Six patients from Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent (PMCH) have been selected as the Honorary Tipoff Kids for the 2022 Big Ten Conference Women’s and Men’s Basketball Tournaments.
Ashlyn Eldridge, Austin Fuquay, Parker Gossett, Elsa Ham, CJ Harris and Violet Rich were chosen by the children’s hospital’s care team to serve as the honorary tipoff kids for the tournaments. This year’s Honorary Tipoff Kids received a Big Ten gift bag and will be featured on the video board during the semifinal and championship games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Eleven-year-old Ashlyn Eldridge was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent. After she completes four rounds of chemotherapy, Ashlyn will have additional scans to determine if the treatment has worked. Ashlyn enjoys Anime, coloring, drawing, dining out, watching movies, tennis, and making slime.
Austin Fuquay is 12 years old and was born missing part of his DNA. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) doctors and nurses stated they were surprised he was even alive. His first year of life was wrought with challenges, from seizures to new surgeries, new diagnoses and numerous medications. Starting his second year and continuing until he was around 4 years old, Austin was challenged with a rotation of pneumonia, life-threatening GI infections and challenges that left doctors scratching their heads. Austin and his family continued to push through all of Austin’s therapies, knowing that the only way he would live was to get stronger, be able to sit upright and eventually be able to walk. At age 5, Austin was strong enough that he was no longer battling pneumonia and other secondary diseases whenever he got a common cold. It was a long journey with huge medical and physical setbacks. Austin loves people and being part of anything exciting. He has an infectious laugh and everyone he meets falls in love with him. In the summer of 2020, at the age of 11, Austin overcame the challenges and started walking with the least supportive walker and pushing it all on his own. Austin continues to receive new diagnoses, but the teams at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent are dedicated to providing him with the best medical care possible for a child with complex health challenges.
Twelve-year-old Parker Gossett was diagnosed with amniotic band syndrome shortly after birth. Born without her right foot, Parker received her first prosthetic at 10 months old and was walking by 14 months. When Parker was two-and-a-half years old, she started to have unknown fevers, and doctors discovered a mass on her stomach. Care teams at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent, led by Pediatric Surgeon Evan Kokoska, MD, removed her right kidney along with a two-pound tumor which turned out to be cancerous. Parker then began radiation and chemotherapy led by Bassem Razzouk, MD, and the Pediatric Oncology team at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital. During the cancer treatments, it was discovered that Parker was having issues with bone growth that were causing pain with her prosthetic. Parker was then referred to Jonathan Wilhite, MD, a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital, where she has successfully undergone multiple bone revision surgeries. On October 22, 2013, Parker celebrated being cancer free.
Elsa Ham developed acute onset of left-sided weakness, vomiting, lethargy and fever on February 15, 2019. A head CT showed acute hemorrhage in her right thalamus. She was intubated due to declining mental status and was airlifted to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital for emergency surgery performed by Dr. Jodi Smith. Pathology showed she had a low-grade glioma consistent with pilocytic astrocytoma. She was in the hospital for almost two months as she required inpatient therapies to try to regain some of the neurologic function she lost. Repeat imaging after she came home from the hospital showed the tumor increased in size, so Elsa began outpatient chemotherapy approximately once a week for 14 months. Elsa had her last chemotherapy treatment in oncology clinic on November 13, 2020, and she rang the bell signaling the end of treatment. She continues in outpatient occupational and physical therapies at Ascension St. Vincent Fishers and has made great progress. Elsa was selected for her strength and bravery, perseverance in the most challenging of times, and ability to bring a smile to the face of everyone that she meets.
CJ Harris woke up one night in November 2016 and knew something was wrong. When his mother brought him to the Emergency Room, doctors found that he had pneumonia, one of his lungs had collapsed, and he also had a high fever. CJ was quickly moved to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital. CJ remembers the doctors and nurses bringing him LEGO bricks and puzzles to make him feel more comfortable. His favorite memory of his experience was when his ER nurse came to visit him in the PICU, which made him feel more at home during his stay. Because of the toys that CJ received during his stay, he decided to fundraise and has purchased various toys for the patients at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital. CJ was selected for his philanthropic spirit and continued dedication to giving back and making a difference for other kids. CJ is still under the care of a pulmonologist, makes monthly visits to his pediatrician and sees an immunologist. CJ is doing much better with controlling his asthma attacks and has not had another as severe as the one when he was hospitalized in 2016. CJ plays football, participates in track and is currently playing on an elite travel football team. He enjoys spending time with his family, friends and his first pet, Rico, a hypoallergenic toy poodle. CJ is also in the band and plays the saxophone. He is looking forward to starting high school at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School this fall.
Eleven-year-old Violet Rich enjoys art, music, reading, playing with her friends, is a very talented storyteller and especially enjoys writing scary stories. In April of 2019, Violet was diagnosed with t-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She was immediately admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent. During her hospitalization, former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning stopped by her room for a visit. It is one of her fondest memories during that time. Over the next few months, Violet continued her treatment at home. In August, 2019, she was hospitalized again. One month later, an MRI revealed a mass had grown on her brain and she underwent several surgeries. After 54 days in the hospital, Violet went home and continued to improve while continuing her chemotherapy treatment for two years. The team at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital selected Violet for this opportunity because of her positive attitude and fun-loving spirit.
For more information on the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, visit bigten.org. Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent (PMCH) is a full service, dedicated children’s medical center, providing the highest quality, family-centered care to children and adolescents in the state of Indiana and beyond. PMCH has more than 160 licensed beds, which includes a 23-bed pediatric intensive care unit, 17-bed Pediatric Emergency Department and a 97-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) – the largest Level IV NICU in Indiana, providing the highest level of acute care, as established by the American Academy of Pediatrics. PMCH treats patients from all over the state, providing safe and streamlined critical care transport by ambulance and air. The hospital offers 24-hour on-site coverage by pediatric hospitalists, intensivists, neonatologists, and board-certified emergency physicians. PMCH is staffed by more than 100 experienced pediatric sub-specialists along with pediatric nurses, social workers, child life specialists, chaplains, and other health professionals with a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to family-focused care. PMCH is part of Ascension, one of the nation’s leading non-profit and Catholic health systems. Visit www.peytonmanningch.org.
You’d want to know who this Illini team thinks it is.
You’d want to know what the coaching staff has been drilling in practice.
You’d want to know when Trent Frazier & Da’Monte Williams forgot how to shoot.
Only five TOs for Belo this time.
You’d want to know where Andre Curbelo thought he was headed when he barrelled into pairs & threes of taller defenders.
You’d want to know why this team looks so uninspired, and how Brad Underwood lost control of them.
Assistant coach Tim Anderson asks for focus from the Illini bench.
This is one of those articles that nobody will read, because you don’t want to think about Illini basketball right now. Maybe, in a few months, Illini basketball will have rekindled your interest, and you’ll be scrolling the web, trying to find as much content as possible. Let’s hope so. You’ll be happier, and all of us who report on Illini basketball will earn some money from your clicks.
It was easier against just one defender.
Right now, every upcoming opponent is studying video from the Bearcats’ Trouncing. They’ll see how Kofi Cockburn dominated the game for the first eight minutes, and what adjustments Wes Miller made at the Under-12 timeout.
A lot of the upcoming job Brad Underwood has in front of him — a job which could, ideally, result in those familiar His Best Coaching Job accolades that TV commentators gush during conference tournaments — involves Reining Wild Horses.
Andre Curbelo and Coleman Hawkins have All-American potential. Each is exactly the kind of player that gets fans excited to watch. And together, especially in the form of a perfect half-court lob to two-handed slam, basketball cannot get more fun.
But both Curbelo and Hawkins are out-of-control right now. Belo did better with Kofi in the line-up, but he’s nowhere near solid enough to be a starting PG in the B1G. His sixth-man role worked last year because he introduced an element of chaos into the game. You can’t rely on chaos for 36 minutes. It giveth and taketh away. Right now, taketh is winning.
Both Hawkins and Curbelo are becoming the focus of refereeing, which industry is attempting, per NCAA direction, to clean up the ungentlemanly aspects of the college game. That’s why Belo and ColeHawk get technicals for taunting.
Brad calmly signaled for a time-out. He was only pretending to be calm.Brad Underwood rips Coleman Hawkins a new asshole.
Underwood looked calm when he called a time-out from the Illini bench. But as soon as he’d disappeared into the huddle, he exploded. “We told you this was coming!” or some variant on that theme was the most coherent of the phrases, which could be heard, if not intelligibly, in the upper deck.
Chester Frazier offers positive reinforcement to a new-assholed Coleman Hawkins.
It seems the team — and Coleman in particular — hadn’t followed the scouting report, or wasn’t prepared for the ferocity of Cincinnati’s defensive pressure.
This point, after a week of post-Marquette practices, should discourage the reader. On the other hand, it’s difficult to replicate Darryl Morsell and David DeJulius in practice. Not until they’re picking your pocket does one understand how intense their defensive prowess can be.
On the bright side, both of those guys might still be playing for B1G teams, and they’re not. Instead, they’re helping Illinois to understand what’s coming before conference play starts.
Thus, Coleman got 22 minutes of tick. Da’Monte got 27, shoring up the defense, but keeping the offensively spectacular Hawkins on the bench.
It turns out Hutch is real, not merely a legend. True to form, he was injured in Monday’s game.
Brad’s coaching was not all top-down on Monday. It wasn’t all rage-filled. He also shared a beautiful moment with Kofi, when they discussed low-post strategy and movement.
Kofi gets along well with others.
Kofi has a way to go before he understands the center position in a way that, say, Moses Malone did. But his demeanor doesn’t need a complete rebuild. Curbelo and Hawkins shouldn’t be completely robbed of their wildness. That would make them easier to scout, and less exciting to watch.
But that fine-tuning, finding the sweet-spot in between wild and controlled, is Underwood’s daunting task. You should hope that those TV commentators are talking about it in March.
The obvious story line was Hunter Dickinson versus Illinois.
It’s tricky to perpetuate this line with a straight face, because Hunter made plain that he likes Kofi Cockburn and feels no personal animosity toward the Illini team.
On the other hand, you could take offense at Juwan Howard’s refusal to acknowledge Illinois as a rival, because it tends to diminish the Illinois brand. Since Howard rebuffed his home state’s school for the Maize & Blue, way back in 1991 (in the midst of Bruce Pearl-induced sanctions), some Illini fans have correctly felt jilted, even disrespected.
In fact, Illinois is a second-tier B1G school. University of Michigan is better than University of Illinois, by almost every conceivable metric.
Ann Arbor has a cooler downtown. It’s closer to major metropolitan attractions. The academic programs are equal or better. Their airport will get you to Munich or Tokyo and Chicago and Dallas.
Michigan’s football success allows the school to field 29 varsity sports teams. Illinois has just 21. (Ohio State has a whopping 36, including a rifle team. Penn State funds 31.)
So it must be at least slightly infuriating that Howard’s team hasn’t defeated Brad Underwood yet. But Howard, in his #B1GMediaDays availability, couldn’t have praised Underwood more effusively. His refusal to acknowledge Illinois as a rival was also a refusal to disrespect any B1G team.
Yesterday afternoon on the Conseco Banker’s Gainbridge hardwood, Greg Gard bantered with Trevion Williams, Sasha Stefanovic & Eric Hunter — his theoretical enemies.
The day before, it was Maryland’s Donta Scott and Eric Ayala yucking it up with Rutgers’s Ron Harper, Geo Baker and Caleb McConnell. These meetings occurred on the same 20′ square of court, certainly visible to anyone watching BTN while Mike Hall interviewed coaches and players from the xx-chromosome half of B1G hoops.
They’re all friends, whether you hate them or not.
We/Them is a dichotomy that exists only in minds. But it’s an important distinction. Among the B1G, all players, coaches and staff is a We. You are a Them. So am I.
I know I’m a Them because I was on the other side of the stanchions & ropes that protected players & coaches from media. They’re all vaccinated. Are we?
I brought my vaccination card, because the emailed event instructions said someone from the conference might ask, at any time, to see it (or a negative PCR test result from the previous 72 hours). I don’t think that actually happened. The B1G staff was extraordinarily helpful and attentive. Competent and friendly.
Legacy media gained a huge advantage through Covid protocols. It wasn’t hard to hear the coaches and players, who sat fifteen feet away from us. But smartphone mics can’t capture worthwhile audio from that distance. The guys who transcribe words to text, and the guys who plug XLR cables into a mult box (multiple audio jacks, that is), had no problems with the set up. So newspapers and TV stations got the materials they needed.
It was worth going, for me and probably every attendee. Because it was a gathering of friends, and it was nice to see them after a long, lonely winter.
But for you, the fan … well, I hope you got some good coverage from TV and newspapers.
Today is July 23, 2021 and the Delta Variant is scorching SEC country.
But here in the Blue State, where vaccination is championed, Your Humble Servant touched actual Illini basketball players this week. Three of them! Although I’m not sure which. One was definitely RJ Melendez. One was the most improved player. I’ll get to that later.
I don’t expect this intermingling to continue.
Wednesday’s Ubben Availability was a ridiculous malpractice of aerosol exposure. With The Mighty Pfizer proving only 90% effective against the variant, there’s no way we’ll be allowed to Breathe on Brad like we did.
It began with 14 sports reporters socializing indoors, unmasked, up-close n’ personal. It continued with SID Derrick Burson making an announcement from the second floor catwalk. Vaxx or ax was his message. Access to players, coaches & press boxes would be available only to the vaxxed.
His email the previous evening reminded media that DIA would keep our CDC vaccination cards on file — a public record if you think Illini Athletics is institutionally controlled by the state university.
That’s fine. I’ve read the Constitution. I have no right to breathe on anybody.
Eventually, seventeen reporters and Kent Brown (Zooming to out-of-towners from an iPhone) crowded around Brad, and then Kofi. Of those 18 people, one person wore a face covering. It was me. I had an N95.
I’m visiting an immunocompromised relative tomorrow, and taking no chances. Wedged between Nico, Joey and Robert; and with Loren exhaling behind me; I realized that I’d gone from 16 months of isolation to Aerosols Central.
The CDC is pretending, for the moment, that this kind of behavior is okay. It’s a political ploy. They want to lure the vaccine-resistant toward jabs by promising a free face.
I know two fully vaccinated people who Got The Vid recently. My sister the pulmonologist says 50 fully vaxxed Brits are dead from Delta.
It’s going to get us all. I hope yours is mild. For sports purposes, however, the Vid is over.
Plowing forth toward sold-out B1G sports seasons, in stadia packed full of Midwestern mouthbreathers, is financially inevitable. Everyone needs the revenue. It’s going to happen.
Illini fans are just as Ignorant Redneck as any of them, so our stadia will be as packed as Bielematic Optimism affords. But that’s your ass on the line. You can choose to sardines yourself with a thousand randoms.
Our nearing-sixty basketball coach & morbidly obese football coach should probably be protected from you. And me.
And we should certainly protect the players, especially because Illinois basketball has a realistic shot at a national title. Ahem, I mean because it’s the right thing to do.
Or both.
Mizzou fans are hospitalized, gasping for air. Illini fans are experiencing an unfamiliar light/sunny feeling. Everything grey is now colorful.
Your favorite basketball program looked dead, or at least mortally wounded. All the news was bad: Loyola. O & Chin. And then, everyone left.
You could reasonably conclude that Brad Underwood’s momentum —from losing at EIU to a 1-Seed in 1227 days — ended when O got bored with Josh Whitman’s Compliance Worldview.
Kofi’s return gives Loren and the rest of us non-Millenials one last shot at seeing an April Trophy-Hoisting.
Brad and Kofi said important things Wednesday. Perhaps historically important things. As facile as Kofi’s ascension might feel to the hundreds of Illini whose jerseys won’t hang in the rafters; the fact is that Illinois basketball has him, a once-per-generation athlete, and every other of 356 Division I NCAA basketball teams doesn’t.
The Curbelo-to-Kofi connection, with assassins waiting on the wings, is the best argument for a national championship since 1989. Ayo was exciting. Deron Dee Luther garnered attention. But 2022 has the analytics potential. It is, in year five, The Team Brad Built.
The head coach’s outlook is waaaaaay more data-driven than his two predecessors. And you can see exactly what he has in mind just by looking at the newcomers, even if you’re not sure who they are. They’re all 6’7″ and 190 lbs. of lithe, taut limbs.
Curbelo-to-Kofi is the fastball, for sure. These new wings are the slider.
I was pulling a laptop from my bag when two nearly identical SFs approached. One was a ginger, so I just kind of assumed he was that Wisconsin kid.
That’s the weird thing about covering Illini basketball during COVID-21. I should have met all these dudes a long time ago. I should be able to tell them apart.
My N95 caused my glasses to steam up. I couldn’t even see them now.
“Hey guys, I’m Rob. I’m media.”
“Hi, I’m Luke,” is perhaps what the one on the left said, shaking my proffered hand as if touching strangers were a completely normal thing to do. “I’m RJ,” said the other, grasping an obviously shaken hand.
“I’m Coleman,” said a third guy, who approached as I explained that my N95 was a precaution for … I mean, do they need to hear about an immunocompromised relative?
Then it sank in: Coleman Hawkins just introduced himself to me. He’d never seen me before.
I’ve talked with Coleman Hawkins a few times. But it was on screen. I’ve seen him on TV a lot. It didn’t even occur to me that he’d have no idea who I was in the flesh.
“Check your Twitter,” I told him as the tall trio headed toward the exit. “Coach Underwood just said you were the most improved player.”
“Oh yeah?” Coleman responded. He still has that ingenue spirit. He’s unabashed about it. You have to like him.
Geoff Alexander came in after the players left. By this time, I’d sat down on the hallway’s only chair, catching up on texts & emails. Geoff said “hey brotha,” and offered a left elbow by way of greeting. His entire body contorted down and across to offer this simple, pandemic-oriented gesture.
This feels more familiar, I thought.
But again, something was very different. Geoff is in perfect physical condition now. We’d kind of seen that happening from afar, but it’s really astonishing up close. He wasn’t a lard ass before, but he’s just super fit now.
I was glad to offer my elbow in return. I’m personally very excited for Geoff’s promotion. I think it’ll be good for Illini basketball, too. Geoff had a lot to do with keeping Kofi in the fold.
Tim Anderson will likely be introduced to the media next week. I expect that availability to happen in the State Farm Center Media Room, if it’s at all in person.
It’s the aerosols. But there’s more to it.
All the TV guys got wobbly-armed by Brad’s 27th minute of Q&A. Covid made everything so much easier on those arms. But even before Covid, the DIA built a fancy media room where TV guys had access to a riser, an audio feed, and tri-pods.
So I’m guessing that your next viewing will find your Illini favorites in frame, well lit, in focus and audible. Wednesday’s scrum might not have seemed as uncomfortable to you as it did to the people who provided the coverage, but it’s the wildfire spread of Delta that seems likely to keep the state’s highest paid employees, and potential national champions, out of our airspace.
Jamall Walker and Ryan Pedon both know what it’s like to be Geoff Alexander right now. Both are recent Illini SPAHCs (Special Assistant to the Head Coach). Both are current assistant coaches, and both had been assistant coaches before becoming SPAHCs.
They know about the transition from a coaching role. They know how to operate as an advance scout and administrator, and then transition back to a coaching role.
Ryan Pedon, during his time at Illinois
Walker was just pulling up to the Grand Canyon Lopes Basketball offices this morning, on his way to a meeting. He had just enough time to say he was excited about Geoff’s promotion, and wishes him well.
Pedon was happy for Geoff as well. When he heard about the promotion, he dashed off a letter of congratulations to his new B1G rival.
I just wrote him a note the other day and said I was really happy for him. I admire guys who worked their way up in the profession. I’ve always felt like he was one of those guys. Respectful guy. Has a very good reputation.
I know he’s kind of grinded his way through this profession and I appreciate guys like that.
When Brad Underwood announced Alexander’s promotion to assistant coach, he denied that there’d been An Understanding between them. Alexander did not become Special Assistant to the Head Coach with the assurance that he’d get a shot, when an opening cropped up, at his current job.
Jamall Walker (top middle) and Geoff Alexander watch a huddle during the 2017-18 season.
Underwood was a SPAHC as recently as Bob Huggins’s lone year at Kansas State. Like (and occasionally with) Geoff, he’s toiled in obscurity, working his way up through the profession. So you can see why he’d want to give Alexander the chance, and also why he’d demand that Geoff earn that chance.
Are the jobs really that different? The SPAHC job doesn’t pay as much. But you get more time at home, because you’re not responsible for evaluating prospects, and then recruiting them.
Pedon said the SPAHC job is pretty labor intensive, even without the excess travel. But the recruiting assistant is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish.
I think it is a big change for families. There’s a really dramatic difference. All families & all wives adjust to that differently. But it’s not like you’re going from “9 to 5” to that (always on the road).
I’m sure Geoff was not anywhere close to “9 to 5,” so there is a little bit of an understanding already. But, just the travel, and the amount he’ll notbe around, That’ll be fairly different. Especially at certain times of the year, like springtime on weekends, and summertime when you’re chasing 17 and 18 year-olds all over the damn country.
Pedon said the hardest part of the SPAHC job, as you might expect, is learning not to coach. The NCAA allows its member programs just three assistants. If anyone else joins in the coaching duties, whether it’s off-campus recruiting or offering verbal instructions in the practice gym; that’s a violation.
Ryan Pedon (just left of referee Terry Wymer) watches from the sidelines during the Groce Era
Instinctually, it’s the hardest. Not to speak up when you see something. You have to be aware of what you can and can’t do.
I’m a big believer, not just in this profession, in staying in your lane. I tried to do that, as much as I could, in that role. ‘Cause I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes. And I wanted to be there as a resource, and something positive for our program. For my boss, our head coach.
I wanted to give John (Groce) exactly what he wanted out of me. And sometimes that varies, from coach to coach. Part of my deal was trying to be an extra set of eyes and ears for him, and the rest of the coaches. And help them in their particular areas. But I didn’t necessarily need to, or want to be, the guy that Had All The Answers. That’s not what that role is for.
It’s a delicate balance. That’s just my take on it. So I tried to be aware, and respectful, of what my role was.
The Illinois program should hope that Geoff Alexander’s career mirrors Pedon’s. Their career arcs, to this point, are similar. Both played college ball, but not at the high-major level. Alexander was at Western Illinois, Pedon at College of Wooster. Both got assistant coaching gigs in competitive mid-majors conferences (Missouri Valley and MAC) before accepting the SPAHC job at Illinois.
OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Pedon is now a top candidate for a major head coaching gig, having developed Chris Holtmann’s tOSU program into a perennial B1G contender, via cunning game-planning and unexpectedly good recruiting. If Geoff Alexander can mimic that success, the Illini might keep the next E.J Liddell at home.
Pedon didn’t want to share his scouting report with IlliniReport after the Buckeyes win in Champaign this year, pointing out in the days that followed that the two teams would meet again. But he was happy to offer some observations and encouragement to a man who’ll be chasing those same 17 and 18 year-olds all around the damn country.
He’ll also get to know Geoff Alexander better. Up ’til now, it’s mostly been word of mouth.
(Do you know Geoff?)
Just a little bit. Not on a real personal level. Just having worked with some of the same guys. I’ve known of him for a long time and he’s always seemed like a really good guy to me.
A month ago, Brad Underwood said he didn’t anticipate any staff changes. He laughed at the concept of retention incentives and/or performance bonuses, and said “I have no idea” what the DIA might do to reward/keep an incredibly desirable & succesful basketball staff intact.
And now, here we are.
If you’re trying to keep up with the latest, it’s this: Orlando & Chin are gone. You can’t have Omar Payne and Al Pinkins in the same building, so Illinois gets Payne (for now). Kimani Young is staying in Storrs. Alan Huss was onboard the other day, but maybe he’s staying on Omaha now. It’s home, after all.
In announcing Chester Frazier, Underwood confirmed that Chester is a guards coach and defensive guy. But he added that his recent staff didn’t always stick to their group assignments. Chin Coleman was a wings guy, but was also Chief Ayo Officer on the Illini staff. Brad said Chin worked with different skill groups in more recent times. One wonders if that caused some of the Gentry Friction you’ve read about.
The point here is that Frazier’s hiring casts a penumbra on the soothsaying of further hires. Who will coach the bigs? Who will coach the wings? And is Gentry really going back to Spokane?
Mrs. Frazier, with her mother, Ann Zeffert
The answers change every fifteen minutes, and so goes the fate of the program. Illinois was taunting Michigan in March. Now we envy the stability at Indiana. Losing Orlando Antigua is a bigger deal than you think, even if you thought it was a big deal. The foreseeable came to pass, and you’ll remember it for years to come.
THE GOOD NEWS
You were stunned when Orlando Antigua joined the original Underwood staff, so maybe you’ll be stunned again when Underwood plucks another ace recruiter. Chester said he wants to learn new things, so maybe he’ll become an ace recruiter. Maybe he’ll become the wings coach. Who knows?
It was fun to watch his evolution as a player, from the offensive liability whom Purdue ignored to the sharpshooter who torched Ohio State. (Kudos to Gary Nottingham on reworking Chester’s shot.)
Senior Day 2009
He’s also evolved, as people tend to do with age, personally. Chester the Illini player was cautious, even defensive when interacting with the media. He shared with this writer a well-founded disdain for characterization of his words (as opposed to direct quotes). Nothing about his attitude was illogical or unreasonable. It made him a less likely source for good material and general bonhomie.
The Chester who Zoomed with a mostly unfamiliar Illini media pool this week showed a hint of that residual caution. But he’s 35 now, and he’s worked in a necessarily social & networking-oriented profession for a decade.
And of course, there’s Sarah.
Some college basketball players get drafted to the NBA. Chester also won the lottery, but off the court. A dozen years and two kids later, Sarah remains the dynamic, if lesser known star of this package deal.
Returning to Champaign means the Fraziers are closer to her hometown of St. Louis. It also sets Chester in a good position to launch himself into a head coaching gig in a region he’s recruited for ten years. Keep an eye, for example, on Travis Ford’s career trajectory.
For now, we can’t know what to expect from Chester as a recruiter or coach. He promised he’s still the same guy, but that refers to his passion & work ethic. He’s changed a lot since 2009, whether he knows it.
Sarah will bring her photography business to Champaign. So you can meet her, too. And you should, because she’s the best.
OLD TATE
The News-Gazette ran a retrospective the other day. The guy is a Hall of Famer and already had a street named after him, but why not.
There’s something I’d like to offer from my own observation.
At some point, over the years, it slowly dawned on me that a defining Loren Tate characteristic is the deference and collegiality he shows to the beat reporters as a group. He loves being one of the guys, and he doesn’t lord his legend over anybody, not even the 20 year-old, wet-earred newbs from the DI. He takes a seat in the middle of the pack, and engages the others with questions about their views.
I think that might be the most important quality to recall in his epitaph. The problem is that he’s going to outlive anyone who might write it.
As we waited for Brad Underwood to join yesterday’s Zoom, Loren Tate cheerfully struck up some conversational topics. Rob, what do you think of the proposed rule changes? is a reasonable paraphrasing of his first foray.
I assured him that I don’t know anything about basketball, which should be obvious to anyone.
But why don’t I know? And how did he?
This column is about those rule changes, but also about access to information. Google tells me that Matt Norlander is the source for the hard data. A radio newsy from Kentucky SEO’ed the details, which I’ve pasted below. So thank you Mrs. Tyler Thompson.
https://twitter.com/MrsTylerKSR
Your Faithful Servant was approved for a credential/access to last month’s NCAA Tournament Digital Media Hub. The NCAA has my email address. Why did I learn about this stuff from Loren Tate? (I’ve learned most things about Illini sports from Loren Tate, and am not unappreciative.)
A couple of Zooms ago, Shannon Ryan told us that she’d been voted the new poobah (or was it honcho, or vizier?) of a national basketball writers association, succeeding Seth Davis. The ever-genial Scott Beatty observed that he wasn’t invited to vote, despite being a member. Perhaps I wasn’t the only one who thought “how does one become a member, and who decides?”
The News-Gazette tells us, year after year, that it’s won sports section of the year or newspaper of the year or similar. Who voted?
Google helped, again, with the former question. The latter seems too boring to research, but is probably found exclusively on fishwrap.
The writers association is open to anyone who pays them $50. (Don’t worry about the “members of the media” qualifier. We’re all members of the media.) I’m always reminded, in these moments, of my Lifetime Membership in the International Thespian Society. It was $10 for a year’s membership, and $15 for lifetime. Brilliant.
Maybe $50 is the cost of doing business these days? Perhaps, if I joined the USBWA, I’d get emails about important goings-on in the NCAA. Or perhaps I could spend all day reading Tweets from the 650 people Joey follows, the 1,960 Jeremy follows. or the 3,388 Shannon follows?
My feeling remains that if it’s on Twitter, you already know it. So why do you need to hear it from me? I envy traditional print reporters in this respect. Their foundational assumption is that newspaper is your only source for information. If they don’t transcribe & publish, you’ll never find out.
Also yesterday, I got an email about The Basketball Tournament from a Bradley Braves staffer named Bobby Parker. I’ve never met Bobby, and I don’t know who compiled a list of active addresses for him. Did it feel like the Glengarry Leads when he got it? Did it feel like the Glengarry Leads when you saw a Tweet about TBT yesterday?
Enough Illini basketball fans care about TBT and the House of ‘Paign that it seemed worthy of a Tweet.
Anyway, here’s the pasted list of changes being discussed for Men’s Basketball.
— Reset team fouls at the 10:00 minute mark of each half and begin double bonus on the 5th team foul of each 10-minute segment. This would eliminate the one-and-one free throw.
— Allow laptops, tablets, or similar devices in the bench area for coaching purposes.
— Adopt a modified six-foul rule with the following provisions:
1. A player may not commit more than three personal/technical fouls in any one half. Penalty – disqualification.
2. A player may commit three personal/technical fouls in the first half and three in the second half. In this case, the player is allowed six fouls before being disqualified.
3. A player may commit two personal/technical fouls in the first half and would be disqualified on his fourth personal/technical in the second half. Total – six fouls.
4. A player may commit zero or one personal/technical fouls in the first half and would be disqualified on the player’s fourth personal/technical in the second half. See #1.
— Award possession of the ball to the defense when they create a held ball situation.
— Limit the number of timeouts that may be called by any one team in the last two minutes of the second period or of any overtime period to two.
— In the last two minutes of the second period or of any overtime period, allow instant replay review of potential shot-clock violations when the shot is unsuccessful.
— Eliminate the ten-second backcourt rule.
— Permit the use of Instant Replay on all basket interference/goaltending calls throughout the game, but only when a call has been made by an official.
— Permit a team to decline free throws in the last two minutes of the last period or of any overtime period and elect possession of the ball for a throw-in instead.
— Eliminate offensive basket interference after the ball hits the ring or flange. Would make the rule consistent with the FIBA rule.
— Adjust the traveling rule to allow a player to take two steps after lifting his pivot foot which would make moves such as the spin move, Euro-step and step-back shot legal.
No matter where you’re getting your NCAA Tournament info, the source is always the same. Dan Gavitt has held a morning Zoom every day this week, fielding about 25 minutes of questions.
Most of these questions are about food and COVID, as they should be. The basketball stuff can be safely left to the coaches and players, although “safely” is a loaded word in this context. Gavitt said today that about 9100 tests have been conducted in the bubble, yielding eight positive results.
Dan Gavitt Zooms with media on Thursday, March 18 2021
He also divulged attendance allowances for all the stadia, including Farmers Coliseum. He said 1,200 people will be allowed to watch Illini/Drexel, which is 18% capacity, the highest among named venues.
People will be required to wear masks “unless someone’s eating or drinking actively,” he added.
Today, Ralph Russo asked about protests among student-athletes. Gavitt sided with the players. “Peaceful & non-disruptive” was an important qualifier in his encouragement of using their platform to advance social issues and complain about not being paid.
Gavitt made sure to trumpet the vast amount of food his organization has bought for the youngsters. The following is verbatim, and worth reading.
Or you can watch it yourself.
“Over the last four days we’ve had 161 teams order late night meals. That’s an average of 40 per night. In the first days of the controlled environment the NCAA and their corporate partners have fed 55-hundred student-athlete meals. A Wendy’s traveled in with a food truck to offer a special Biggie Bag for players; and prepared, packaged and delivered over fifteen-hundred burgers and chicken sandwiches.
“Buffalo Wild Wings fed 61 teams over the last three days, maximizing out at a whopping 19,000-plus wings on its busiest night. And over those first couple of days following Selection Sunday Pizza Hut delivered 665 pizzas, 208 family pastas and 4,365 total breadsticks. That’s a lot of food for hungry student-athletes.
“We also talked a little bit about laundry. Lowe’s has provided washers & dryers for the tournament. Over 2500 loads of wash have been done in the last couple of days, mostly practice uniforms for the teams but some team uniforms for teams that came directly from their conference tournaments as well as personal items as well (sic).
“That service will continue throughout the tournament and we’re very thankful to Lowe’s for helping us with a very fundamental operational need for the tournament.
“And finally, there is an NCAA host program through the Indiana Sports Corporation that has provided opportunity for teams and travel parties to get items that they may have forgotten or are interested in getting inside this controlled environment. So there have been deliveries on a 24-hour basis to team hotels and we have a list here that we’ll share with you but it includes such basics as toiletries and batteries and electronic equipment. But it also includes interesting things like games. Some teams ordered checkers, dominoes, soccer ball, football. Kid-sized basketball goals. A Wiffle Ball set, as I mentioned yesterday, I think. Ten balloon bouquets.
“And maybe the most interesting one to me is someone ordered a ukulele. So you can track down that story, I’m sure it’s got a great human interest angle to it.”
A spokesman for Illini basketball did not respond to ukulele inquiries.
Below is the transcript created by Zoom’s robots during Wednesday’s online video conference. It’s a good thing that no reporter will rely on it for writing a preview of Friday night’s game.
For one thing, Scott Richey almost certainly didn’t begin his portion of the call with “executives curvature the champagne.”
Reporters rely on the materials uploaded by Sports Info staff. That’s true before, during and after the season. The NCAA has a huge Digital Media Hub which got really active today as SIDs began loading PDFs and JPEGs and M4A audio files into their team’s folders.
Unfortunately, Drexel’s folder didn’t get the M4A of today’s Zoom, It got a 5 MB file of silence. The video was slightly larger (5.9 MB) but just as blank.
Your faithful servant engaged Drexel SID Mike Tuberosa in a dialogue about the problem, and Mike finally got through to a media specialist at Drexel, who retrieved the video file from cloud storage.
So here you go, reporters. Here’s the pre-game presser. And if you want to be ultra confused about what was said, read its transcript below.
Mike Tuberosa
Hello everybody thanks for coming today.
We have coach Spyker drexel university he’s going to start off and when he is finished with his opening statement, these. After your question say your name and where you’re from Thank you.
Zach Spiker
Alright guys thanks for coming today we’re very excited about this opportunity to participate in a tournament very proud of the players in our program to have earned this right to be here.
It was a challenging difficult season on many levels for all of our programs, and all of our young men and our programs and really if you go back a year from now, to think about and I try to see things to the perspective and lens of what our players are experiencing.
You can’t have a more emotional or full year and everything that has gone on and i’m happy that they’ve gotten to this point, and they get to experience success on the basketball floor and very happy feeling.
You know i’d also add before we take a question just that in a pandemic situation there are so many people behind the scenes, they work so hard to get us to this point i’d like to just.
Thank the doctors at Drexel university that came up with the protocol to put us in place to be successful, Dr marlin goal, Dr Tucker Dr Cruz.
and also our athletic trainer Mike West tougher when you’re in Philadelphia our code restrictions and protocols are much more different than most of the country.
And we’ve been testing daily since October, with the exception of the Christmas break and that group has kept us safe and allowed us to continue to practice when others weren’t.
and happy that they get to see that return on the investment they made an appropriate.
Mike Tuberosa
Okay first question Austin.
austinpetolillo
hey zach hope everything’s going well out in indy arm, as far as the Illinois goes obviously tough team will we see a little bit more timmy to kind of combat coburn down in the post.
Zach Spiker
Well Illinois is it physically imposing team, as we all know, we’ve all seen a lot of tape of them they’re on national TV all the time.
And I think we need to be ready to have a couple different options. TIM is one of them.
But you know their their their offensive attacks from a defensive perspective is not just one player coburn is terrific and physically dominating down low.
But they surround him with a number of other players that are good in transition, and also very good catch and shoot three point shooters so.
Certainly playing a team in the tournament all teams are good and successful, and if you take away one thing they’re going to be able to hurt you in a different way, so we’re going to need all of our players available to combat the athleticism and the scoring ability of Illinois.
austinpetolillo
And sure can you know, obviously, everybody knows that iowa is one of the best players in the country for you guys, how are you going to take you know.
what’s the strategy defending him, and then on the flip side, what do you guys going to look to do on offense.
Camren Wynter
You know just on different bodies Adam you know we have a lot of defenders so just showing them different looks making everything tough warm.
Not trying not to give him any open looks and our friends. Just just doing what we do we move the ball out, we find the open man, we shoot threes a lot, so you know just being us on offense.
austinpetolillo
And for you what’s life, like in the bubble up what do you guys doing the kind of stay active and not just kind of sit around all day.
Camren Wynter
You know coach keeps us active all day.
Some players say a little bit too much, but yeah play video games, you know with each other. Online and then you know just hang out.
austinpetolillo
And last one for me zach obviously you guys had to practice today. Did you like the look of the team that I.
Zach Spiker
Have you know you talking about our team and our practice today.
yeah, I think, like any day certainly you like some segments better than others, but I did think that.
You know you’re here, we had earlier practice slot which was two different we normally practice in the morning, but little slow start, but once we got going I thought we were pretty good and again Austin i’ll refer to this a lot.
Deeper we’ve got into the season, the more communication has been player to player and I think if guys aren’t in the right spot we’re able to our players able to hold each other accountable and today we gotta get going here and then that’s an area where i’ve seen A lot of growth and cam winner in the last month and a half and there’s no mistake, no, no, no mystery that we played better basketball last month and a half as well, so well I liked our practice today.
austinpetolillo
Alright, thanks guys take care.
Zach Spiker
Thank you, our.
Mike Tuberosa
next question for Carter.
Carter Hill
hey coach.
Mike Tuberosa
We’ll come back to Carter
justin.
Justin Jackson
justin Jackson with morgantown dominion post those questions for coach Spyker coaching you know, obviously Your journey to get to this point, you know the years spent as a Grad assistant, and you know working your way up the West Virginia And army and and you know.
Unknown Speaker
cornell.
Justin Jackson
That journey to get to this point what’s it meant to you and, and you know what will it mean for you, moving forward.
Zach Spiker
hey justin good to hear from you again, you know every coach has a story all right, and behind that story, though, are successful basketball players and players that make that story possible so.
There is a story in a journey but i’m honestly more focused on the story and journey cam winner Tata scariness Zack walton guys in our program and Thomas and zach are seniors i’m focused on making this the absolute best experience it can be.
There was a bit of memory lane getting here to indianapolis staying in the hyatt this exact hotel was my first final for years ago coach mark down at my hometown introduced me to damon Stevenson, who was on the staff at Winthrop at the bottom of these escalators right over there. And that’s how I got the opportunity to go to winter and beyond the coaching staff there and to be back here 21 years ago I didn’t even have.
My to stay in a hotel I stayed with a friend of my sisters and mark Stat is a friend who kept in touch and excited to maybe lead him a couple tickets 21 years later, and thank him for help them help help me get started, but other than that guys honestly I think the emotion enjoy that some of you may have seen at the end of the game.
In our Conference tournament was about the men in our program and our managers and our training staff, everyone has sacrificed and work so hard this year so.I joke, a lot of people like I was fine to a winter, I saw tears and winters face and then that same time I walked by the scorer’s table and somebody happened to be chopping up some money into the scorer’s table, so my arm my I started to water, a little bit.
Serious it was it was a great moment and I think it’s one that everybody in our program on our campus and honestly even former basketball players really appreciated the magnitude of it for our basketball program and our university.
Justin Jackson
I imagine you’ve been getting a lot of support from the people back here family background work down.
Zach Spiker
yeah it absolutely absolutely again those things don’t happen unless you have great people in players in our program and as we’ve talked about.
After tough losses why we’re going to get through some things because of the character of our players so justin Those are all accurate things I appreciate you asking, but certainly happy for that moment, but more focused on our guys haven’t helping them have a great experience sure I guess I don’t want to do too much the sun hang out in their rooms and play video games right.
Camren Wynter
All right.
Unknown Speaker
Thank you.
Mike Tuberosa
next question for Scott.
Scott Richey
executives curvature the champagne us because that I was curious kind of your thoughts on Andre Kerr bellow maybe what he’s Mattel might, especially in the last two weeks.
Zach Spiker
yeah Scott i’m known for a long time not personally but i’ve watched him and seeing them play recruited that program and I didn’t have the opportunity to see him play I think he’s incredibly crafty with the basketball he’s got a very good feel for the game physically a little bit different than other guys on the team, but also allows them to get into tighter spaces, I think he really delivers the ball to coburn.When he’s open as much as well as anybody on the team, and then I also think that really quick hands defensively so People may try and attack him at times, but I think he’s he’s very sleight of hand is crafty like he had a steal one of the Games, I saw you just kind of hanging back and laying around sneaks up behind the guy so I think he’s if you’ve got that guy i’m contributing to your program alongside is a role player compared to everybody else you’ve got a really good team and, certainly, you know my does, we all know that.
Scott Richey
Any mentioned know, maybe not just being Kofi and not just io in six guys in double figures in the big 10 tournament champion tricky championship game that’s the challenge, maybe there when it could be any one of them.
Zach Spiker
yeah I mean it could be frazier it could be Miller could be Williams, I don’t want to put your george’s last name, it could be him as well, so.
Now it’s a sign of of a nationally ranked team that’s well balanced they’ve got multiple weapons and multiple threats and they’re really, really good basketball team they’re very well coached they’ve got some great schemes, they execute and what we need to do to be successful, is be at our absolute best and hopefully keep them off balance and go from there.
Scott Richey
And they want for Cameron as well, just as kind of upset filled as the CAA tournament was you guys kind of just embracing maybe the chaos that can be March.
Camren Wynter
yeah you know we always say March is a special month, then you know you can make special things happened in March, so I think every day we come into practice with that mentality that that we’re the underdog and we can make a special thing happen.
Unknown Speaker
Thank you, both.
Mike Tuberosa
Carter we’ll try again.
Carter Hill
hey coach you hear me OK now.
Zach Spiker
We can hear you everybody.
Carter Hill
Okay awesome Thank you, Sir, thank you alright so first off part of your fifth quarter i’ve invited to say for a while, so happy to see you guys finally get in the tournament but you’re kind of in a unique situation as a mid major in a in a major city in the country, so is there a sense of pride to represent the the city of Philadelphia with drexel basketball, as you head into the nc double a tournament.
Zach Spiker
Absolutely, I mean this win this championship, and I run a conference tournament.
Is not just for our players but it’s for all of our former players, I mean you’ve been some really, really good teams Carter drexel.
I think back to a couple of teams abreu coach oh six or 711 and 12 quite frankly we’re tournament worthy and did not get a selection so when we play on Friday we played a represent everyone has ever worn the uniform at drexel but also our student body or university administration but, as you said.
You know, we talked about it a little bit you know when we need to when we play other schools in the city that. You know our guys may or may not have gotten the same attention to the same group of schools, but we get that opportunity and.
We see challenges at drexel as opportunities and we play those teams it’s a great opportunity for us to prove what we’re capable of doing and I think we were able to do that the last couple years when we play those Games.
Carter Hill
Thank you.
Mike Tuberosa
next question for rob.
Rob McColley
First, for Cameron, the one of the big story, so far as how you’ve been eating and whether you’ve had enough to eat so i’m curious about what your your meals have been like the last couple of days, can you tell us what you had for dinner last night.
Camren Wynter
I think we had pasta, with with some sauce chicken parm. potatoes, maybe.
it’s Buffet style now now that we’re out of quarantine when we were first in there, they were delivering meals to our rooms, so I think that’s what people might be complaining about okay.
Rob McColley
So you can choose how much you have to eat.
Camren Wynter
yeah
Rob McColley
Okay, good
for zach i’d like to know about what technologies you’re using to scout watch clips.put everything together, do you have enough, do you have screens that are big enough.To project
what’s it been like.
Zach Spiker
Excuse me, you mean like like screens for like film for our team.
Rob McColley
yeah for coaches to put together scouting reports and for teams to get together and watch.
Zach Spiker
You know what it we’ve gone about our process, like any other game.
The screen part is kind of irrelevant, we just maybe I don’t know different programs are different, we just use the wall right
we just take the projector and back it up don’t get really big and it’s on the wall and it’s like a drive in movie theater honestly it’s plenty big.
You know I tell you back on cam to I think one of the not the enemy has been bad, but the chicken I had to second night that was delivered to my room during quarantine was terrific.
Right, it was really good so we’re a program that we you know we’re built on our core values of gratitude respect and compete appreciate what’s given to you appreciate the opportunity to have respect how hard you have to work to be successful respect listening to your teammates you’ve got locker room covers the entire world learn about other people, and what their perspectives are
And then try and be at your best and compete, so I don’t think you would hear many i’ve heard rumblings of it outside of our circle, but
The food’s been fine we’re going to have a great meal tonight from Harry and disease we’re excited about that we’re going to have a great Barbecue meal tomorrow afternoon.
And we’re doing everything candy give our guys the best possible experience, knowing that we’re in a very, very controlled environment so hope call this basketball terminology.
Rob McColley
Just one more for me, because he played a few games December January march how has how have you seen it in terms of conditioning and response execution.
Zach Spiker
yeah rob Let me follow up to I didn’t totally answer your other question mean it’s still got access to synergy right we use synergy we use Ken palm Bart terrific calm another another website analytically.
I personally use evernote to make notes in different times but we’ve got where we need we got to practice playing software always used us for 10 years now and Now that we use every analytic piece, we can make sense it’s still funnels down into the same simple things for our guys right and it always comes down to taking care of the basketball transition the and doing what you can from personnel standpoint so to answer that question from a technology piece we’re fine we got what we need, certainly as our coaching staff would love to have ipads and different things and make things better from film standpoint.
Maybe we’ll get to that, but again appreciation is at a high level our expectations and low level and we’re just thankful, where we have will make it work to be the best we can Right now
the other question you’re asking did we see a deep conditioning issue with all the pauses rob our pauses were based on testing from our opponents, we in fact cam craving for now we don’t think we had any positive we had days off from practice That we gave our team, but to our guys credit we’ve always talked about the most disciplined teams going to win our guys were incredibly disciplined.
They live across the street and that’s getting a car to drive the gym or practice or go get food everything’s in walking distance they live in our own bedrooms.
You know secretly they love where they live, because the laundry is inside their sweet, so they don’t have to go to a laundromat or a shared laundry facility so it’s just them, and their teammates and and sweets which probably was helpful in a coven world but we didn’t have any deep conditioning issues we were, thankfully, and to kind of twist it and look at it rob
We went off the grid we didn’t have games to play so people didn’t see maybe the progress and things we were doing and adjustments and things and tweaking some return action or different things, we did offensively we came back out, we were much better team now, so you got to the point where i’m watch old games like we’re not we’re not that team anymore we’re much better, I think, can make a lot of our guys felt that what.
Rob McColley
I understood, thank you.
Unknown Speaker
David.
David Malandra
hey coach have things on indie so far.
Zach Spiker
they’re great day good to hear from you man, how you doing.
David Malandra
doing good doing good my question for you is anybody during the CAA season resembles anything that they want annoyed it will be doing that you’ll be playing on Friday.
Zach Spiker
Good question you know, I think And there’s some physicality I would say it’s all different levels right I don’t think there’s an exact replica of in Illinois anywhere, maybe in the country. Big 10 teams and May. speak very highly of Illinois so.
Some of our teams have the physicality piece on our teams have the shooting piece, but I wouldn’t say that will look back and say hey there’s one team that really if we play like we did against charleston will be fine it’s Illinois So there’s there’s there’s elements of those teams Dave but Illinois and elite team for a reason there’s not many people like not many teams like that makes sense.
David Malandra
and final one for me, have any Members of the drexel team from 1996 reached out to you guys wishing you luck this week.
Zach Spiker
Yes, they have we’ve actually.
I think we’re going to play a video tonight at dinner that our alumni associations put together. You know, we did a zoom during the pandemic with monique and he’s been he’s been great with this time and number of other players and other areas as well, so. As i’ve said before it’s a great honor and we take it very seriously to represent our school my university but also any player that is ever put the uniform on.
We play for them.
Mike Tuberosa
austin’s you have a question for him.
austinpetolillo
yeah can I actually I meant to ask you this, after the CAA final and and I think justin brought it up, but The emotion, we saw on the broadcast you know, he was talking about zach with you, you know that was shown on the broadcast you were crying zach said, you can even talk you’re crying so much what kind of went into those emotions in that moment, where you feel.
Camren Wynter
Just all the hard work that we’ve been through since i’ve been here. You know a lot of Dudes in that locker room and the same guys I came in with and just we always talked about, and just to finally do it was just a random emotion from from me and from other guys and yeah it was just just that moment that we all share together.
austinpetolillo
And, given the circumstances, you guys are in, are you guys trying to embrace being in the dance kind of like looking around be like wow we’re really here.
Camren Wynter
I think we’ve got past that point of why we’re here and to now it’s like wow we got to win a game One game, at a time, so I think we’re at the point where it’s like a you know we play in two days, and now we have to be prepared, you know they’re here just the same way, we are every team here is good, and we know that we’re good to.
austinpetolillo
Go thanks Kim.
Mike Tuberosa
Even.
Stephen Whyno AP
It Cameron Steve Martin from Associated Press I got a wacky question for you, everybody knows the the one shining moment song i’m curious as a kid or playing as a kid did you ever imagine yourself hitting a buzzer beating shot or anything being in that song.
Camren Wynter
I think every kid probably goes in their driveway and stuff like that and i’ve been watching the tournament since I was really young.
So just to be in the tournament i’m grateful and i’m just i’m honored honestly to have my dream come true.
Mike Tuberosa
ock you another question.
anyone else justin.
Zach Spiker
Stephen I jump on that question, I used to watch it no one shining moment, I think the first one shining moment might have been Keith smart with indiana right but they used to do videos Prior to that, too, it was different song every year, I thought that was pretty good to. Just just shows you how old, I think.
Justin Jackson
yeah I got a question for camera and, if I may.
Mike Tuberosa
Go ahead okay.
Justin Jackson
Kevin justin josh with the morgantown dominion post obviously a coach baker had been there for a couple years there at drexel when when he recruited him brought you in i’m just kind of wondering.
You know, over the years how have you seen the program grow and and you know what’s it been like to be part of the you know part of that process.
Camren Wynter
Since i’ve came in the program and it’s just kept going up every single year.
Better I wouldn’t say better partners but um you know we brought in, you know Dudes that that mesh with each other good people.
You know everyone just seems to trust each other. We all trust coach Parker and what they have for us and you know we just we just go out there and play as hard as we can form.
Before it escapes our priorities list, let’s praise Kofi Cockburn for bringing Illinois to a tie, and then giving them a lead they’d never relinquish. He connected on two free-throws. It seems simple, right? It won them a championship.
He did the same against Michigan State last year, and nobody remembers it because Ayo dropped in a pile and Alan Griffin didn’t box out Xavier Tillman.
Make your free-throws. Box out. Make your free-throws. Box out. Make your free-throws.
If you’re an Illini fan, and the term “box out” sends a chill through your spine, congratulations on reaching your golden years. You are at least forty, and despite advancing decrepitude, you’ve failed to wipe the name “Sean Higgins” from your memory.
1989 was a helluva year for making free-throws and boxing out. Or not. The Midwest Regional Final pitted #1 seed Illinois against a loaded Syracuse team, six of whom played in the NBA. It was tight, decided in the final 30 seconds. Illinois missed a lot of free-throws, which allowed Jim Boeheim’s squad a chance.
But then, after considerable discomfort — that hollow feeling in your stomach when you know that an Illini game is slipping away and fate has cursed you yet again — Kenny Battle stepped to the line.
The lore among my high school friends holds that Battle huddled his teammates and uttered one word: “Money.” As in “I got this.” As in “don’t worry, I’m going to put an end to the Orangemen.”
Not much has changed in 32 years. When Trent Frazier buries a three, he says “cash.” But in this case, Battle was talking about a pair of free-throws he intended to bury. Promised to bury. Knew he would bury. He buried them. And Syracuse.
If you’re comparing great Illini teams, the 2021 version is much more like 1989 than 2005. Illini ’21 is a highlight reel of flashy passes and thunderous dunks. Even the uniforms are the same. Form-fitting jerseys emblazoned with classic scripts. Mid-thigh shorts that don’t THANK YOU JESUS resemble Moroccan culottes.
Brad Underwood is a showman. He understands that basketball is entertainment. Where 2005 was exciting for basketball coaches, 2021 is fun for basketball fans They might not know what it means to “ice a ball screen,” but they thrill to a well-lobbed oop.
Ayo Dosunmu is the guy who put his home state team on his back, and dragged them to the finish line. The comp here is Battle, not because those other Flyin’ Illini didn’t stay home, and not because they weren’t outstanding ballers. It’s because Battle was the heart and soul of that team. When he stepped to that line and promised to bring them home, you believed he would do it.
In 2020, you hoped the Illini could overcome their tendencies. Andres Feliz gave you courage, and Alan’s shooting and rebounding gave you a chance. But you knew the Achilles Heels. Even in January of this year, you could spot the weaknesses.
And then you watched everything coalesce. All the pieces came together. Still not perfect, but enough.
Did you believe when Kofi stepped to the line, with the Illini down a point? Underwood did. He sent the rest of the team back on defense. Kofi drained the pair. Illinois won a championship.
This team is not the Illini of 2020. This team is not the Illini of January 2021.
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The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
We use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. We do this to improve browsing experience and to show personalized ads. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
