advertisement

Constable: March Malaise for Illinois basketball fans

Our neighbor to the north has a No. 1 seed in the NCAA basketball tournament, thanks to the University of Wisconsin and star player Frank Kaminsky from Benet Academy in Lisle. Kaminsky is vying for player of the year honors with former Chicago high school standout Jahlil Okafor of Duke, which is the No. 1 seed in the South region. To our west, Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa are going to the big dance. Our other I-state neighbor, Indiana, placed five schools in the tourney. Our southern neighbor and its undefeated Kentucky Wildcats are the prohibitive favorite to win it all.

The top 68 teams in the country begin March Madness Tuesday with play-in games and, for the second straight year, not a single entry hails from the Land of Lincoln.

Instead, our state turns its lonely eyes to you, National Invitational Tournament. That oft-ignored tournament of consolation and bruised egos requests the company of basketball teams from the University of Illinois and Illinois State University to provide some alternative programming to fill up ESPN stations.

This year's college basketball postseason brings March Malaise to many suburban fans, but it also provides some freedom.

"Sometimes it's easier when Illinois isn't in it. It makes you see more clearly," says Steve Raquel of Naperville. A Champaign native and former Chief Illiniwek at the university where he earned his undergraduate and master's degrees in advertising, the 44-year-old die-hard Illini fan can fill out his NCAA bracket this year with his head instead of his heart. With no Illini, and not even an underdog Southern Illinois, Bradley, DePaul or other state team in the mix, Raquel can just sit back and watch the tourney toy with hearts of fans in other states.

"College basketball is probably my favorite sport. I enjoy watching the games and seeing good basketball," Raquel says, noting that compelling story lines of underdogs and a bit of schadenfreude come into play. "I assume Kansas will lose in the second round, as they always do. At least I hope so."

His college sweetheart and wife, Stephanie, who spent part of her childhood in Mount Prospect, says that in years when her beloved Illini aren't in the mix, she'll "always root for the underdog" in tourney games.

"And I'll root for the Big Ten - unless Michigan is playing," she adds, content that the rival Wolverines didn't even get an invite to the NIT this year.

"When Illinois is not good, it reduces my interest in basketball in general," says Scott Andresen, who grew up in East Dundee and has been an Illini season-ticket holder since he graduated from the school in 1995. "With Illinois not in it, I won't even do a bracket this year."

A sports attorney, Andresen knows the power the NCAA tourney has across the nation. He got his law degree from Valparaiso University, a small Lutheran liberal arts college in northern Indiana. Valpo became a fan favorite in the NCAA tournament in 1998 when Bryce Drew sank a long shot at the buzzer to beat Ole Miss and the team made it all the way to the Sweet 16. During his internship with the NFL's Oakland Raiders, Andresen says people all commented on the fact that Valpo was his law school.

"The only reason they even heard of Valpo is because Bryce Drew hit that shot," he says.

Rooting for his law school's undergraduate basketball program isn't the same as rooting for his Illini.

"It does nothing for me. I bleed orange and blue. I don't bleed yellow and brown," says Andresen, who clearly doesn't care enough to know that the Valparaiso Crusaders' official colors are brown and gold.

Suburban fans can pin their hopes on Kaminsky and the Badgers.

"I never realized until he was a junior that he played at the local Catholic school around the corner from me," Steve Raquel says. "I will definitely be cheering on Wisconsin. But I'll be cheering them on because they are a fantastic team to watch."

One drawback of having a team in the tourney is that games can interfere with other pursuits. Because he was at the game when Illinois opened its 1993 NCAA tourney play, Raquel had to postpone his big plans.

"We were supposed to get engaged that night," recalls Stephanie Raquel. Instead, her boyfriend performed as Chief Illiniwek and Illinois pulled off a 75-72 victory over Long Beach State. He made up for it on April 9, when he used some of his Chief connections to orchestrate a romantic proposal by spotlight on the stage at Assembly Hall.

So feel free to watch the games for fun, use the time to fix up the yard or propose to your girlfriend. Fans of Northwestern, which hosted the first NCAA basketball tournament but has never been good enough to play in it, know how to make do. If nothing else, the NCAA tournament means spring is right around the corner with another sport in which one of our local teams has a thin postseason record and a long streak without a championship.

"Heck," Andresen says, "the Cubs might be worth watching this year."

How to win your NCAA Tournament pool

Former Benet Academy star basketball player Frank Kaminsky has plenty to celebrate after leading his Wisconsin Badgers to the Big 10 championship and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Meanwhile, back in Illinois, our state didn't send a single team to the March Madness tourney. Associated Press
Legendary coach Ray Meyer, right, and star player Mark Aguirre led a couple of great DePaul teams into the NCAA tournament more than three decades ago. In the last decade, DePaul hasn't been good enough to play in the tourney. Associated Press
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.