Tracy Webster and Darius Miller a unique package deal

While I admit these announcements were timed separately (maybe 24 hours apart), it appears that Tracy Webster was hired by Kentucky to pave the way for Darius Miller to announce his commitment to Kentucky. This came right after Miller had stated his decision was months away once he had a chance for some campus visits of his favorite schools. Seems strange to me, but maybe this is how things are done in the NCAA these days.

It would be interesting to know whether Tracy has a signing bonus for landing Miller, since it would be hard to pay the bonus if Miller had already committed. Could he also have been credited with Kentucky landing Liggins? Hard to tell how long Billy and Tracy had been talking about the position.....

Quinton Watkins back to California

In some unfortunate news, the Illini announced that star recruit Quinton Watkins did not make it through the mysterious process of the NCAA clearinghouse, and therefore could not qualify for the basketball program this season. To retain flexibility for Watkins, he did not start school this fall, and is determining his best options on moving forward.

While I have seen cases of clearinghouse issues, I cannot recall a student athlete that spends several months on campus as Quinton did, prior to being sent home. If he met the requirements of Illinois for admission, why not get him in school to start working on his degree this fall and keep him off the floor to preserve options?

Maybe someone can shed some light on the Illini strategy here, and there are rumors over whether he will be back or not.

Jamar Smith's Redshirt Year

In an recent announcement, Jamar Smith will be redshirting this basketball season. Typically the redshirt rule applies to freshmen and injured players and allows the student athlete to sit out a season and not lose a year of eligibility. In Jamar Smith's case, it seems like the redshirt designation was a compromise between the various parties involved to come up with a solution to retain Jamar Smith on the basketball team, yet keep him from playing this season. Earlier, I had posted my opinion that he should not be on the team. My concern was that someone who drinks as heavily as Smith cannot be expected to shoot straight. Let's hope the time off can help Smith get his act together. The punishment is unusual, but I guess it works for me. Time to move on, since this story has really gone stale.

Tisdale weighs over 200 pounds

Mike Tisdale is already getting lots of attention in the press, since he is a 7' 1" freshman at Illinois. Mike is trying to put on weight, since he only weighs 212 pounds. I have a hard time calling him a lightweight, since I recall (barely) playing on a 160 pound and under football team my freshman year at Illinois, despite my 6' 3" frame.

For more on Mike Tisdale and other items, including the leaping ability of Jeff Jordan (46 inches), see the article.

Illini and Duke Booster Tickets Sold Out for Maui Invitational

Tickets for the Maui Invitational go on sale soon, see the release, and it appears that Illinois and Duke fans are the ones traveling this year, since their teams "booster tickets" are already sold out. Booster tickets basically provide tickets to the games in which your school is participating.

I will be there for the tourney, and it should be lots of fun.

Aloha!

It's Official, Mike Davis commits to Illini

The Daily Herald has now confirmed that Mike Davis has commited to the Illini for this fall. The Chicago Tribune agrees. He apparently decided during a visit to the campus this past weekend and will start school this fall. It is possible he will play for the Illini this coming season, and Illini fans are already getting more excited about him, since he is a shooter, he is athletic, and plays big. He is apparently now 200 pounds and should be able to gain more weight. Davis was originally planning to attend a prep school but his play really improved during the AAU season. Some major programs like Clemson and Florida were after him, so nice job Coach Weber!

Mike Davis to the Illini

The big recruiting news today is not about Suggs or Miller, but Mike Davis (no, forget about the former IU coach) from the Washington DC area is committing to the Illini. Facts are still coming out about this development, but apparently he was planning to go to prep school this fall but changed his mind and is heading to Champaign to play basketball starting in either 2007 or 2008. Davis is a 6'9" power forward who can score, rebound and block shots, and he is considered a "late bloomer" who is athletic with a big upside. I will summarize the key links on this breaking story below.

Klee from News-Gazette

Mark Tupper

WashingtonPostInsider

Video (go to the 27 minute mark for Davis)

Oh No! Shumpert drops the Illini!

I just read the news and as expected, Iman Shumpert dropped the Illini from his list of schools, narrowing it to Marquette, North Carolina and Georgia Tech. If he decides to stay within driving distance of Chi-town, he is headed to Marquette. (Assuming he knows how to use mapquest better than Michael Dunigan.)

I also recall he wanted to play in the ACC, so it is most likely going to be North Carolina, or possibly Georgia Tech, if he likes Hotlanta.

Maui Invitational

Wow, it seems so far away, but the people in Maui have announced the pairings already for the Invitational in November. The Illini play Arizona State in the opening round game. The rest of the pairings are on the website, here. Believe it or not, but Duke has never lost a game on the island of Maui, and won this thing three times! The optimistic Illini fans like me feel confident, and have already flooded the poll with votes for the Illini winning the whole doggone thing, right now running at 30%, with Duke second at 24%. And I thought this would be a turnaround year at Champaign......

Even more exciting, you are all invited to design a logo for the Chaminade Silverswords, and if you win the contest, you can show up at halftime and claim your reward. Good luck to all entering.

Darius Miller Interview

Well, here is a radio interview with Darius Miller, and while not committing to anything, he does describe Illinois in a very positive manner. Interview

I can actually think of a few reasons why Miller would go to the Illini rather than Kentucky or Louisville, but maybe I am just being optimistic.

1. The Illini do not have much competition for Miller in the small forward spot.
2. The Big 10 gets lots of exposure from the national media, similar to the ACC.
3. Coach Bruce Weber has done well in getting his top guys to the NBA.
4. Playing at Kentucky or Louisville would be higher pressure for a top local player like Miller, and Kentucky already has DeAndre Liggins committed.
5. Billy Gillespie has not stayed anywhere very long, although maybe he stays at Kentucky longer. Where else does he go other than the NBA?
6. The Illini have a great record over the past 5 years in the NCAA, and this could continue with a key recruit like Miller.
7. There's nothing like a winter in Champaign to focus on basketball.
8. The Assembly Hall at Champaign is becoming one of the best home courts in the NCAA (although Rupp Arena may be the best one).
9. The Illini have good guards and big men already signed for the 2007 class, so Miller fits in perfectly.
10. Coach Weber teaches players how to be tough enough for the NBA and how to play defense.

Darius Miller Rumors

There are rumors that Darius Miller will end up going to Illinois rather than staying in his home state of Kentucky. Is it possible that Bruce Weber can lure top shelf talent like Miller to Champaign-Urbana? Better yet, will he be joined by Shumpert and Suggs to set up the Illini for 2008/2009/2010? Let's wait and see, but it would be nice to pull a great player out of Kentucky, even though Billy G. is their new coach.

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

Back Posting Again after Scouting Trip to China

By the way, my posting absence earlier this month was much longer than I expected due to traveling in China. I expected to be able to post to the blog from Beijing or Shanghai, but was unable to log in, apparently due to blogger being blocked, though I'm not sure if this is a permananent or temporary situation.

Hope you enjoy this photo of Shanghai's Pudong District from the famous restaurant, M's on the Bund.

Preview of 2007 Recruiting Class

Here's a nice preview of this fall's class playing in some All-Star games in Bloomington, Illinois. It sounds like McCamey, Jordan, Tisdale and Cole all played well. Link

Jereme Richmond rated by Scout--Five Stars

Jereme Richmond, a verbal commitment for Illinois from the Class of 2010, is now rated a Five Star recruit on Scout.com.

He is described as "A silky smooth wing player, Richmond has a chance to have a tremendous career at Illinois and possibly beyond. Shoots the three-ball effortlessly with a soft touch and is poised and skilled with the ball. He does need to build his body and develop a more physical side to his game, but there is no denying his talent." on the Rivals.com website.

Jamar Smith is Out of Jail

News Flash! Jamar Smith is now out of jail, having served his brief sentence for his DUI conviction. The big question remains, will he play again for the Illini basketball team? Thus far, no comment from Coach Bruce Weber or AD Ron Guenther.

While they need his scoring they don't need his kind of trouble. What turned me negative about Smith is when it was revealed that the car accident was not an isolated drinking incident. Anyone who drinks like Smith has big problems playing a competitive sport like Big Ten basketball. In my opinion, his scholarship should be used to recruit someone else from the Class of 2008.