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Heading the list among the boys are the
No. 3 senior in the state of Illinois and a trio of seniors from
Chicago St. Rita. Peoria Notre Dame's Brian Randle (No. 3 in the
state according to
www.highschoolelite.com)
will be lacing his sneakers next year for Bill Self's University of
Illinois Fighting Illini. Chicago St. Rita boasts three Division I
signees, with Jerrah Young (University of West Virginia), Michael
Rembert (Bradley University) and Rashay Russell (University of
Toledo).
Rembert will be joined in Missouri
Valley Conference play by Illinois State University recruit Michael
Sams (Mount Zion High School) and Indiana State University recruit
Eric Gray of three-time defending State Farm Holiday Classic
champion South Holland Thornwood.
"With Randle (Illinois), Rembert
(Bradley) and Sams (Illinois State), spectators will not only be
seeing some great basketball talent this year, they'll be looking at
the future faces of college basketball in the central Illinois area
for years to come," said Dave Oloffson, vice president of the
organizing group for the tournament.
DePaul University recruit Marcus Heard
and his Springfield Southeast Spartans come into the tournament 11-0
on the heels of a victory last weekend over fellow state power
Springfield Lanphier.
Other college recruits and top players
who will compete at the 2002 State Farm Holiday Classic include:
--Mount Pulaski senior Justin Anderson
(SIU Edwardsville, Lincoln College)
--Normal Community twins Andrew (Murray
State, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Illinois Wesleyan, Augustana, Millikin)
and Zach Freeman (Murray State, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Illinois
Wesleyan, Augustana, Millikin, SIU-Edwardsville, Indiana State)
--Normal Community senior Adam
Krumtinger (Augustana)
--Tinley Park Andrew senior Kevin Lowe
(Eastern Illinois)
--Rock Falls standout Robbie Minor
(University of Evansville, for baseball)
--Carthage senior and two-sport star
Joe Reed
--Tolono Unity senior Tyler Smith
(third team Class A all-state in 2001-02)
--Mount Zion junior Mick Yelovich
--Rock Falls junior Isaiah Johnson
--Chicago Marshall sophomore Otis
Hudson
[to top of second column in this article] |
The girls in the holiday tournament
include two all-state players from last year. Normal University High
School junior Ashlee Pistorius was a second team Class A all-stater,
and Carthage senior Danielle Hibbard was a third team Class A
all-state selection.
Three tournament players will team up
next year at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo. -- Peoria
Notre Dame senior Emily Markovich, Normal Community senior Megan
Patti and Stark County senior Natalie Schupbach.
Top athletes and college recruits among
the girls also include:
--Dunlap senior Micah Clark (Western
Illinois, Illinois Central College)
--East Peoria senior Betsy Glover
(Harding University)
--Normal University High senior Emily
Meier (University of Southern Indiana)
--Quincy Notre Dame senior Amy
McFarland (Bradley University, for volleyball)
--Mount Zion senior Megan Scaggs
(Eastern Illinois University)
--Mount Zion junior Kelley Steers (SIU-Carbondale,
Ball State, Northern Illinois, Eastern Illinois University, DePaul
University)
The 2002 State Farm Holiday Classic
tips off at 9 a.m. on Thursday at Bloomington High School, Normal
West High School, Illinois Wesleyan University's Shirk Center and
Illinois State University's Horton Field House. All-tournament
passes and individual game tickets will be available on game day at
the various venues.
A complete
tournament schedule (including brackets) is available at
www.theclassic.org. During the tournament, the site
will feature live scoring updates and box scores.
[News release]
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In the win the first-year point guard
connected on a trio of 3-pointers, recorded a game-high seven
assists and added five rebounds, including four on the offensive
glass.
Brown, who came to the University of
Illinois from Maywood, Proviso East, has now broken the 20-point
barrier twice this season, scoring a career-best 25 points against
Eastern Illinois on Dec. 10. His seven assists are also the second
best output of his career, as he set a career high with 10 assists
against Western Illinois on Dec. 1, a total that is tied for the
best performance among all league players this season.
Brown leads the Illini and ranks second
in the Big Ten with 5.1 assists per game, while his 14.5 points per
contest rates second on the team. Among the top freshmen in the
league, he ranks among the top two in assists (first), points
(second) and steals (second) per game.
Brown is the
second Illini to earn Big Ten Player of the Week accolades this
season, as teammate
Brian Cook was
honored on Dec. 9.
[Scott Chipman, associate
director of communications, Big Ten Conference] |
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Why did I do these things? Because it
has become apparent that I don't know anything about college
basketball! The tape of the Missouri-Illinois game will confirm what
you already suspected; my predictions weren't even close! And while
I did prognosticate a narrow victory, on “FANdamonium,” I readily
admit that I was more than tongue-in-cheek!
The bigger problem that I will have
with this column is how to describe for you how stunning this game
actually was!
Maybe I should have had a clue (most of
the time I don't) when we walked into the building and there were
FBI and Secret Service dudes everywhere you turned. However, I was
so focused on the game I REALLY wasn't even conscious of them until
after the game and I knew that John Ashcroft had been in attendance.
(And YOU think that I'm wasting my time going to games. What about
him? Boy, do I plan to get a lot of mileage out of that little
development!) Subconsciously, I must have thought that there was a
bomb scare or something, but I've never been smart enough to run for
cover anyway.
[Photos by Ed Bacon]
Then the game broke out. And ol' Mizzou
started off like a house of fire. Especially newcomer Ricky Clemons,
who was dialing in some shots from another ZIP code!
Then not only did Brian Cook hit a few
shots, but Illinois' super freshman Dee Brown appeared to feed on
the riot that Clemons started. He hit two or three long bombs
himself and tried to hush the crowd, and before you knew it the Illini were up 39-32 at halftime.
If you were wondering what happened,
I'm right there with you. I have NO idea what happened, and I was
sitting at courtside!
IF you gave me some time to reflect
back on it, this is what I might be able to tell you. We are seeing
the continuing emergence of a great basketball coach in one Bill
Self. The Illini were so prepared for this game that it wasn't even
funny… especially IF you're a Tigers fan. And then to add insult to
injury, his in-game adjustments were just flat-out sic!!! When Mizzou tried to double-team Cook, he sent Smith, Powell, Augustine
or an usher to the low block for any easy deuce or a trip to the FT
line, where, by the way, Illinois continues to use the LDN for
improvement by going 21-of-25 on charities! When the Tigers were
content to throw up junk from the perimeter, Self said OK and pushed
them farther off the arc, which resulted in even more bricks. There
are so many other things that he did that I'd have to give you a set
of volumes to make sure that I didn't miss anything.
It is clear to me now that young Mr.
Self has forgotten more about basketball than most of us will ever
know about it!
AND, I haven't even told you about the
play of Kyle Wilson, yet! Remember him? He was another one of those
Texas kids that I think we might have gotten as a player to be named
later. Up until this past week he's played a lot at the 3-spot and
shown some fine range himself. Enter an injury to Aaron Spears, and
the next thing you know Kyle's now a four! Probably doesn't mean
much to you, because on your fantasy team, you've got him buried on
your bench. Oh, how wrong you could have been! Kyle not only gets
into the game but probably gives the Illini eight of the best
minutes that you've ever seen from a role player. I know he tallied
only two points, but his four rebounds were huge! And not only that
-- his physical, solid play made a statement to Mizzou that you're
going down for the third time in a row!
Nick Smith even seemed to be inspired
by Wilson's play and gave the team a spirited 17 minutes. Some will
question his four points and two rebounds, but I say his passing and
his outstanding three blocked shots helped set the tone on this
shocking day!
James Augustine chimed in with five
boards, and Roger Powell also had a phenomenal game. Powell hit the
charts for nine points and four caroms and continues to show another
reason that this Illinois team is getting better almost daily.
[to top of second column in this
article] |
And what can you say about the guard
play? Sean Harrington, “Ol' Reliable,” had 11 points and four
rebounds, and Deron Williams introduced himself to the Missouri
faithful by going for eight points, including two 3s, dishing off
two assists and coming away with three steals… not to mention his
unselfish play that excited his teammates into making extra passes
all game long! And Luther Head has a solid performance and 10
points.
Then there was DEE. DEE-offense,
Dee-defense, here a DEE, there a DEE, everywhere a DEE, DEE! The kid
lit the place up with his play and his smile! When I watch him, I
think he was the reason that this great game was invented. Naismith
knew that someone would instinctively know how to play it, and I
think DEE is that someone. His line? He torched the Kitties for only
21 points and seven assists, but please trust me when I say he
inflicted much more damage on them than that!
And finally, there was Lincoln's Brian
Cook… Talk about unselfish?! I thought this was a game he could have
scored 40 in… but, he kept passing the ball to his teammates. His
line? Only 17 points on 10-for-10 shooting at the line and five
assists and nine rebounds, including four big offensive boards. Cook
dominated this game from start to finish. He took Mizzou's big guys
right out of the game and let his friends pick their bones for all
of the scraps.
So convincing was the win that many
Missouri's fans threw in the towel with 4:15 STILL to play! I'm not
so sure even I would have believed it IF I hadn't seen it.
But while you're traveling over the
holidays, if you see the Tiger without his claws and fangs and with
his tail between his legs, you now have some idea of the spanking he
absorbed on Saturday!
Other notes
Railers whack Springfield
I can't speak for anyone else, but I
was really surprised by the Springfield game. I mean I expected the
Railers to win, just not nearly that convincingly. You have to
figure that the Senators will be MUCH tougher when we play the
return game. And what about a Railer trip through the tourney
brackets? I have a good feeling about this year's team, even with
the injuries. I would love to see Lincoln hoist the trophy.
Bears go down
I didn't see even one minute of the
game, so you'll have to consult Greg Taylor, but I'm thinking that
it wasn't a very pretty story.
If you're still looking for a great
Christmas gift, we think we know where you can find some tickets.
The good news is that both my
Raiders and my 49ers both won, even though people are trying to run
Mariucchi right out of the bay! Can ANYone explain this to me???
Cards keep making moves
The Cards keep making moves by signing
former Redbird Lance Painter and Cal Eldred.
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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