member of the Illini staff since Weber’s first year in 2003-2004, Price has certainly paid his dues, though he is hardly a given to get a head coaching job at the mid-major level. A journalism major at Kansas, Price is a fine example for other people who have similar degrees and are hoping to break into coaching.
● Illinois Snags Another 2011 Recruit, Rising Guard Mychael Henry
In the supposedly stacked Illinois high school class of 2011, the Illini nabbed another verbal commitment, this time from 6’6’’ swingman Mychael Henry of Orr. The Illini’s recent recruiting philosophy of getting to players early in the process apparently paid off once again with the snagging of Henry, described by recruiting experts as a pure shooter whose star was quickly on the rise. Henry had also received scholarship offers from Wisconsin and Georgetown, and is currently listed by Scout.com as the 21st ranked shooting guard in the class of 2011.
With Henry, Mount Carmel’s Tracy Abrams and St. Ignatius’ Nnanna Egwu, the Illini now have three four-star verbal commitments for the class of 2011. The Illini have also offered scholarships to five-star power forward Anthony Davis (not likely to end up in Champaign) of Chicago’s Perspectives Charter High School and a couple of four-stars in guard Chasson Randle (watch out for Kansas) of Rock Island High School and power forward Mike Shaw of De La Salle Institute. Of those three, Shaw would seem to be the most likely prospect to land at Illinois, though DePaul and new Head Coach Oliver Purnell are making my gut uneasy on this one.
Given DePaul’s need to get a splashy recruit with the classy Purnell on board, Shaw would be a major coup for the slumbering Blue Demons’ program but a sweet topping for the Illini.
● Jeff Jordan Is Released from Scholarship; Stan Simpson Also Transferring
The question of whether senior guard Jeff Jordan will stay or go has been answered: the Illini officially released him from his scholarship on May 21st, meaning that he is free to transfer to another university. For the second straight season, Jordan expressed uncertainty about returning to Illinois. After the 2008-09 campaign, Jordan briefly left the team before returning. Now Jordan is officially gone, which seemed to make sense given Illinois’ returning and incoming depth at the guard position.
However, Jordan’s transfer has not been without some controversy. A couple of days following the announcement, Jordan’s younger brother Marcus – a sophomore at UCF – had some unkind words to say about Weber on – granted, of all places – Twitter. Apparently, the Jordan camp feels slighted on the Illinois decision, even though Weber frequently praised Jordan’s contributions in his three seasons and would have likely welcomed the kid back if he was committed to returning. Whatever the case, any bitterness from Jeff and Marcus Jordan is misguided and possibly reflective of a sense of entitlement.
The Jordan reaction is the exact opposite of what’s needed in Champaign, with the Illini trying to change the culture of its program (i.e. having players work harder, get tougher, lose the ‘tude and buy into the concept of team). So far everything has seemed hunky dory in terms of players making this commitment, with Mike Tisdale apparently packing on the pounds and McCamey dropping them (in the coming days, I’ll offer my commentary on why a culture change has been a long time necessary in Illini basketball land).
Now if JJ was willing to be a part of this commitment, there’s no question he would still be at Illinois, especially given Weber’s loyalty to the kid. Whatever the spin, Weber is not the reason Jordan is no longer an Illini.
With less controversy (and surprising no one), would-be redshirt sophomore Stan Simpson also announced that he was transferring. Simpson saw limited minutes in his time at Illinois and reportedly struggled to adjust to the individual responsibilities that come with attending college (i.e. attending class, keeping grades, etc.). Given the Illini’s depth and inability to develop a consistent bench, it was unlikely that Simpson would have been a major contributor in his time at Illinois. Rather than being a C.J. Jackson or Richard Semrau (guys who hardly played before graduating from Illinois), Simpson wisely chose to go somewhere else where he can develop his raw game and eventually develop into a role player. Good luck to Simpson wherever he lands.
● North Carolina Coming to House of ‘Pain (Well, Not Recently) for Big 10/ACC Challenge
Mark the date down.
Tuesday, November 30th.
North Carolina, minus the departed Wear twins, will travel to Champaign to take on the Illini in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
This game will represent the fourth time these schools have met in the Challenge.
The last time North Carolina came to Champaign was an ugly one of the Tar Heels, who were whipped up and down the court by an Illini team featuring senior Brian Cook and freshmen Brown, Deron Williams and James Augustine. The Illini won 92-65 in that 2002 game, with redshirt sophomore Nick Smith actually looking like he was going to be a player at Illinois.
A year later in Greensboro, the Illini would lose 88-81 to North Carolina in the 2003 ACC/Big 10 Challenge, which was Weber’s first season at the helm of the program.
In 2005, the teams would meet again on a grander stage before locking horns the following season in a somewhat forgotten Challenge game at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill. Led by the senior Brown, and a southpaw frontline of Augustine, Pruitt and Brian Randle, the Illini would hold off the Tar Heels and Tyler Hansbrough (who was nothing special that game before going on to have a monstrous freshman season) 66-62 in the 2005 Challenge.
With the ’05-06 victory, the Illini are 2-1 against Carolina in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge, but 2-2 in that four season period (with that second loss to NC still hurting to this day).
In addition to UNC, Weber hinted that the Illini will likely play his former team, Southern Illinois (although a date has yet to be determined for next season), and that this pairing may even become an annual thing. Of course, things didn’t go well the last time the Illini met an in-state Missouri Valley Conference team, Bradley, during a lost Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas last season.
With that risk aside, I’m looking forward to the Illini and Salukis playing for the first time since the 2001-2002 season (the teams should have met in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament had it not been for an Illini meltdown against Virginia Tech). It should be a fun series to watch in upcoming years, more dangerous for Illinois than some may realize.
Until tomorrow.