NIT could be springboard to success for Illini, NU

There's just one way for Bruce Weber to spin Illinois' NIT appearance into a positive for his players:

Pretend it's the start to the new season rather than a disappointing coda to the current one.

The Illini already have a Madison Square Garden appearance on their 2010-11 schedule - they'll join Texas, Pitt and Maryland in Manhattan for the Coaches vs. Cancer finals on Nov. 18-19 - but Weber wants his team to get two more games there on March 30 and April 1.

All Illinois must do is win three NIT games, starting with Wednesday's trip to postseason newbie Stony Brook (8 p.m., ESPNU).

"We have an opportunity to play for a championship, to get five extra games, to continue what we did in the Big Ten tournament," Weber said. "And then hopefully lead up to even greater success next season.

"You basically have the majority of your guys back that play a lot of minutes, so this is almost like a preseason tournament for next season."

Lightly used forwards Dominique Keller and Richard Semrau are Illinois' only departing scholarship players. McDonald's All-American Jereme Richmond, 7-footer Meyers Leonard and shooting guard Crandall Head join the squad in June.

"It's not obviously what we wanted, but it is there," Weber said. "It's an opportunity that we need to grab on to, to help us prepare to get better for the future."

Unfortunately for the Illini (19-14), who are the top seed in their eight-team bracket, they're walking into a first-round matchup against a team that's all about the now.

Stony Brook (22-9), which made the jump from Div. III a decade ago, has never played in a Div. I postseason tournament. The Seawolves had a visit from Villanova in Nov. 2007, but that pales in comparison to Illinois' arrival at the refurbished 5,000-seat Stony Brook Arena.

"Our campus is buzzing right now," said Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell. "For us, this is just a huge opportunity - nothing our community has ever felt. The students are lined up outside my office now getting their student lottery ticket.

"It's an ESPN game and we haven't been on ESPN, so it's a lot of firsts for our school."

Two hours before Stony Brook makes its inaugural appearance on the self-styled Worldwide Leader in Sports, Northwestern takes the ESPNU stage at Rhode Island.

The Wildcats, who are the seventh seed in Virginia Tech's eight-team bracket, are similar to the Illini in their desire to make the NIT experience something of a 2010-11 preamble.

"Especially for this team, this year, we have only one senior, Jeremy (Nash)," said NU coach Bill Carmody. "Then you have a lot of freshmen, sophomores, a few juniors. So it's a young team and the more games you can play, the better."