Just when you were feeling good about Illini basketball, here’s a feel-good story about Illini basketball.
Lou Henson didn’t want to attend last weekend’s reunion/birthday party. He didn’t want to be seen in a wheelchair.
But friends & family cajoled him into going. An inevitably, he exposed himself to 15,000 live viewers, a torrent of love & LOOOOOOU!
Before rolling out to the center of Lou Henson Court, to sit for a portrait with his players and their families, Lou sat dumbfounded as Danvillian speed painter John Jansky pollocked colorful acrylics on a big canvas.
As Jansky smeared and flicked, he also danced to the music, air-drumming to the beat. He was having a great time.
But his painting didn’t sharpen into a discernible image. Some of us began wondering: Is this going anywhere?
In the crowd, I spotted Brooks Taylor. I wanted to introduce myself. I’ve never met him. We’re about the age, and I missed most of that era while away at college.
CJ Jackson, who didn’t play for Lou (and didn’t really play for Bruce Weber, either) was also there. I really wanted to say hello, and congratulate him on his outstanding grad-transfer season at Hawai’i Pacific. I guess I ran out of time.
You can see all the people who came, and their kids, toward the end of the video.