All geared up for long overdue hoops success at NU, Illinois

Until a few days ago, the equipment manager for the Illinois women's basketball team must have been bored to tears.

No laundry to do. No practice gear to sort through.

That's what happens when a head coach has to take drastic measures.

Somewhere in the throes of what amounted to a 10-game, monthlong losing streak, second-year Illinois coach Jolette Law was at her wit's end. Not only was she sick of the losing, she was also frustrated by what she perceived to be a losing attitude by her players.

So about three weeks ago, after one of the more brutal losses during the streak, Law told her players that they were no longer entitled to wear their team-issued Illinois gear to practice. And that fringe benefit of having sweaty practice gear washed daily by the equipment manger? Also gone. They had to do their own laundry.

But that all changed on Sunday.

The Illini put forth a spirited effort and came up with a major upset when they upended first-place Indiana to get their first Big Ten victory.

"They were all happy about the win, but I think they were almost more excited about their practice gear," Law said. "They kept saying, 'We get our gear back, we get our gear back.' It's a good thing because they were looking like a bunch of ragamuffins at practice, all in their own clothes.

"To me, the whole point was, it's an honor to represent Illinois, to wear Illinois across your chest. If you're not playing with any pride, you shouldn't get that honor. My next thing was going to be changing the combination on their locker room. And if my athletic director would have allowed it, we would have worn pennies with numbers taped on the back for games."

Not a pretty sight.

Likewise, it's difficult seeing both of our home state Big Ten teams - Illinois and Northwestern - at the bottom of the league standings.

These two programs have had some great years in the past but have definitely fallen on hard times recently. Illinois is struggling this season and hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2003. Northwestern hasn't even had a winning season in 11 years.

"There's a whole culture here that needs to be changed," first-year Northwestern coach Joe McKeown said.

Law said the same thing in a separate interview.

The good news is, I think it's doable. In fact, I see much brighter days ahead for both the Illini and the Wildcats.

I was in Evanston on Thursday night covering the game between Illinois and Northwestern for the Big Ten Network (Illinois won by a hair, 45-44) and I think the pieces are in place for both programs to make a significant turnaround.

It all starts with the coaches, both Big Ten newcomers who are on a mission.

Law played at Iowa but spent the 12 years prior to her hiring at Illinois as an assistant coach at Rutgers. She's looking to duplicate the success of her mentor, longtime coach C. Vivian Stringer, who coached her at Iowa and then hired her at Rutgers.

At Northwestern, McKeown has already had success as a head coach. He had a good thing going at George Washington but seems energized by the challenge of resuscitating a program at the opposite end of the spectrum.

Of course, the way to do that is with talent, and both coaches signed very impressive recruiting classes in November.

Law inked the No. 2 class in the nation. It includes six highly rated players, including Destiny Williams of Michigan, the eighth-best senior in the country, according to one scouting service.

Meanwhile, McKeown has signed two high school All-Americans, including 6-foot-5 center Dannielle Diamant out of Las Vegas. She's the granddaughter of former UNLV coach and towel-biter Jerry Tarkanian.

Illinois already has some promising young players in Jenna Smith, Lacey Simpson, Macie Blinn and Lydia McCully. Ditto for Northwestern in Amy Jaeschke, Meshia Reed, Jenny Eckhart, Brittany Orban and the Mocchi twins from Buffalo Grove, Maggie and Allison.

Add those impressive high school stars to the mix and both teams, guided by their determined coaches, seem headed down a much more promising road.

"I'm encouraged," Law said. "People are looking at our record this year, but I'm looking at the growth and what we've got to look forward to in the future."

Me too.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com