Illini excited about the present, future
College basketball
CHAMPAIGN -- Hours before their first official practice of the 2007-08 season, 15 young men in white Illinois uniforms dunked and joked and laughed together in the comfort of the Ubben practice gym.
Things are always swell at this time of year when the gruesome daily three-hour practices have yet to take their toll, but at Illinois they're even more so.
Not only did Bruce Weber receive oral commitments from three Class of 2009 standouts in a 24-hour period -- Sterling wing Joseph Bertrand added his pledge to those of Warren's Brandon Paul and Peoria Central's D.J. Richardson late Thursday night -- but the prodigy of Illinois' next generation also could be seen enjoying himself at Ubben on Friday afternoon.
Six-foot-6 Waukegan sophomore wing Jereme Richmond, ranked as the nation's No. 4 prospect in the Class of 2010 by Rivals.com, loves Illinois' present and future.
"I've known D.J. and Brandon since I was in seventh grade, so we've been building our relationship a long time," said the affable Richmond, 15, who committed to Illinois last Thanksgiving. "We're all pretty good friends. I don't know Joseph that well, but I hear he's a good player as well.
"Today I saw the whole campus and I fell in love with it even more," Richmond added. "I think that Illinois is definitely where I'm supposed to be."
But Illinois isn't where Richmond, Richardson, Paul and Bertrand will be for at least two years.
While the recruits' courtside appearances at Illini Madness on Friday night generated excitement from the 12,000 at the Assembly Hall -- a $7 pink T-shirt served as the admission price and raised $47,500 for the American Cancer Society -- the current Illini players are creating some heat of their own.
Several of Illinois' newbies have shown enough during preseason workouts to make the coaching staff giddy.
Freshman point guard Demetri McCamey, 7-foot-1 freshman center Mike Tisdale, junior forward Rodney Alexander and shooting guard transfer Steve Holdren all sound like they're capable of making immediate impacts.
McCamey and Alexander were expected all along to be that way, but Tisdale has shredded all preconceived notions.
For example, Tisdale owns a 34-inch vertical leap (he can touch a mark 12 feet off the floor) to go with a sweet 3-point shot and post skills.
"Mike Tisdale has been kind of a shining spot for our team, for the coaches," Weber said. "You kind of knew he had skills and things, but his personality has really been very positive. In some of our conditioning sessions, he's been a leader pushing some of the older guys."
Tisdale also nearly captured the Illini Madness dunk contest title, but fellow freshman Mike Davis edged him in the finals.
Freshman walk-on Jeff Jordan brought down the house, however, when he donned a "BULLS 23" jersey with his father's surname.
Jordan attempted a pair of between-the-legs windmill jams but couldn't quite pull them off despite his 46-inch vertical leap.
In the dunk-filled 15-minute scrimmage, Calvin Brock scored 11 points and Brian Randle 10 to lead the Orange to a 52-38 win.
Davis dunked four times to lead the Blue with 8 points.