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Remember Darrell Imhoff?
Sure you do.
He was the star of the California team that upset Jerry West and favored West Virginia to win the NCAA basketball championship in 1959.
It proves you don't need a "franchise" player to reach the Final Four.
Apparently Illinois coach Bruce Weber subscribes to that philosophy. He can't talk about it--coaches can discuss unsigned players--but it appears Weber is betting that he can groom a stable of quarter horses into thoroughbreds that eventually will contend for the Kentucky Derby of college basketball--the Big 10 championship and the Final Four.
Van Coleman thinks so, too.
Weber, a better coach, teacher and evaluator than he is a recruiter, apparently has decided not to waste too much time in wooing five-star players who seem to favor Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky and Indiana. Instead, he seems content to recruit second-tier prospects whom he believes he can develop into Big 10 players.
He might pull it off, as he did at Southern Illinois and as he did when he turned Deron Williams, Dee Brown and Luther Head into an NCAA runnerup.
Time will tell. But there are five good reasons for Illinois fans to be optimistic in the wake of Weber's recent recruiting successes. Juniors J.D. Richardson of Peoria Central, Joe Bertrand of Sterling and Brandon Paul of Warren, 6-9 senior Stan Simpson of Simeon and 6-6 sophomore Jereme Richmond of Waukegan indicate Weber is retooling his program.
"It was important for them to have a weekend like this," said Coleman, who runs Hoopmasters.com and has been evaluating high school players for nearly 30 years. "This is a first step, not the end all, but a first step. Getting Simpson is even more important because he opens the door a little wider for the Illini in the Chicago area.
"Some people thought Simpson would go to Arkansas. The fact he didn't means the door is opening a little widere. On top of the Richardson, Bertrand and Paul commitments and the earlier commitment of Richmond, maybe the Illini are getting back on track in the state and in Chicago. They aren't there yet. But this is a good first step."
Coleman said Weber is trying to recruit players who fit the mold of his last few teams, kids who are on the cusp of being in the top 25-50 like Richardson. Bertrand has that potential, Coleman said. So does Paul. So does Simpson. So does Richmond.
"They are players who should get better if they have any kind of work ethic," Coleman said. "Weber isn't going after a top 5-10 kid but a top 50 kid who will get better. He is betting that he can continue to bring kids along. Look at the improvement of Brown, Williams and Head. Weber is betting that he can do it again."
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For three years we have witnessed the Illini basketball recruiting saga, presented variously as crime story, farce or tragedy and with Weber presented as victim, rube or moral stalwart. Three years of message board meltdowns, online journalism blowups and subscription service guru prophecy.
And now that Illinois' recruiting fortunes are on the upswing the storylines continue: ranging from Weber was right all along to Weber has a new plan/strategy that might just work to the patient is showing a will to live.
Lost in the storylines is one important fact: Ilinois' new-found recruiting success strongly resembles the historical pattern of Illinois recruiting over the past ~30 years (since Lou Henson arrived).
D.J. Richardson and Joseph Bertrand (both 2009) are both downstate kids and their recruitment shouldn't be considered such a suprise. Downstate talent has (arguably) been Illinois' bread and butter for thirty years, centered mainly on Peoria but including many other communities as well. Downstate players identify more strongly with U of I than suburban or Chicago players do and Illinois has had much higher recruiting success with them. The downstate talent pool is on the upswing right now (beginning in 2007 and peaking in 2009) and it's no coincidence that Illinois' recruiting is on the upswing as well. Weber landing Cole and Tisdale (2007) and Bertrand and Richardson (2009) isn't any different than the success that Henson, Kruger and Self all had downstate.
Stan Simpson (2008) comes from Chicago Simeon, a school Illinois has a recruiting relationship with dating back to the early eighties. It began under then Simeon coach Bob Hambric and continues today with current Simeon coach Robert Smith. Among others, former Illini standouts Nick Anderson and Deon Thomas and current Illini player Calvin Brock all came from Simeon. At the risk of overstating things, Simeon players seem to identify with Illinois in a way similar to downstate kids. Weber landing Simpson is maintaining a relationship begun under Henson.
Brandon Paul (2009) of Warren(Gurnee) is something of a mystery, having established his reputation in summer club ball rather with his high school team. But one is encouraged to hear him say that he doesn't understand why more kids from Illinois don't want to play at U of I. This is just the sort of player Weber needs to find, someone from the suburbs who identifies with Illinois and wants to play there. Hopefully it's the start of a trend.
Jereme Richmond (2010) may be the one recruit Illinois landed as a result of its 2005 season. Projected to a top 10 player nationally, he potentially represents the marquee player Illinois missed on these last several years (Scheyer, Collins, Gordon, Rose, Shumpert,...). Given that he verballed to Illinois before his freshman high school season had even begun, one gets the impression that he chose Illinois rather than waiting for Illinois to recruit him. Once again, a player who identifies with Illinois and wants to play there.
So Weber has landed three players (Bertrand, Richardson and Simpson) from areas historically friendly to Illinois basketball (downstate and Simeon) and two players from the suburbs who identify with U of I and want to play there. Hooray for Weber and hooray for Illinois.
But let's drop the talk of a new improved master plan. Please?
Is Joe Bertrand any relation to another Bertrand that I believed played at DePaul many years ago? I believe myself and Taylor Bell would be the only writer that would remember this..
You mean Darrell Imhoff, the Philadelphia 76er?
If he was good enough for the NBA maybe he should be considered a franchise player.