Sun-Times Article about Jeff Jordan

Here's a nice article about Jeff Jordan and the Illinois basketball program. He sounds like a great kid and likely to exceed the expectations for him, which don't seem that high as a freshman.

MidStateHoops.com Presents Matt Roth

Here's a guy that wants to play for Illinois. He seems to have a nice shot, so let's make him an offer and get the 2008 class started.

Will someone from the Class of 2008 Please Stand Up?

Well, news on the Illini recruiting is not good, at least not good from the perspective of in-State players Liggins, Humphrey, Dunigan and Shumpert, who all say they are going elsewhere for college. Which is fine by me, as long as they have their priorities in place and are committing to one of the NCAA powerhouse schools like UCLA, North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky or Kansas.

But perhaps the most distressing news is coming from Michael Dunigan, who always wanted to stay close to home. Michael, I hate to tell you this, but according to Google Maps Eugene Oregon is 2,229 miles from Chicago! That doesn't bode well for Mom, or maybe they got into my United Premier Account. It gets worse, because Michael Dunigan chose his college for the academics, not just basketball. Not sure what Michael is planning to major in, but I'm sure he could get a nice degree in Champaign.

But Iman Shumpert is yet another story. Iman wants to play in the ACC, rather than the Big 10 conference. That's understandable, since the ACC always beats the Big 10 in the ESPN ACC/Big 10 Challenge each year. But then a rumor comes out that Iman drops Illinois from consideration but leaves some ACC schools along with Bradley and Marquette on his list??? Now that story has been retracted, so did someone make that up, or was it true?

At least DeAndre Liggins committed for Kentucky, who looks like a sure thing now that they have coach Billy Gillespie recruiting and coaching for them.

Recruiting the 2008 Class............

More bad news is coming out for Illini basketball from the 2008 class. Michael Dunigan and Matt Humphrey are rumored to be headed to Oregon now. Iman Shumpert is now getting an offer from North Carolina, and wants to play in the ACC. Liggins already committed to Kentucky. Scott Suggs is one of the few remaining Illinois players from the class who is ranked high and has a good chance of landing at Illinois. Tough, tough news.

Interesting Story about Bill Self and Billy Gillespie

These two coaches are still friends despite playing against each other and now recruiting against each other. Gillespie coached under Self at Tulsa and Illinois. Story

Happy Fourth of July, Illini Fans!

One of the highlights of the Half Moon Bay parade this year was the volunteer firemen, who did a ladder climb and demonstrated how to put out a fire on a fellow fireman. Quite a nice show!

Tyler Griffey, Class of 2009

Tyler Griffey is one of the top big man recruits from the class of 2009. The Illini fans would love to have a commitment from this young man, once the early signing period starts, which is still a long way away. The interesting thing about Tyler Griffey is that his father occasionally comments on the various boards, and I think he is an Illini fan to boot. Maybe if I'm lucky he will post here also. The Illinois Loyalty board has some great posts along with Tyler's Dad. Board

2008 Recruiting Update

To get caught up with the Illini recruiting for the 2008 class, the biggest news is DeAndre Liggins has provided UK's Coach Gillespie with a verbal commitment. Liggins is a top-rated prospect from the Public League that Illini fans have been drooling over.

There are many remaining prospects to hope for, with the top of the list being Iman Shumpert, Michael Dunigan and Scott Suggs. If we can get commitments from two of these three prospects, we will have an excellent 2008 class.

Some early evaluations of this year's team

People are starting to watch this year's team play and write about what they see. While this is not expert analysis, it can be interesting during the summer. Posts

Warren Carter joins Mavs for tryouts and games

It sounds like the Mavs will take a closer look at Warren Carter this summer, after he went undrafted, as expected. The way the Warriors outplayed the Mavs this past post-season, the Mavs would be smart to get some more athletic players like Warren Carter. Carter is a Dallas area native, and will probably play in Europe if he does not make the NBA. Story