Illinois Basketball: The Character of Jalen Coleman Lands

For the Illinois basketball team we have heard the cliché “stuff” happens. What one does with that fact defines character.

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In sports, as in life, one often hears the phrase “things happen for a reason.”  This cliché is usually employed relative to a piece of bad news, and is meant to soften its rough edges and perhaps to motivate the recipient of the message to persevere and overcome the adversity.

Of course the reality is that the cliché is hooey.  Things really don’t happen for a reason.  Things just happen.  There might be a cause, but a reason?  That doesn’t really make sense.  But that doesn’t mean the phrase has no value.

The value lies in the intention of the message, not the message itself.  After all, it is what people do with whatever it is that happened that defines their character.

And that brings me to Jalen Coleman Lands.  JCL was handed an incredible opportunity for a freshman in a power six conference.

The Illini’s injury woes of this past season were well-chronicled.  Illinois lost three starters to season ending injuries and suffered a rash of other injuries and illnesses that kept the early season line-up rotation in constant motion.

Any number of players stepped up for Illinois capably employing John Groce’s “next man up” philosophy.

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Most notably of the group was JCL.  He had a serious injury of his own to contend with that kept him largely out of meaningful practice time last summer and into the fall semester.  But that didn’t prevent him from stepping in, and stepping up, at the very beginning of the season when star shooting guard, junior Kendrick Nunn, was out for the first six games with a hand injury, including the exhibition game against the University of Illinois at Springfield.

And, as you might recall, all of the Illini’s initial home games were played in Springfield, at the Illini’s “home away from home” the Prairie Capital Convention Center.

In hindsight, in case it wasn’t apparent at the time it was happening, JCL’s performance was remarkable in those first six games.

Here is a player who lost the entire practice season leading up to his freshman year, but who none-the-less was asked to play substantial minutes out of the gate.

Looking at those six games, it was obvious that the hype around this guy was justified.

In his debut, JCL played 23 minutes against UIS.  He shot 60% and hit five of nine from beyond the arc.  He totaled 20 points.

Yes, UIS is a Division III school, and Illinois did what was expected, putting UIS away 104 to 69. But even with that, and especially considering the context of his injury, that was a very impressive debut for the freshman.

The Illini opened the regular season hosting the North Florida Ospreys.  The Ospreys were a senior laden and talented team from the Atlantic Sun Conference.  JCL only played 14 minutes in that game, scoring just five points in the Illini’s losing effort.

But two days later, JCL had his legs back under him.  Against another excellent mid-major team, North Dakota State, he scored 15 points and played for 32 minutes.  He was three for six on three-pointers, helping the Illini to a 80 to 74 victory.

After that the Illini played at Providence against a very good team with one of the best players in the country in Kris Dunn.  JCL was an offensive machine in that game in 27 minutes of play.  He hit five of seven from the three-point line, and added a field goal for a total of 17 points.

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Unfortunately, JCL was out of gas in the four point loss to Chattanooga, where he went zero for five in 19 minutes of play.  JCL bounced back again in the following game against Chicago State on November 23rd.  In that game, he hit an impressive four of seven from the arc.

JCL emerged from these games with very impressive numbers. In the first five regular season games (which included performances against four very good schools) he shot 42% overall and even more impressively, 50% from three.

JCL finished the season shooting 41% overall, and 42% from the arc.  Those are impressive numbers for any player, let alone a freshman in the B1G.

JCL was the perfect example of someone who was told that his injury “happened for a reason” and who was asked to step into the void due to others injuries that also “happened for a reason.”  So what message did he take from that cliché exactly?  From the looks of it, he chose “from adversity comes opportunity.”

In JCL’s debut season, he was asked to step-in and to step-up.  In the final analysis he more than met expectations on that front. He needs improvement on his range and defense, but the fact that JCL had to give so many minutes this season  due to the adversity of his peers was something he clearly approached as an opportunity.  His efforts this past season will pay huge dividends when he takes the court next season.