Brad Beal Announcement Tomorrow Morning at 10am Central Time

Brad Beal, the spectacular 6-3 shooting guard prospect (class of 2011) out of the St. Louis area is announcing where he will go to college tomorrow morning, and the college basketball world is waiting for the news. Sources indicate the leading schools are Kansas, Florida and Illinois, but there are no credible leaks out there yet. Kansas fans seem to think they will get Beal, but there is speculation Florida will come away with the sharpshooter instead. Not many are predicting Illinois, despite the school's close proximity to St. Louis and Coach Bruce Weber's reputation of developing guards for the NBA system. Of course, Brad Beal is so good, he could probably go straight to the NBA if that was allowed these days.

Let's see what is announced tomorrow.

Las Vegas Hangover?

I loved the movie Hangover, but I'm not sure I would have wanted to live through that situation as any one of the film's characters. Hangovers are just not that much fun. Which brings me to my favorite college b-ball team, the Illini. After losing both games in Las Vegas over the Thanksgiving weekend, will they be able to bounce back at Clemson, or will they be suffering still? The Illini-Clemson match up is part of the annual ACC Big 10 Challenge event created by ESPN and the two conferences.

I'm expecting the Illini might struggle against the full court pressing defense of the Clemson Tigers, who also had a full plate of activity over the weekend. The Tigers were able to upset Butler tonight on a last second foul called in the game and related free throws.

Bruce Weber is still trying to figure out which players should be in his starting line-up and extended rotation. Rumor has it Bruce has had the Illini toying with a press of their own this season, as well as a zone defense. Freshmen DJ Richardson and Brandon Paul came up empty in Las Vegas and Paul did not start against Bradley University on Saturday night. The three junior starters, McCamey, Davis and Tisdale did not play consistently enough to get past Utah or Bradley, and need to step up their games. Weber might try to energize his squad by mixing up the starting rotation by inserting Dominique Keller or Bill Cole, both of whom played well in Las Vegas.

It's early in the season, so Illini fans should remain optimistic about their team, but the Illini are sure to fall out of the top 25 when the new rankings come out this week.

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Wow, DJ can really get up and dunk the ball, as you can see in the last game.

Nnanna Egwu #1

Here's a better video of Egwu.

Nnana Egwu Commits to the Illini for Class of 2011

Top 50 recruit Nnana Egwu announced a verbal commitment to the Illini earlier today, which makes the 2011 class likely to be a top one for the Illini for the third consecutive year. Egwu is a 6-9 forward/center who is ranked by Rivals in the top 50 nationally for his class. He is still developing, but runs the floor well, is a shot blocker and is developing a nice shot when facing the basket. Check out the video of Egwu to see how much potential this recruit possesses.

Nnana Egwu of Illinois Wolves

More video of new commit, Nnana Egwu. He is 6-9, and probably still growing. Should be a nice forward/center at Illinois in 2011.

2009-2010 Season Preview

The Illini overachieved last year by making the NCAAs, but their season ended quickly with their loss to Western Kentucky in the first round. This fall, expectations are much higher for the Illini basketball team. Preseason polls have the Illini in the top 20, and Joe Lunardi has the Illini as a 3 seed right now, a top 12 team. And we haven't even had midnight madness yet.

Let's start with the losses from last year's team. Basically, we lose a ton of experience at the guard position, Chet Frazier, Trent Meacham and Calvin Brock. And we lose CJ Jackson, who never played much basketball at Illinois, but was very popular with his teammates.

The gains are three talented freshmen guards--DJ Richardson, Brandon Paul and Joseph Bertrand. We have been talking about these guys forever it seems, and now they are on campus getting ready to play. The front line gets deeper with Tyler Griffey as a freshman, and Stan Simpson will be a redshirt freshman after sitting last season. Overall, a loss on the experience side, but these are very talented additions for this fall.

Returning starters are three juniors: Demetri McCamey at PG, Mike Davis at forward, and Mike Tisdale at center. Dominique Keller returns as a versatile forward who can rebound and hit three pointers (my personal favorite player last year). Other experienced players from last season include guards Jeff Jordan and Alex Legion, and seldom-used Richard Semrau at forward/center and Bill Cole, a forward.

Basically, Bruce Weber can start an experienced squad without relying on the freshmen, though I expect 1 or 2 freshmen to crack the starting line-up during the season:

Demetri McCamey PG
Jeff Jordan G
Alex Legion SG
Mike Davis F
Mike Tisdale C

Bench rotation: Keller, Griffey, Cole, Richardson, Paul, Bertrand

Right now, it seems likely that McCamey, Davis and Tisdale are a virtual lock as starters on this team, with Legion, Jordan, Keller and Richardson probably vying for the other two starting positions. But this should be a deep and talented team, that gets much better throughout the season as it matures.

And my hope is Bruce Weber allows this team to run the break, especially when Tisdale is on the bench. We might think of 1989 if we see the following group of athletes on the floor: Davis, Keller, Legion, McCamey and either Richardson or Paul.

For Illini fans, this season is not to be missed.