llinois' McCamey, Ohio State's Turner keep their close ties

Since the parties in question were 14 years old at the time, it probably doesn't count as a legally binding pact.

But when Illinois' Demetri McCamey and Ohio State's Evan Turner were basketball savants at St. Joseph High School in Westchester, they essentially became lifelong brothers with the following vow:

"Me and Demetri, when we were freshmen, we used to always talk about, 'If you go pro, you're going to take care of me,' " Turner said. " 'If I go pro, I'm going to take care of you.'

"And this was before I was even good, so I was like, 'You better go pro because I'm not.' "

Indeed, the more spectacular McCamey had the bigger rep for most of their high school careers - and both entered college in the fall of 2007 as four-star recruits ranked among the nation's Top 75 players.

But while McCamey leads his balanced team in scoring (11.8 ppg) and ranks fifth in the Big Ten in assists (4.9 apg) going into today's game between No. 25 Illinois and Ohio State at Assembly Hall, Turner has stepped forward to become one of the league's finest all-around players.

The 6-foot-7, 205-pound point forward leads the Big Ten in steals (2.2 spg), ranks third in scoring (15.9 ppg) and shares sixth in rebounding (7.0 rpg).

"I think Evan is having a tremendous year," said Ohio State coach Thad Matta. "We saw signs of it last year, of him having the capability of doing a lot of different things.

"Evan is a real student of the game and has a real passion to win. He's a very competitive kid. He's one of those guys that anything you ask him to do, he's going to do for you."

McCamey, on the other hand, seems like he requires a daily kick in the butt from Illini coach Bruce Weber to become more of a passionate, competitive player.

For example, Weber wasn't as disturbed by McCamey's 0-for-9 shooting Saturday at Michigan State as he was by the fact that McCamey didn't try something new. The sophomore point guard kept chucking up 3-pointers of his own creation (he was 0-for-7) rather than get in the motion offense's flow.

"Demetri didn't get some shots down," Weber said. "Now you've got to find some other ways to score. That's where Demetri has got to learn to make progress.

"I kept telling him, 'You're trying to go through five guys. Cut through the defense. You've got to learn to play without the basketball.'

"And the thing is, we've got Chester (Frazier) who can deliver it to him. And he hasn't gotten to that point."

But don't try to tell Turner his buddy isn't on the NBA track.

"I hope Demetri reaches tons of success," Turner said. "He had a good year last year. I was sitting in front of the tubes watching him last year, just rooting him on like it was me.

"Hopefully one day we're both reaching amazing peaks and we can be making millions together doing movies or making commercials or something, you know?"

Turner meant that as an offshoot of their NBA prowess. Probably.

Or maybe this tight pair of outgoing sophomores always have assumed they'll be successes no matter where their lives take them.

"Since the first day of high school, we've been friends ever since," McCamey said. "It's just like a family thing with us."

"I love Demetri to death and I cherish all the times I've had with him," Turner said. "I hope there's a lot more in our future."