Not what Illini's Pruitt had in mind

Barring a miraculous sweep through next week's Big Ten tournament, Illinois' season will be over sooner than usual, and Shaun Pruitt's college career will be through.

The senior center from West Aurora swiftly will turn his attention toward next month's Portsmouth Invitational for potential pros, which could lead to sincere NBA looks or a plane ticket to tax-free riches in Europe.

Illini Nation swiftly will re-focus its attention on the next big things in the program: Kentucky transfer Alex Legion, Simeon power forward Stan Simpson and the high school juniors and sophomores who have orally committed to Illinois.

There will be more than a few suggestions that Pruitt will be better off without the Illini -- and that the Illini will be better off without Pruitt.

So here's the question: Will those sentiments be correct?

To be sure, as the 6-foot-10, 250-pound left-hander prepares for two Assembly Hall finales that include today's matchup with No. 17 Michigan State, there's a sense of a senior season gone awry.

Illinois' string of eight consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances seems to be frayed. With two more defeats, the Illini (12-17, 4-12) will break the school's single-season record for losses.

"I didn't think this would happen, that the Illinois basketball program would be under .500," Pruitt said. "Because every year in the preseason, we always say we're going to have a good team this year. We're going to be good because it's just expected of us and that's just how we play.

"It doesn't matter talent-wise. We always play defense, so I'm always confident in my team, and that just hasn't happened quite as well as I hoped this year."

Individual glory has been just as elusive.

Pruitt, pegged as a first-team all-Big Ten pick in the preseason, will be fortunate to wind up on the third team again when the votes are revealed Monday.

His averages don't look much different than a year ago -- 12.6 points and 7.1 rebounds now compared to 11.4 points and 7.5 rebounds then -- but external perceptions of him are different.

Pruitt was benched for the Jan. 22 game at Ohio State -- allegedly on a vote by the players -- after seasonlong tensions came to a head at Purdue three days earlier.

Loud words and sharp criticism flew in all directions during and after Illinois' come-from-ahead loss to the Boilers.

That included the revelation that Pruitt had added at least 10 unnecessary pounds during the season, which affected his already limited explosiveness and agility.

"I think it's a lesson for all kids: You have to continue to work at everything and take your game to another level each year and continue to make improvement," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "And not anticipate, 'Hey, I'm a junior, I'm a senior, I'm going to take a step up.'

"Those are the things to me that he maybe recognized, 'Hey, I've got to work a little harder,' but maybe it was as we proceeded into the season."

Weber might also be referring to Pruitt's love-hate relationship with the free-throw line.

A few weeks after the Purdue imbroglio, Pruitt's inability to make any of his 3 free throws in the waning seconds of regulation and overtime prevented Illinois from upsetting No. 14 Indiana on ESPN.

Those misses turned him into a sports-talk punch line, not to mention an online punching bag.

They also turned him into a better free-throw shooter. Pruitt has made 17 of his last 20 attempts, the best stretch of his career.

"I've been in the gym working on them on my own," Pruitt said. "I've just been relaxing, because after those misses vs. Indiana at home, I mean, you can't get worse than that, so there's nothing to really worry about in a game. I've already been at my low."

It's moments of clarity like this that suggest Illinois might miss Pruitt more than most imagine.

There are facts, too, that suggest he might leave a big hole in the middle.

Pruitt needs just 15 points to become the school's 41st 1,000-point scorer.

He needs just three more starts to tie Deron Williams for 10th place on the school's all-time starts chart.

His 647 rebounds rank among the school's top 20 career marks.

Fortunately for the Illini, believe it or not, a little of Pruitt will live on in freshmen big men Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis.

"I've learned that his attitude is good and bad sometimes," Tisdale said. "On the court, his attitude is amazing. It's what you need to be a dominant post player.

"Sometimes off the court he gets frustrated with himself, and he knows that. Sometimes more than necessary, but anybody could do that."

Davis says his time with Pruitt has been "no bad, all good."

"He taught me how to play hard," Davis said. "He plays hard all the time. He taught me on the block to use my elbows when I spin off somebody.

"I remember one day, it was an off-day (at midseason) and me and him were working out," Davis said. "And I wasn't going as hard as he was and he grabbed me and told me, 'You've got to go hard. You've got the potential to be really good, so just go hard every day and show Coach you want to play.' "

Michigan State (23-6, 11-5) at Illinois (12-17, 4-12)

When: 8 p.m., Assembly Hall

TV: ESPN2

Radio: WIND 560-AM

The skinny: What would a win over the 17th-ranked Spartans do for the Illini? Not only would it snap the program's eight-game losing streak against ranked foes, it would put Illinois in the driver's seat to get into the Nos. 8/9 first-round game in next week's Big Ten tournament. The Illini and the Spartans scuffled to a 51-41 MSU victory Jan. 30, but Tom Izzo's crew has lost its last four Big Ten road games by an average of 12.3 points. If freshman backups Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis can continue to provide good minutes, the Illini could be in this one until the end.

-- Lindsey Willhite