Illinitalk

I had a great post all ready to go and when I tried to publish it, Blogger was having problems and I lost it with no hope of recovery. Therefore, here is the 30 second version without a lot of the links I had originally planned. Sometimes technology just plain stinks.

--Deron Williams and Luther Head went to the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets, respectively. I believe these are both great fits for each of them. Deron gets to play for Jerry Sloan, one of the NBA's best coaches, in a pick and roll system that should fit his game nicely. Utah also has some young talent that he can grow with. Luther gets to play with Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, which should give him a lot of open 3 pt. looks. He also brings tough defense to that team. It was great to see Deron on stage at the draft as the 3rd overall pick and first point guard drafted. It was even better to see Luther's reaction at home with his family when he learned he was the 24th pick. Good luck to both of them.

--Roger Powell is playing for the Dallas Mavericks on their summer league team and is hoping to make the team as a free agent. Not sure if Jack Ingram has caught on with anybody yet but we hope that they both get an opportunity to stick with an NBA team.

--Illinois Quarterback Brad Bower is transferring to Ohio University. Not sure exactly why he decided to leave the University but I am guessing he didn't feel that the new system being installed by Coach Zook was a good fit for him.

--Illinois is losing two great coaches as Richard "Itch" Jones is retiring as the baseball coach and men's tennis coach, Craig Tiley, is leaving to become Director of Player Development for Tennis Australia. Both had very successful programs and Tiley's men's tennis team won the National Championship in 2003. Illinitalk wishes them both well in their new endeavors and also wishes good luck to their replacements, Dan Hartleb and Brad Dancer, who have big shoes to fill.

--Finally, I don't know if anyone else has the same impression, but it seems to me that their is a much greater sense of anticipation for the upcoming football season than we have seen in a long time. Coach Zook seems to really have people getting excited about the future of the program. Check out the Fighting Illini homepage here and see the countdown to the season opener in the corner. I love it. Also, while you are there, be sure to check out the new 2004-05 Fighting Illini Basketball DVD - 'A Season to Remember,' that is available in the online store. We don't typically promote products on Illinitalk but as we did for the Basketball Centennial DVD, we will make an exception for this one. If you are going through basketball withdrawal, this should get you through until the new season begins.

Until later, GO ILLINI!!!