Illinitalk

The Illini men's golf team wrapped up a strong season, and looks to stay intact for next season. The Big Ten Champions led the nation with 7 tournament victories as a team and advanced to the NCAA Championship tournament for the second year in a row.

On top of that, the Illini had outstanding individual performances from players all season, and coach Mike Small was honored with the 2009 Big Ten and Midwest Regional Coach of the Year awards.

In other Illini news:

• Bruce Weber did a very nice job with the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley, and signed a 3-year contract extension.
• Regis Benn was tabbed as a pre-season All-American by Athlon Sports, and Athlon's 2009 Big Ten College Football magazine will feature Juice on the cover.
• Illinois freshman outfielder/DH Willie Argo was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American after an outstanding rookie season.
• Based on the first two months of the Cubs' season, I'm really looking forward to college football...

Enjoy the summer!

Labels: Bruce Weber, Illini golf, Regis Benn

The Illini football team won't take the field for a few months, but this summer will give the new coaching staff a chance to put together a game plan to get the Illini to a bowl game this year.

The biggest change on Zook's staff is the loss of Mike Locksley as offensive coordinator. Locksley is preparing for his first season as head coach of the New Mexico Lobos. He is a fantastic coach and recruiter, and he deserves the chance to run his own program, but he will be missed in Champaign.

The new offensive coordinator is Mike Schultz, who comes to the Illini from the TCU Horned Frogs. Schultz has a solid resume, and in 2008 he helped the Frogs set single-season school records for points scored (420) and touchdowns (54). His offense led the nation in time of possession (35:05) and were 13th nationally in team rushing (215.7 yards per game) despite not having a player among the top-100 individually. Let's hope Juice, Benn and company adjust well to Schultz.

Other adjustments on the offensive side of the ball include moving Kurt Beathard from outside receivers to QB coach. And Joe Gilbert joins the Zooker as Offensive Line coach. He was most recently in Houston. Gilbert replaces Eric Wolford, who left the Illini for the same position with Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks.

On the defensive side of the field, Dan Disch and Curt Mallory continue as co-defensive coordinators, but Kieth Gilmore joins the team as Defensive Line coach. Gilmore comes most recently from Cincinnati, where his group ranked second in the Big East. He replaces Tom Sims, who was let go from Zook's staff, but quickly found a home at Kansas.

So what will this mean for the 2009 Fighting Illini? It's way too soon to tell, but Mark Tupper says the defense made progress this spring. Let's hope that continues this summer at training camp...

And although we have a few months to wait, Go Illini!

Labels: Illini football

I spent last weekend in Champaign-Urbana. I had a wonderful weekend! Thanks to Chief and Good Hope Orange for letting your wives come. It was so good to see them. One (of the many) highlights of the weekend was a hotel room with a perfect view: Memorial Stadium and Assembly Hall front and center, with other campus landmarks in the background.

In other news:

• The men's golf team claimed their first Big Ten title in 21 years, and coach Mike Small was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.
• The men's and women's tennis teams are both hosting first-round NCAA tournatment matches.
• Illini shortstop Brandon Wikoff was named to the College Baseball Foundation National All-Star Lineup, and the #25 Illini. The team has been at or near the top of the Big Ten standings lately.
• I learned that lots has changed on campus in recent years, and that finals are next week...

Illini cornerback Vontae Davis is headed to Miami to start his NFL career. Congratulations to Vontae, the #25 pick in the 2009 draft! It's always nice to see a deserving Illini go in the first round. Vontae was rated among the top CBs in this class, and was the second one taken. According to ESPN scouts, he's the best "pure cover corner" in the class.

In addition, offensive tackle Xavier Fulton was selected by Tampa Bay in the 5th round, and defensive lineman Will Davis was taken by Arizona in the 6th round. Four other Illini signed free agent contracts.

All the best to Vontae, Xavier and Will as they head to sunny places this summer...

Labels: NFL draft, Vontae Davis

Ron Zook continued his tradition of holding a spring practice scrimmage in the Chicagoland area this weekend. My schedule only allowed me to catch about the last hour of the team on the field, but it was enough to get me excited about Illini football.

The offense looks great -- not surprising, as that is a general consensus this spring. The receivers are promising and the high expectations for this group are justified. But I also saw a few pretty cuts in the running game that picked up extra yards, and Juice and Eddie McGee both had a few nice runs.

However, the defense has plenty of work to do before the 2009 season begins. The tendancy to miss tackles or allow guys to bounce off tackles continued. There were a few plays where they did a nice job pressuring the QB, but much of the time the ball moved forward easily. Concerns about the defense also seemed to be a general consensus, at least from the fans sitting near me. I heard a couple comments, and when I voiced my own concerns, even Martez Wilson's uncle agreed that these guys have work to do over the next few months.

Co-defensive coordinators Dan Disch and Curt Mallory need to see a leader emerge, and they need to reinforce the fundamentals to get their boys ready. Fortunately, they've got time.

That said, the athletic ability appears to be there on both sides of the ball. The Illini should continue to be recognized for their "explosive" offense, and with continuous improvement on the other side of the ball, the 2009 football season will be a lot of fun.

Go Illini!

Labels: Illini football

Finally, spring is in the air, and here in the Chicagoland area, snow is in the forecast just one more time (we hope). The Illini football team is practicing, the baseball and softball teams are on the field, the tennis teams are on the court (with the men ranked #12) and Illini fans could check out one guy on his way to campus on ESPNU.

Congratulations to the Big Ten Champion men's gymnastics team! The #4 Illini contended the entire night, but it took a team-high score on the pommel horse in the fifth rotation to put the Illini firmly in second place, 2.35 points behind the hosts and leaders, the Michigan Wolverines.

Then, in the 6th and final rotation, the Illini came through with their season-high score on the still rings to take the lead. A scoring error ended up giving the Wolverines a share of the title, as well, but the Illini stole the show by catching up on one of their weaker events. Definitely a championship worth watching!

The Illini didn't exactly impress in the Big Dance. The holes we've seen all season were exposed painfully by the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. And the Illini didn't play their game.

• Rebounding. This has come up several times, but the Illini just couldn't grab the ball. Western Kentucky out-rebounded the Illini 35-28, and had 9 offensive rebounds that were oftne converted to second chance points.
• Over-reliance on the 3. The Illini were 5 for 19 behind the arc. Shots weren't falling, but they didn't get inside where they had the size advantage.
• Finding the open guy. That's been the Illini calling card all season, but Thursday the Illini had assists on only 15 of 31 baskets. That's well below the assist average for the season. Much of this may have been due to Chester Frazier being out -- he was missed. But the Illini didn't have the flow we've seen much of the season.
• Cold shooting. The Illini did have plenty of the looks they wanted, but they were cold. And we've seen that happen to the whole team before, too. Not the best timing for everyone to struggle, though.

However, the Illini made the game interesting at the end, making a run based on suffocating defense that didn't show up until late in the game. There's no question that Chester's suffocating defense was missed, as Western Kentucky had too many open looks and drove inside much too easily. But the Illini didn't give up. Despite their struggles, they played hard.

The Illini play didn't merit moving on in the tournament, but then again, the Hilltoppers had their share of struggles, turnovers and miscues. But at the beginning of the season, we weren't sure if we had a team that would compete in the conference, let alone merit a tournament bid.

This team has been fun to cheer for all season (even if they were hard to watch at times). The seniors set the tone for teamwork and determination. The sophomores improved dramatically from their freshman year to allow the Illini to finish second in the Big Ten regular season. And this team proved that coaching and chemistry can make a team better than individual players.

So although the final game was painfully disappointing, thanks to the 2008-09 Illini team for a much better season than expected. Good luck to the graduating seniors, and to the rest of the team, we know you will work hard this summer. We look forward to next year...

Labels: Illini basketball