Coach Combes is blessed with having a plethora of perimeter players starting with team captain and point guard Andy Phillip.  Phillip was the unquestioned leader of the Whiz Kids and is one terrific playmaker.  He led the Big10 in assists before he left and not that he is back the fans here are expecting nothing less from their man.  Phillip is a small town kid from just up the road (Granite City) and is easily the most popular player the Illini have and for good reason.  The 6’2 195 Rock might be the best point guard in the Midwest and though some of the young kids are getting a bunch of attention around these parts Phillip is back to claim his throne.  The sad part is that only one of his compadres in crime is back to run with him.  Senior Gene Vance is coming back (neither one of these two was one of the three that got shuttled off early) to finish some business.  Vance is a 6’3 195 wing from Clinton Illinois who was the leading scorer on those run and gun teams.  Vance is one heck of a finisher on the break who is adept at taking terrific passes from Phillip and putting them on the hoop.  The question will be after his layoff will be if he can keep up defensively with the great new wings of the Big10.  If he can he will play and if not Combes has recruited an entire arsenal of superior athletes in the mold of Phillip and Vance ready to continue the (and finish) the tradition that is now Fightin’ Illini basketball.  I don’t know if that moniker quite fits what these kids do but Whiz Kids doesn’t quite seem to be a brand for the modern times either.  Heck, even the Orange Krush is not exactly original (see Denver Broncos) so come on Illinois you are the home of one of the greatest marketers (and branders) in history.  Yes, the great Hugh Heffner started Playboy in his kitchen in Chicago after graduating with a BA from Champaign (one of the best business schools in the country BTW) and those bunny ears are almost as recognizable as Mickey Mouse.  Come on Illinois, you can do better! 

The great backcourt that Coach Combes has recruited is both talented and deep.  Sophomore Derek Harper might be the best backup point guard in the Big10. Of course last year he was not backing up at all as he was running the show in Champaign.  Harper was also a huge game changer for this program as he was the first major recruit to not come out of the Midwest (he is from West Palm Beach Florida of all places so I bet he is loving those Windy City winters) and with only two other players on the veteran roster not coming from Illinois.  For all of the greatness of this program their inability to recruit outside of the Windy City area (yes, Champaign-Urbane is a suburb of the 2nd City) and take their recruiting national if not international likes most program seem to be doing.  Harper is a great defender as well as a confident ball handler and passer.  He uses his 6’4 206 pound frame to his advantage and really follows the template of big, physical point guards Phillip set in place.  Harper can also score for a point guard as he has a developing jump shot and is not happy about the fact Combes is just handing over the starting role back to Phillip.  After all last year in an open competition Harper beat out highly recruited point guard and local favorite Bruce Douglas from around the corner in Quincy and junior Tai Brody from Trenton New Jersey.  Both Harper and Douglas were High School All-Americans (the Illini do not get many of these as after all this is not Indiana) and that competition was stiff between three studs.  It is not like Brody was chopped liver as he might define the up and down style of this program more than anyone.  But he won’t be back as last summer while on a trip overseas playing for the national team (he led the US to victory) he was actually recruited by Moshe Dayan to come back to Israel and help start an International basketball program.  The one eyed-general has a lot of pull and Brody, who is in fact jewish, decided to take up Rooster Cockburn er Kofi er Dayan on his offer and is returning to the Holy Land.  Too bad for the Illini as Brody is a stud but this is a coup for Israel who needs a presence in the Sports World and this method is better than what their neighbors to the south are trying to do with golf.  Harper was without question the best player of the three and earned his starting job.  To take his job without competition seems blasphemous to what this program (and sports) is all about and will sit well in the locker room.  As for Douglas, the king of assists, looks destined for leading the JV team as there is no way there are enough basketballs for all three of these point guards on one team.  Combes has a trio of point who ‘all’ could play for 90% of the teams in the country and supposedly recruiting guru and JV coach Bruce Weber has brought in a couple of more studs so even if Combes doesn’t want it competition is coming in Champaign for the signature position in this program!  Now if the Illini was halfway as competitive or as deep up front then this team might have a chance of knocking off those mighty Hoosiers with all of their pedigree in this, the most dog-eat-dog conference in the nation!    

The Fighting Illini (I guess that fits with the Whiz kids military enlistment or being drafted but not in the way that you want to be if you are an athlete) might even more loaded at the wing positions.  Illinois has no less than 7 players who are not only capable but highly gifted players at the two-three positions and more coming up the pike as the program always reloads at these positions.  It’s kind of strange how players of certain skill sets and positions continuously matriculate to specific programs.  That is why programs get the monikers of Guard U or Big Man Campus. Illinois is most definitely not the latter.  As far as shooting guards, The Illini has a group that is second to none in the Big Ten.  The starting spot looks to be a rotation once again between seniors Donnie Freeman and Don Ohl.  They have battled each other for the last three years with neither gaining a clear advantage because both are superb offensive players though with styles that are far apart on the paradigm.  Freeman should be the starter once again and this 6’3 185 pounder from Madison Illinois can flat put the ball in the hoop.  He could be the most complete scorer on the team and is a tremendous athlete but is more of a slasher and not a consistent long range shooter and in today’s game the three is the thing!  His defense is not quite as good as his offense but that is primarily due to his desire as he has the skills to be a good defender.  A consistent performer, Ohl has been a solid producer for the Illini but always stuck behind the more athletic Freeman .   Ohl is also 6’3 and goes 190 and is from Edwardsville which the Illini has plundered for much talent.  He just may be the best shooter on the team though he has not completely acclimate to the three point line.  That was too bad because Ohl can flat light it up as his showdown with Rick Mount from Purdue can attest as he hit five corner shots in a row but only two were behind the line.  Speaking of Edwardsville fellow seniors Mannie Jackson and Govoner Vaughn also hail from the southwestern corner of this state and have been pioneers for this program.  Both are 6’3 though they play different positions and are the first African-Americans to play here.  Jackson is in the running for a wing spot though he is far down the totem pole while Vaughn is an undersized post (that is an ongoing issue for this team) who can really board but like his friend is way down the totem pole.  Their success here has set the tone for others that have come and this pair of trailblazers are sure to do things after their careers here that will have a positive impact on the world.  This group will be challenged though as Sophomore Kendall Gill showed last year in limited minutes that he is an entirely different level of athleticism than any of these upperclassmen.  Gill, from up the road in Olympia Fields, is a phenomenal athlete who can handle the ball, take the ball to the hoop and put it down with emphasis.  This 6’5 216 pounder just looks like a stud when he is on the court and is already the best perimeter defender on the roster.  The problem is he is wildly inconsistent on the offensive end.  But he will get better as he goes and though he might not be starting at the beginning of the year those seniors better play well or this kid will fly by them on the depth chart. 

At the small forward, the Illini had the same type of problems if you can call them problems.  Senior Duane “Dike’ Eddelman is the main man in Champaign and is without question the best athlete to ever wear the orange and blue as he has been dominant  in 3 sports.  Heavily recruited out of Centralia for both football and basketball Eddelman shined in both sports right away and on the side would compete in the high jump for the track team.  He, like Phillip and Vance, was called off to duty but returned last year after he was allowed to compete in the Olympics for the Unites States team.  Dike actually finished 4th in the high jump (he tied for 2nd but was left off the medal stand due to more misses) and then came back to play both sports.  He has decided to emphasize just basketball this year and Coach Combes could not be happier.  Eddelman will long be remembered at the guy who brought respectability to this program with Phillip and he does not at all seem disturbed by the influx of talent that is challenging him for playing time.  Obviously Eddelman is a terrific finisher who will flat throw it down on the break.  He is only 6’3 189 but plays bigger due to his great leaping ability but he is nowhere the offensive player as the guy backing him up.  Sophomore Eddie Johnson wandered down from Chicago and almost instantly became the best shooter on the team.  Combes will not start Johnson in front of the legend Eddelman though he gets more minutes per game.  No bother, Johnson prefers coming off the bench anyway.  Johnson is a gifted outside shooter who has found the three pointer to his liking though he is more adept at the mid-range game.  Johnson has a jump shot that is like the summer afternoon Texas Thunderstorms.  You know they are coming but there is nothing you can do to stop them so you might as well sit back and enjoy the rain.  Eddie (no nickname and do not mix him up with anyone else as he is definitely his own man) is as consistent as they come and never gets the recognition he deserves.  He is a gifted player that just happens to be best at shooting but also is a solid board guy and can handle the ball.  Many of the Illini have this same problem.  They are considered very good players but not quite all-star material. Or worse yet they would be all-stars at a different position but Combes has to play them in a different place to make this team work.  Of course we are talking about the front court where even the best and most consistent big man feels like he would be better suited playing the four and not the five!  But on this roster of undersized high flyers Johnny Kerr has to be the center. 

With all of this accumulated talent in the backcourt all the Illini need to be serious factors in the race for the big prize was a legitimate presence underneath.   Is ‘Red’ Kerr this presence?  A corn fed horse of a man, Kerr is a solid player who uses his six foot nine inch frame and two hundred thirty plus pounds to his advantage.  A good rebounder, Kerr is a solid post option and has got a softer touch than one would expect from such a big man.  The problem is Kerr is only one man underneath and he is even better suited to being the second fiddle of a two man post attack.  There is no first fiddle for the Illini. Can you imagine this guy suited up to a rim protecting seven footer and keeping the wolves at bay while his sidekick dominates the paint.  Kerr is none of these things and has had some issues with bigger guys in the key.  And in the mighty Big10 there are a slew of seven footers (or near seven footers) you have to try and stop every night.  But none of this was for a lack of effort of Kerr who punches the clock every day and comes to work to battle in the trenches with anyone you put up against him.  He may not have the skills (or size) of a Bellamy or a Thompson but nobody is doubting his heart and his desire to succeed in whatever he does.  He is truly a legend around the Illinois campus and in the Windy City. 

The decision who will be playing next to Kerr up front is probably the most important one Combes will make this year.  Senior Dave Scholz fits the stereotype the best as he is a strong 6’8 220 pounds from Decatur who loves the physical play in the paint.  He has taken advantage of opportunities here and can score and board but is nowhere near the athlete of some of the fours in this league.  Fellow Senior Dave Downey is a bit more athletic but is not big enough (6’4 220) to guard the big guys of the Big Ten.  He has a nice overall offensive game and will get his chance once again.  If Combes decides to move Kerr to the four more regularly as he has in the past then Big Skip Thoren will get the majority of minutes.  Thoren from Rockford is 6’10 230 and can board but has battled nagging injuries throughout his career in Champaign. Thoren also has a very limited offensive game and is not the intimidating presence you would think a guy his size would be.  Junior Nick Weatherspoon is the best player and as of right now is the favorite to start. Weatherspoon has a nice inside-out game and is solid in the blocks or up to 15 feet.  ‘Spoon’ fits the programs style of play as he can get up and down the court and finish and is way more athletic than his competition.  Still, at 6’7 this Canton Ohio product is was not quite big enough to be playing the four.  He is better suited as a three but obviously the Illini were set there.  He is smooth and tougher than he looks with a great corner shot but also only weighs 195 pounds.  He boards okay but does not have the muscle to bang with the McHales or the McGinnis’s.  He is, however, a strong contributor to a high octane offense that the Illini have put into play and the Illini could do much worse.  

The out of conference sets up nicely for Illini to have a good season.  Most are against long-time rivals but there is a lack of high caliber competition as no top 25 team is on the schedule.  Worse though is the fact that the other two Chicago area powerhouses are nowhere to be found.  Yes, for some reason neither DePaul nor Notre Dame will play the Illinois which will help the won-loss record but will not be helping the strength of schedule which could hurt if the Fightin’ Illini turn out to be a bubble team in March.  More importantly though is the fact that the Windy City fans do not get to see these programs go head to head for bragging rights and of course those games almost assuredly would have been on national TV which might just help this team find the big man it so desperately needs especially next year when Kerr moves on up to the Pros. 

The Illinois Fightin Illini have put together one heck of a program through some deft recruiting and proper instruction.  The Illini have one of the best stables of backcourt players in the country and can match up with any team in the country in a good old fashioned shootout.  This was a season that saw the Illini doing much of that and having mixed success depending on whether they were hitting or missing.  The strength of the team was the perimeter play as this team could flat get up and down the court.  They also had one of the most fanatical and original group of fans in the country in the Orange Krush.  This group made playing in Champaign difficult as Assembly Hall. How far they will rise on the Big 10 depends on how well the big buys are able to hang with the big boys of this league and of course how many long-range shots this team will make as they have no question welcomed the three pointer to their infamous fast-paced style. One thing is for sure, the team from Champaign will never fail to entertain and to fire away at will.