Are You Ready to Rumble?
The Illini will have some nice freshmen coming in. Brandon Paul, D.J. Richardson, Joseph Bertrand, Stan Simpson, and Tyler Griffey have all had great high school careers. Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson are both guards and also Top 50 recruits, and both are looking to get a lot of playing time.
Brandon Paul averaged 19.3 points per game, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.0 steals a game as a senior at Warren High School, while D.J. Richardson averaged 12 points a game, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.6 steals as a senior at Findlay Prep College.
Returning from last year that are going to lead the team are Juniors Demetri McCamey, Mike Tisdale, and Mike Davis starting. Senior Dominique Keller and Alex Legion also look to get some action action and improve.
The Illini are ranked No. 23 in the AP poll, and ranked No. 25 in the coaches poll. The Big Ten, in my opinion, is gonna be very tough this year. Tougher than last year. One expert I read about said that the Big Ten could be THE best in the country. I think he’s right on!
Some key games in the Big Ten that I look forward to are when Michigan State and ESPN college gameday come to town, and the Big Ten will be in full focus. A couple other games I can’t wait to see are when Illinois goes to Clemson in the ACC/Big Ten challenge. The Big Ten will have a chance to finally beat the ACC this year. Another game I want to see is going back to Penn State following those weird games last year in which we lost 38-33, at home against them, and blowing a late lead last year at Penn State. Another good one I’ll watch closely is playing Purdue, who is ranked No. 7 this year, and look to be very good for the second year in a row.
I predict that the Illini will go 13-4 in conference, 24-6 on the season, excluding the Big Ten tournament, and go to the NCAA tournament, but I can’t go any further than that (that’s not meaning I don’t think they will not go any further).
I can’t wait until it all starts!
*stats provided by Fighting Illini sports
About The Author
