College basketball preview: Illini young & talented
At any school that aspires to be a basketball power, it’s much easier to bid farewell to a group of players if they created enough memorable moments to fill multiple pages in future media guides.
For Illinois, the memories were lukewarm. Departing seniors Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale and Bill Cole recorded the school’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2006 by beating UNLV in the first round.
But they didn’t seriously contend for a Big Ten title or have much hope of beating Kansas in the second round.
And the solitary season turned in by highly regarded recruit Jereme Richmond? Let’s just say it wasn’t the one-and-done, step toward NBA stardom performance that is common at places such as Kentucky and Texas.
The bottom line is, most of last year’s 20-14 team is gone. The Illini must rebuild, and coach Bruce Weber can only hope the long-term results of this project turn out better than the renovation left behind.
“When you have unknowns, you can have fear or you can have excitement,” Weber said. “I think we have depth, we have versatility, we have athleticism.
“But we’ve got to have some guys step up and do it on a consistent basis. If we do that, I think we can be a surprise team. We can be an X-factor.
“Then if it really goes well and falls in place, a year from now I think you have a chance to be really, really good.”
The project managers are a couple of junior guards — Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson. Both have had inconsistency issues. Paul’s game can change from minute to minute, while Richardson was Big Ten freshman of the year, then struggled as a sophomore.
“It’s weird being an upperclassman,” said Paul, a standout at Warren High School. “It seems just like yesterday I was a freshman. It just flies by and one thing I want to tell the guys coming in, it does go by fast so just take advantage of every moment.”
There are other returning veterans who played very little last season. Weber still has high hopes for 7-1 sophomore Meyers Leonard, while 6-8 junior Tyler Griffey and 6-5 sophomore Joe Bertrand were contributors during the team’s four-game tour of Italy in August.
The foundation of this rebuilding effort is the freshman class, which was ranked No. 11 in the country by ESPN.
The group is headlined by four lower-end top 100 players, all from Chicago — 6-11 Nnanna Egwu from St. Ignatius, 6-1 Tracy Abrams from Mt. Carmel, 6-8 Mike Shaw from DeLaSalle, and 6-6 Myke Henry from Orr.
Egwu is generally regarded as the best of the bunch, but all four figure to see the court early and often. Weber also praised Abrams, who is expected to someday start at point guard.
“I think Nnanna’s been the most consistent, mainly because he’s just a consistent person,” Weber said. “His work ethic and everything, he puts in as much time as anybody.
“Then the other guys, Mike Shaw gives you a lot of intangibles. He plays hard, he takes charges. Tracy’s a bulldog. Myke Henry’s been a surprise. He just kind of plays. He’s very casual. (But) he can really score and you can’t teach that.”
Illinois is hoping to get some steady play from point guard Sam Maniscalco, a grad student who transferred from Bradley. He averaged 13.4 points and 3.4 assists as a junior, then injured his ankle six games into last season.
Maniscalco got his degree at Bradley and took advantage of the same immediate-eligibility transfer rule utilized by Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions, but for me, the biggest one is who makes the buckets at the end of the game,” Weber said.
“If we’re on the road and you need to make a couple key baskets, who’s going to do that? At Madison, at Ohio State — wherever you’re at, and that’s the key to have a really successful season.”
Paul and Richardson will have to step up in a big way to lead the Illini back to the NCAA Tournament.
More likely, the task this season will be to give the freshmen the right tools to build something a little taller and sturdier than what the departed seniors constructed.
Illinois at a glance
Last season: 20-14 (9-9 Big Ten, NCAA second round)
Head coach: Bruce Weber (ninth season).
Key players lost: Demetri McCamey (14.6 ppg), Mike Davis (12.5 ppg), Mike Tisdale, Jereme Richmond, Bill Cole.
Key players returning: 6-4 junior Brandon Paul (9.0 ppg), 6-3 junior D.J. Richardson (8.4 ppg).
Newcomers of note: 6-0 senior Sam Maniscalco (transfer from Bradley); 6-11 freshman Nnanna Egwu, 6-1 freshman Tracy Abrams, 6-8 freshman Mike Shaw, 6-6 freshman Myke Henry.
It will be good news if: Paul emerges as a consistent scorer and crunchtime converter.
Watch out if: The freshmen cant adjust to Big Ten competition quickly.
Outlook: It would be a nice accomplishment for the Illini to reach the NCAA Tournament, but the main objective for this season is to serve as a stepping stone to a better future.