Inside Illinois sports

Bruce Weber formally welcomes another top recruiting class to Illinois today when basketball's early signing period begins.
The class includes Jereme Richmond,  a 6-5 forward from Waukegan; Meyers Leonard, a 6-11, 215-pound center from Robinson, and Crandall Head, a 6-5 guard from Rich South.
All are considered four-star recruits. Richmond is ranked 36th among the nation's seniors by Rivals.com. Leonard rose to 39th and Head at 81st. Richmond, who committed to Illinois while a high school freshman, is projected as a small forward. Head, the younger brother of former Illini star Luther Head, is projected as a shooting guard or combo guard. Head is expected to be sidelined by a major knee injury this season.
In other Illini basketball news:
* Jeff Jordan will miss Illinois' first two games because he played in a non-sanctioned 3-on-3 last summer, the NCAA has ruled. The junior guard will miss Illinois' opener against SIU-Edwardsville Friday and Northern Illinois on Tuesday, and will be eligible to return against Presbyterian on Nov. 21. Jordan had quit the program last spring before returning this fall.
``It was an innocent thing,'' Weber said. ``We feel bad for Jeff.''
* It's looking more and more like freshman guard Joseph Bertrand will redshirt. Bertrand, who underwent knee surgery in September, won't play in Illinois' early games to protect his redshirt status. The knee needs rest, but if Bertrand rests it, he loses valuable practice time in what's shaping up as a very competitive situation for playing time.
* Jordan's absence will give Weber more minutes to spread around as he tries to settle on a starting lineup and a rotation.
Four starting jobs look solid, with freshman guard D.J. Richardson joining the three returning junior starters--Demetri McCamey, Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis. The final-starter position is shaping up as a battle betwen junior Alex Legion, freshman Brandon Paul and senior Dominique Keller.
Legion, who has a big offensive upside but must dig in on defense, would add an explosive dimension. Paul, who played well as a starter in the final exhibition game against Quincy, has a bright future. And Keller is a bit unorthodox, but brings energy and a knack for scoring when he's on his game.
In the end, look for the players to sort things out by delivering when they have opportunities.
``It could be matchups,'' Weber said. ``It could be how they're doing that week. Maybe someone is better coming off the bench. Or do we have all of our better offensive players in at one time? That's our biggest dilemma right now. That's what we have to figure out.''

###

Juice Williams is handling the role of sharing the quarterback job well, coach Ron Zook said Tuesday. Zook wants to see how practice goes before formulating a plan for how Williams and redshirt freshman Jacob Charest will divide the QB job against Michigan on Saturday.
``They'll both play,'' Zook said. ``Juice understands that. Jacob gave us some things [at Purdue] that I'm excited about. The ball came out of his hand quick, and he stuck it in there well.''
Zook said he's helping Williams regain his confidence amid the shocking disappointment of Illinois' 1-6 start.
``No one saw this coming,'' the coach said. ``But the way he's handled, it, I'm not sure there a lot of adults who could have handled it as well. Juice wants to win. I told him, `Everybody's piling on you. You somehow have to separate that stuff.' It's a confidence issue. He has to overcome that, and that's something we as a coaching staff have to help him do. He's done it before, he can do it again.''

Ron Zook will be back as Illinois coach in 2010,
``Let's put one thing to rest,'' athletic director Ron Guenther said Saturday at halftime of the Illinois-Purdue game.  ``There will be some changes, but there won't be a change at the top.''
``We're still going to evaluate [the program at the end of the year],'' Guenther said. ``But I think it was unfair to start jumping [on Zook] at the end of [his] fifth year.''
Guenther broke his silence to confirm a Big Ten Network report saying Zook would be back. Guenther said the subject came up in a conversation Friday with Big Ten Network analyst Glen Mason, who is scheduled to meet with Guenther for a BTN project.
As late as Thursday, Guenther had maintained through Illini spokesman Kent Brown that no decision had been made, and that the program and Zook would be evaluated at the end of the season.
``Ron Guenther is emphatic that Ron Zook will return next year,'' Mason reported. ``Ron Guenther is disappointed like most Illini. He is aware that there are problems, but his belief is that Ron Zook is capable of correcting those problems, and that all he needs is time, and he deserves the time to correct them.''

With Illinois' offense sputtering mightily, Ron Zook said Monday he will go with backup Eddie McGee at quarterback vs Michigan State Saturday (11 a.m., BTN) and sit down four-year starter Juice Williams.
McGee, a fourth-year junior who came to Illinois with Williams, led Illinois to its lone victory this season, a 45-17 rout of Illinois State, when Williams was sidelined by a strained quadriceps muscle after just two plays.
``Believe me, this is not all on Juice,'' Zook said on his radio show on WDWS in Champaign Monday. ``The poor guy has at times played extremely well, but the thing you try to do in athletics is you're trying to get a spark.''
No one needs a spark more than the Illinois offense. The Illini, who were expected to be a scoring machine led by Williams and receiver Arrelious Benn, have managed only three touchdowns in their three losses, and all of them have come in the fourth quarter when the game was no longer in doubt.
``This is not a knee-jerk reaction,'' Zook said. ``This is a lot of thought and what-if, what-if, what-if. But the bottom line is, we're in a part of our schedule now where we've got to go play.''
--Herb Gould

##

Here's how the sportswriting world, and journalism, have changed during my career. Illinois has two marquee players: quarterback Juice Williams and receiver Arrelious ``Rejus'' Benn. Juice got hurt on the first play against Illinois State Saturday, and Benn failed to catch at least one pass for the first time in his college career. This is pretty significant stuff to me, even if Juice's injury clearly was minor.
And yet, they were not made available after the game, so we were unable to talk to them. I don't know whose decision this was, coach Zook or his media relations staff. And while something about it didn't seem right, I was relieved, in a way. Because I had to file a story and notes 37 minutes later, including a five- to 10- minute trip back to the pressbox, and had no time to wait, or waste.
It was yet another reminder of how the business has changed, and how the relationships between media and athletes have changed. There's so much more media now, and we get so much less real reporting done because of adversarial concerns and micro-managing.
In the old days, we just went into the locker room. And far from being worried about saying the wrong thing, the athletes seemed interested in letting people know what was on their minds. I looked forward to talking to Bears such as Dan Hampton and Jimbo Covert after games, and I think they did, too.
And even in college, on my Notre Dame beat, you could go in the locker room, and the players seemed to understand that the spotlight came with responsibility. Even in the dark days, when Gerry Faust's coaching career was fraught with tough losses, the players answered questions. I always figured that helped prepare players for life after college, whether they were going to play pro football or deal with tough situations in other parts of their life. Many Irish players I covered--people like Steve Beuerlein, Allen PInkett, Tim Brown--dealt with some hard questions, and they turned out all right. Maybe talking to us helped. I can't imagine that it hurt.
Of course, the lockerrooms are closed by virtually all the college teams I encounter these days, with a few exceptions. And it makes sportswriting more difficult and less difficult at the same time. It's harder to get questions answered. But there's less work because there are fewer interview opportunities. And if the product suffers, the office tends to want our stories sooner and shorter, anyway.
In a way, I understand why schools and teams fret about access and spin-control. They're faced with more and more media, who are less and less trust-worthy. And they're more interested in TV and radio sound bites, which tend to avoid controversy. I just can't help but think our lives were richer when we trusted each other more, and didn't take ourselves so seriously. It certainly was a lot more fun and interesting.
Hope you're feeling better, Juice. And sorry about your streak ending, Rejus. But as both of you often mention, it's all about the win. Enjoy it.

###

Two players, tailback Mikel Leshoure and defensive back Ashante Williams, have been given one-game suspension for violating team rules, coach Ron Zook said Tuesday. Obviously unhappy with the play of his receivers, notably Jeff Cumberland and A.J. Jenkins, who both made critical mistakes vs. Missouri, Zook also said sophomore wideouts Cordale Scott and Fred Sykes, and junior Chris James will have expanded roles. Cumberland and Jenkins will continue to have opportunities, though.
Zook also said he'll look at shaking up his secondary, with true freshmen Walter Aikens and Terry Hawthorne, a converted receiver, getting chances at safety after Donsay Hardeman's tough game vs. Missouri. In addition, cornerback Dere Hicks could see time at nickelback as the Illini try to bounce back from their troubling 37-9 loss to Mizzou.
``I don't want to push the panic button, but we have to play better,'' Zook said. ``We understand that the Illini Nation's upset, and they should be. I don't blame them. They deserve better.''
##

Three true freshmen head the list of first-year Illini who are most likely to play: Cornerback Terry Hawthorne, tailback Justin Green and defensive end Michael Buchanan. Hawthorne, Ron Zook's top 2009 recruit, has moved over from wide receiver, a position he's likely to return to after this season. Green has impressed coaches with  a burst that makes him a factor even though Illinois has four capable veterans at running back.
Other freshmen probably will take off their red shirts as the season progresses, out of necessity and because they show they can help. But Zook knows players benefit greatly from using a redshirt year to develop.
``Hopefully, that list [of true freshmen who play immediately] is smaller than it's been since we got here,'' the coach said.

###

Terry Hawthorne, the wide receiver from East St. Louis who was the headliner of Ron Zook's most recent recruiting class, is working out at cornerback. It's an interesting move because the Illini are loaded at wideout and thin at cornerback because of backup Miami Thomas' season-ending knee injury last week.
Hawthorne has not been full-go at training camp due to an off-season broken hand. And while he has the speed to excel in pass coverage, his 6-foot, 175-pound frame wouldn't be your first choice to break up a sweep.
But it's an interesting move because it could get him on the field quicker. Hawthorne easily could move back to receiver down the road. And playing some corner might make more attractive to pro teams way down the road.
* In another camp development, senior Daniel Dufrene, the likely starter at tailback, is recovering after an ankle sprain Tuesday. The seriousness of the injury is not known, but Zook and his staff most likely are going to err on the side of caution at this point. Dufrene is the most accomplished of five contenders at running back. Sophomore Jason Ford, who had a big game against Indiana last year, is the most intriguing. The running-back derby won't start playing out in a serious way until the season gets going.
###

Illinois is moving its annual United Center basketball game, which is usually played in early December, to Jan. 2 to avoid a conflict with the football team's home finale vs. Fresno State on Dec. 5, Bruce Weber told the Decatur Herald & Review's Mark Tupper. Gonzaga will be the opponent. Time is yet to be determined, but it will be a day game televised by CBS.

Answer: Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan.
What's the question? You make the call.
a) Who are the top three picks in the Big Ten's pre-season media poll? (The poll only goes three deep in an apparent effort to spare any schools the indignity of being picked low. It's sort of the collegiate version of kindergarten diplomas.)
b) Who are Illinois' first three Big Ten opponents?
c) Both of the above.
The correct answer is c). If the Illini can get off to a quick start, they could be in for a big year. If they struggle early, though, their character will be tested--once again.