Dec. 7, 2005

It wasn't the season we all expected, but now that it is over we can certainly point to some bright spots and signs of good things to come for the future. I spent weeks talking about how young this team was on the field this season and while next year's team will still be young a lot of those guys will have had a year of experience in the Big Ten.

This is Zook's time to shine. The next two months are going to be a time where he and his staff will go out and sell recruits on the future of Illinois football. They will convince them to be the ones who help turn this program around. They will persuade these recruits to be `builders' instead of `maintainers.'

Zook and his staff barely need any time to recharge, and, as Zook told the media recently, the next two months are going to perhaps the most important time period in their tenure at Illinois.

This is Zook's time to shine. The next two months are going to be a time where he and his staff will go out and sell recruits on the future of Illinois football. They will convince them to be the ones who help turn this program around. They will persuade these recruits to be `builders' instead of `maintainers.' They will sell potential early playing time, the renovations, themselves and any other possible thing about the Illinois football program and the University of Illinois campus that is going to bring these recruits to Champaign.

Zook has said he "will never go through this ever again," and I believe him. It won't turn around with one recruiting class, but I fully believe in the next eight to 10 weeks, Coach Zook and his staff will put together a class that will be the beginning of the resurgence of Illinois football.

This period will be a long stretch for this coaching staff, but just spending a few minutes in the office this past week, I can tell you they are ready. The letters were being mailed, the phones were ringing off the hook and the energy was incredible.

February 1, 2006. Mark it down on your calendars. Start planning your trip to Champaign for the festivities. No matter which way you look at it, it will be a landmark day in the history of the Illinois football program.

Into the Future

As difficult as the last three seasons have been, it's hard for me not to get excited about the future of the Illinois football program. With Zook and his staff building his second recruiting class, with the Illinois `Renaissance' renovations in place and with the younger guys in the program who showed signs in the latter half of the season, there is a lot to look forward to.

Let's take a look right now at some of the younger guys who played this year...

Brit Miller

One of the bigger surprises of the season and a huge bright spot in the second half of the year. Playing as a true freshman on a defense that was as young as any in the country, Miller was all over the field. In only a few games of action, he showed an innate ability and knack for being around the football and he played with an energy and passion that was infectious. He might not be the fastest guy, he might not be the strongest guy and he might not be the biggest linebacker in the Big Ten, but I would be shocked if Miller didn't turn into a very solid Big Ten linebacker. With an entire off-season in the weight room with Coach Hernandez and a better understanding of the scheme, the sky's the limit for Miller.

Kyle Hudson

Hudson was the most consistent receiver for the Illini this past year and emerged as someone who is a legitimate deep threat. Other than a rare drop against Northwestern, Hudson seemed to always catch the ball when it hit his hands and at times showed a Brandon Lloyd-like ability to get and snatch it in the air. Even with the potential upgrade in athleticism at the skill positions that we all expect, it's hard to imagine a time in the next three years where Hudson isn't in the mix at the receiver position.

Derrick McPhearson

Due to the injury that kept him out of Camp Rantoul and the first two games of the season, I don't think we even caught a glimpse of the things that DMac will do for this football program in the future. He spent his entire first season with the Orange and Blue trying to catch up and get his bearings in the college game. With eight games under his belt, an entire off-season to get stronger, and months to get his leg back to where it was before the injury, I expect big things out of McPhearson in 2006.

Alan Ball

I know he isn't a young guy, but I will throw him in there because he deserves a lot of credit from bouncing back from a bad start to this past season. Illinois fans who watched this team carefully will tell you that Ball vastly improved throughout the season and rarely made the same mistakes in the last four to five games that he did early in the 2005 campaign. If he can continue to build off that momentum and improve, he could be a guy that Illinois fans could feel good about heading into the 2006 campaign.

Rashard Mendenhall

In his time carrying the football, he did show signs of the quickness and explosion that we heard so much about before he arrived in Champaign. I would expect Mendenhall to be a much bigger part of the offense next year.

Six Down--Many More to Go

We are now eight games into the 2005-06 Illinois basketball season and so far, the Illini have taken care of business. There have been stretches where the team has struggled and games where it hasn't been pretty, but the bottom line is, they came away with wins in all eight contests.

I haven't been surprised by anything that has happened so far and I expect this team to continue to struggle as they go through things for the first time. We saw those struggles in the game against UTPA when they struggled to get the ball inside the zone and launched a ton of three-point shots; we saw the offense become completely stagnant in the final six minutes of the North Carolina game; we saw an inability to score in the first 10 minutes of the United Center game; and there are going to be more situations as the games go on where this young team will struggle.

This should all be expected, and it is going to take time for this team to gel and for the guys to figure out their roles. I said it in the pre-season and I will say it again: this isn't the 2004-05 squad who could have anything thrown at them and they knew how to react.

This is a squad that is very young in terms of their game experience and one that doesn't have the swagger and savvy that last year's team did. I hope the Illinois fans take a step back and realize that it won't be time to panic when this group goes through a tough stretch or loses a game in the non-conference season that it shouldn't have.

Carolina on My Mind

What a great win for the Illini last Tuesday! While Carolina isn't the Carolina of last year or even a vintage Carolina team, any team you go down to Chapel Hill and come away from the Dean Dome---in front of 21,000 plus fans---with a win, you have to be thrilled.

This was the first true road game of the year, for the younger guys and while it wasn't pretty at times, they got the job done. When the offense stalled for the final six minutes, the defense was able to come up with some huge stops and grab some steals. The Illini have now been in two close games down the stretch (Carolina and Wichita State) and were able to gut out wins in both of them. That speaks volumes of Coach Weber and his staff and these players' knack to find ways to win games.

The Carolina freshmen are good---very good---and there is no question before the year is over that they will win a lot of games. To go in there and take care of business was a great sign for the future of this Illinois team.

There were so many plays, big moments and performances in the Carolina game, I though it was important to comment on them.

Brian Randle

To me the MVP of the game. His two three-pointers to start the second half set the tone for the Illini and his defense (how about that `volleyball spike' block in the first half) and hustle (rebound off the Jamar Smith free throw miss) were keys to the Illini holding on.

Calvin Brock

He played two minutes in the game, but his hustle play (which went virtually unnoticed by the announcers and some fans) was key. With the Illini up, 56-48, Tyler Hansborough missed a free throw, and with the ball going out of bounds off a teammate's hands, Brock flew in to throw it off a Tarheel. The Illini then went on an 8-2 run to grab their largest lead at 64-50. It's little things like Brock's hustle play that keep momentum going and even though he only played two minutes in the game, he made a big contribution.

Key Play

With the Illini seemingly in control, up 51-42 with just under 13 minutes to play, the Tarheels made a 6-0 run to cut the lead to three. With the crowd back in the game, I thought Bruce Weber would call a time-out to try and stem the tide. Instead he let his team play it out and Jamar Smith hit a huge three from the left corner to give the Illini some breathing room. That enormous three by Smith started a 10-0 run for the Illini. It was great to see Carolina go into Kentucky and beat the Wildcats this past weekend. While there were many people who glanced over the Illinois win in Carolina, that game showed that Carolina can be a very dangerous team and that Illinois' win over them was a very impressive one.

Xavier Game

I love the United Center game. After a rough start, the Illini showed a lot of guts and poise to come away with the 65-62 victory. While Xavier doesn't have the hype that a lot of other teams have, I came away very impressed with their squad. Thornton is a load down low, Doellman can shoot very well from the outside for a big man, and Cage is a very good heady player who any team would want. The Musketeers also played very hard on the defensive end, so when you think about it, you have to be real happy the Illini escaped with a win.

Marcus Arnold

He was huge down the stretch, as he scored all of his seven points in the last few minutes. While Arnold is limited in the things he can do, he is very tough to stop down low with his back to the basket (as all Illini fans learned a few years back when he torched them when he was still with Illinois State) and they need to get him the ball in that situation more often.

James Augustine

How he played in that second half is how he needs to play in every game. He was awesome. If he hit his free throws (which he normally does), he scores 30.

Dee Brown

Even though he was still unable to find his shooting touch, his treys in the second half were huge and his season-high seven assists were good signs for the future.

Early Overview

Now that we are eight games into the season, here are some early thoughts on this year's squad...

Rich McBride

I absolutely loved what I saw from him in the first six games, where he looked completely different from the McBride we saw for the better part of the last two seasons. But he has struggled mightily in the last two against Xavier and Arkansas Little-Rock. To me, McBride needs to keep his head up and keep shooting the ball! I don't think he can take enough shots in each game, because he needs to be a guy that can be that third scoring threat (behind Dee and James).

Jamar Smith

After eight games, there is no doubt in my mind that Jamar Smith is going to be a star at Illinois before all is said and done. What that might be one or two years away, there is no question that Jamar is an important cog for this team this year. He has one of the sweetest jump shots I have seen since I started watching the Illini, and one of the quickest releases I have ever seen. His shooting (and game) against Arkansas Little-Rock was incredible. Maybe the most impressive thing so far with Jamar is his ability to drive to the basket. He had two drives to the hoop against Texas Southern that were impressive, and his drive and left-handed bank shot against Arkansas Little-Rock showed he has the ability to get into the lane and finish. When he gains the strength and confidence to do that more often, he is going to be extremely difficult to stop.

James Augustine

The numbers are there. He is nearly averaging a double-double (15.6 points and 8.9 rebounds) and he is shooting 68 percent from the field. Maybe I am crazy, but I think he can do more. I really think that if James can be more assertive on the offensive end, he can be the go-to-guy when the Illini need a basket late in the game. He has the athletic ability, the size and the quickness to dominate games in the paint. He only took six shots in the North Carolina game and there is no way that is enough for a guy that needs to score for this team to be successful.

Chester Frazier

15 assists and 4 turnovers--virtually, a 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Wow, those numbers are impressive for a true freshman playing for the first time in a big-time conference. With that said, you can tell that the game is moving 1,000 miles an hour for Frazier when he is out there and that it is going to take time for the game to `slow down.' Even though his offensive game will take time to develop (remember Deron Williams' offensive game took time as well), Frazier's can have a huge impact at the defensive end of the floor. He is lightning-quick on defense, scrappy and he always seems to disrupt the other team's offense.

Dee Brown

The microscope is on Dee this year. The fans want to see greatness in every game; the media expects to see an All-American performance every night; and there is no doubt there are scouts watching his every move. It reminds me a lot of Frank Williams' final year in an Illini uniform---the expectations were so big, no matter what he did could he ever live up to them?

What I do know is that Dee is pressing. Much like his friend, Deron Williams last year (people forget how much Deron struggled early last year), I think Dee is trying to do too much knowing this is his last season at Illinois and that a lot of the burden of this team's success falls on him. That's not unexpected, and if you look back at past Bleeding columns, I expected Dee to struggle early on as he got used to the new teammates and defenses keying on him.

Against Carolina, Dee fell back into the habit of fading every which way on his jump shot. We have seen this in the past; once he gets that corrected and squares up, there is no doubt that shot will start to fall.

Senior Dee Brown

Dee is going to be fine. Against Arkansas-Little Rock, he played his best game of the season by far. While the shooting numbers might not back that, he did great things with the ball and dished out a season-high 10 assists. He is going to be this team's best player and as he continues to get more comfortable and settles in, we will see the Dee Brown that have we seen over the past three years.

What I have seen out of Dee so far this season is great leadership. Watch closely--he is constantly talking to the freshman and making sure that they know what they did and what they did right. Monday night when Jamar Smith was going to the free throw line with a one-and-one with under 20 seconds left, there was Dee, telling him he was going to knock them down. I absolutely love the leadership he has displayed so far this season and the Illini will need more of that as they enter the Big Ten season.

While the Illini continue to win, the one major problem (and I am not breaking any new ground here) is the free throw shooting. They are shooting 59 percent from the line, and if that doesn't get better soon, they are going to lose some games due to missed free throws.

But even with that said, they are eight games in and 8-0! It doesn't get any better than that. With Georgetown coming into the Assembly Hall Thursday and Oregon in a quick turn-around game on Saturday, the Illini have two tough contests coming up before getting an eight-day break for finals.

Still Bleeding Orange and Blue--Jared Gelfond