April 14, 2005

By Ben Taylor, Athletic Public Relations

He may not be able to get restaurants to pronounce his name correctly, but if he continues on his current hitting tear, J.R. Kyes could go down in Illinois history as having one of the best seasons at the plate.

Kyes - whose last name sounds like "eyes," whose initials stand for Justin Robert, and who claims he isn't called J.R. in reference to the main character in the1980s hit television show "Dallas" - currently holds a .402 average after 35 hits in 87 at-bats nearly halfway through the season. That's already more than twice the number of at-bats and nearly four times as many hits as he got in 2004, when he admits he struggled at the plate and with the results the team was getting in a 22-33 season.

"It was really tough, especially with the season we had," Kyes said. "We're losing and I'm sitting there thinking `I think I can help us. I want to help us.' But I got in there and I pressed, I didn't do my job, and I realized I deserved to be on the bench because I wasn't doing my job when I did get out there."

But 2005 has been a different story altogether for the Springfield, Ill., native. Kyes got the start at second base in the last game of the spring trip against Cornell, and has stayed there ever since. He had previously started five games in right field before getting three games in the designated hitter slot on the spring trip.

But the shift back to his natural position, plus a conversation with Illinois coach Itch Jones, triggered Kyes' offensive explosion. Since that second game against the Big Red, Kyes has hit .424, an outstanding stretch for someone who admits he didn't expect to be in the everyday lineup this season.

"(The coaches) told me to be ready to do whatever - to play outfield or infield - so in the summer I played a lot of infield, played a lot of outfield, tried to make myself as marketable as I could," Kyes said. "I came in thinking I'd be a utility guy who would come in and DH, pinch hit, whatever they wanted me to do. (Last year's starting second baseman Ryan) Hastings got hurt while I was playing some outfield, so I moved to the infield and I've been hitting the ball, so I've stayed in the lineup."

Jones credits Kyes for making the necessary adjustments when he realized the position was up for grabs.

"What happened early in the year is he'd get in the lineup and wouldn't play very well and he'd be back out," Jones said. "We had a talk one day, and I said `You know, J.R., that position is there for someone to take over. After a while I'm just going to make a decision and put someone there, and whoever does the job is going to keep it.' And suddenly everything just lit up for him and he's gone on and played very well."

Even with last year's struggles, Kyes realizes that the rough season may have helped him prepare for his career after baseball. As the team muddled through the Big Ten season and Kyes pressed and strained in his limited playing time, the transfer from John A. Logan College put more effort into his class work.

"It helped me focus on my schoolwork because I realized that maybe baseball wasn't it for me, maybe I need to crack down on my schoolwork and start making some contacts trying to find a good job for the future," Kyes said. "If it'd just been another season like last year, I'm sure I would've just been trying to find a job, trying to get the season over with. But now that we're doing well - and that's what I care about, that we're doing well - I wouldn't mind just being on the team and having my role if we won every day."

Kyes has another area to focus his attention, his girlfriend Jackelyn Diekemper, an Illini softball player. While the couple faces more strain as a result of both of them being Division-I athletes -and spring sport athletes whose teams travel each weekend for a month at the beginning of each season - Kyes said he enjoys the fact that they're both collegiate athletes at the highest level.

"We knew getting into it that we wouldn't see each other much," Kyes said. "We have Monday through Wednesday to see each other now, but we both play Tuesday and Wednesday and we have classes.

"When we both have off days, or in the winter we get together and we go hit. It's kind of clichéd, but it's a lot of fun. Date nights don't really happen anymore. It's pretty much somebody will make dinner, we'll do homework and it's `See ya later, see ya tomorrow.' "

The pair is more like a couple in a long-distance relationship in that they try to spend as much time together as their schedules allow.

"You try to spend as much time together as you can," Kyes said, "whether it's in the cages or whether it's studying, hanging out or going to dinner."

As Kyes balances his relationship and classes with a career season, he looks ahead to the future, which includes a summer internship in the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Marketing and Promotions department.

Surely they'll be able to pronounce his name.