Illinois Legacy

[vikingfan1]

I am in my 8th season with Illinois and have won the championship the past 7 years. This is actually the first year I will probably play all the games because I love my team and I am highly motivated to play them right now. I am 19-2 losing to #1 UCLA @ home and losing on the road to GW. I am ranked 2nd in the nation behind UCLA. 6-0 in conference play with a BIG win over Wisconsin & Indiana. Wisconsin is ranked #11 and Indy was ranked #4. I beat Indy 90-45, usually I do not have blowouts unless they are a crap team, heck Penn St. stayed with me throughout the entire game on my home floor, as I won by 8, but this was just total domination by Illinois, I could do no wrong really, and my subs play great. I have the substitions on automatic because I like getting everyone in the game that way it keeps them happy so they don't leave. In recruiting, I only have 2 scholarships to give away and looks like im going to grab the #1 overall recruit, who is a PG. The other scholarship im looking for a PF or C, im pretty stacked as far as guard play as long as my starting SF does not leave. I will keep you posted as often as possible, I have Minnesota next who is 12-4 but is not currently ranked. Illinois, Indy, Wisconsin, & Ohio St. are the teams ranked in my conference, but Mich St has a good record along with Minnesota & Iowa. Should be a tough road if I want to win the conference, I am playing it on All-Conference but plan to bump it up here soon.

[vikingfan1]

I am now 20-2 with a big win over Minnesota, who is now 12-6. I came right out of the gates and was up 15 nearly in the first 3 min of the ball game. I just kept penetrating the zone and dishing off and getting to the freethrow line, they couldn't do anything about it. With 6 min left in the 1st half (I play 15min halves) Minnesota already had 11 team fouls. My subs got lots of playing time in the 1st half and especially the 2nd. I think the final score was 98-71. 56-35 at the half.

[vikingfan1]

An update on my Legacy, I am now 33-2 and in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tourney where I face #9 seed Kentucky. If I beat them, I face the Cinderella of the tourney so far in UW-Green Bay who is the 13th seed and upset #4 Louisville and #5 Indiana in the first two rounds of the tourney. I beat Santa Clara out of the WCC by over 25pts, but they hung around through most of the 1st half, but started to pull away. I was up 44-28 at half and just exploded from there. I will probably play Kentucky tonight and let you know how I did, they aren't a bad team, 22-11 is Kentucky's record.

[vikingfan1]

35-2 now after defeats over Kentucky & UW-Green Bay. Xavier is my next opponent.

[vikingfan1]

Well, I won the National Championship, beating Xavier in the Elite 8, and then destroying #1 seed Dayton. In the National Championship game, I played Duke, it was a hard fought, low scoring game but I came away with the victory, finished the season 38-2. In my 9th year, I picked up 2 very good guards, the #1 overall recruit, he is my starting PG and is rated 84, averaging 19ppg through 3 games. My other guard is a shooter, international player. I have a very small lineup though, and overall do not have a big team. I think my biggest guy is my C at 6"10, but PF is 6'8 thats usually a Small Forward, but because of his outstanding rating, he can play the 4 position and has in the past. I have beaten Navy, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and South Carolina so far in the Preseason NIT, I face UNC Ashville for the Championship.

[Nicholls State]

Maybe you should step up the difficulty level? Or is it really that fun to win the NC 8 out of 8 years?

[vikingfan1]

Maybe you should step up the difficulty level? Or is it really that fun to win the NC 8 out of 8 years?

Actually, I have only played all the tourney games once, and that was my last year, I will bump it up soon, sometimes im really really good and I win by a lot, other times it seems like it is a close game, so we'll see. Before my last season, I usually simulated most of it, besides maybe playing 10-15 games. I played at least 30 out of my 40 last season, including the NCAA run. But ya, I'll take 8 out 8 any day, wouldn't you?? Isn't that the goal EVERY YEAR??

[vikingfan1]

A little update on my legacy. I am now 9-2, having a very bad loss @ Utep, getting beat by 19. The other loss came to a very good Texas team @ Illinois 97-93. My next game was against UNC Wilmington (sp) I had a great first half and was leading at the break 45-35 (I play all my games by the way). The 2nd half was a totally different story, I got up 60-37 and then the cpu dumped my bench, which was OK because I like getting everyone invovled and it keeps them happy. Normall, my subs do rather well against the other teams starters, but not this time. UNC Wilmington cut it to 73-64 before my starters finally got back in the game, but it did not end there. My starters were cold, couldn't hit anything at first and UNC kept creepin and creepin. It got all the way down to the final minute where UNC tied the game at 85 on a 3 pointer. I had a chance to make 2 freethrows to put me up 2 but missed them both (very uncommon) UNC came down, got a last second shot off but missed, and we went into OT. The OT went all Illini's way. They scored the first 5pts of the OT and cruised from there, winning 101-93. My next game is vs Missouri, who is 7-4 right now.

[guckin1989]

I kind of enjoy this. Maybe some recaps. Like post a game at a time? And yeah winning it every year like that isnt that much fun. im in my 22nd season at Texas State and ive won the last two season. Im going to move to a bigger school in Texas because i can't recruit any amazing players. Sure i get like 1 5star and like 3 4stars and my team rating stays around like 88+ but its all guard based like your team. So im gonna move. And please post more stats if you want more people to follow.

[vikingfan1]

I kind of enjoy this. Maybe some recaps. Like post a game at a time? And yeah winning it every year like that isnt that much fun. im in my 22nd season at Texas State and ive won the last two season. Im going to move to a bigger school in Texas because i can't recruit any amazing players. Sure i get like 1 5star and like 3 4stars and my team rating stays around like 88+ but its all guard based like your team. So im gonna move. And please post more stats if you want more people to follow.


I plan to bump up the difficulty level in my next season. I play on All-Conference right now, and I probably will have at least 3 or 4 losses during conference play so at least I am not going like 39-0 and 40-0 season after season. I like Illinois because even though they are in a power conference, they are about a middle of the pack team.

[vikingfan1]

Here is more of a recap and how I have done so far with Illinois this season, this is also my 9th season:

My Starting Lineups (Names are made up)

PG- Yeager, Freshmen 18ppg, 4.4 apg, 3.1 spg
SG- Mack, Sophomore 13.6ppg
SF- Bellairs, Senior 14.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.4 apg
PF- Williamson, Senior 10.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.2 spg
C- Elias, Senior, 6.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg

Bench:

PG- Hancock, Soph 5.5 ppg, 1.0 apg
SG- Shepard, Soph 3.2 ppg
SF- Wolfe, Soph 2.3 ppg
PF- Peters Soph 1.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg
C- Koundoul Jr, 4.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg

Others:

SG- Dawson, FR 4.3 ppg
SG- Dawn, JR 1.3 PPG

Schedule win/loss and who I have coming up:

Preseason NIT:
W Navy 89-65
W UW-Milwaukee 85-58
W #23 South Carolina 102-78
W UNC Ashville 100-67

Regular Season:
W @ Wake Forest 80-60
W vs Missouri St. 83-74
W vs Oregon 75-64
L @ Utep 88-69
W @ Norte Dame 86-76
W vs #20 NC State 80-58
L vs #9 Texas 97-93
W @ UNC-Wilmington 103-94 OT
W vs Missouri 82-58
W @ St. Louis 78-76
W vs Tenn St. 79-32

Remaining Games:
@ Minnesota 11-3
vs Indiana 7-2
vs NW 5-5
@ Purdue 9-4
vs #4 Wisconsin 13-1
vs Ohio St. 6-4
@ #12 Mich St. 11-2
vs Purdue 9-4
vs Iowa 6-7
@ Michigan 3-8
@ Ohio St. 6-4
vs Michigan 3-8
vs Minnesota 11-3
@ Penn St. 8-4
@ NW 5-5

After that it is the Big Ten Tournament followed by the NCAA Tourney. I hope you liked that!! I will be giving you updates on the games that I play, probably will play 3-4 tonight.

[vikingfan1]

Illini fight back, beat Minnesota 77-72

The fighting Illini battled back after being down double digits midway through the second half to beat Minnesota 77-72 in Minnesota. Elias had his best game of his career by far today, carrying the load for Illinois when they were very cold from the field. Elias had 26pts and 17rebs for the 14-2 Illini. Pretty much every starter was in double figures, but it was Elias effort on both ends of the floor, and Yeagers freethrow shooting at the end to seal the deal for the Illini. More stats will come later, but Illinois now goes home to face Indiana for a huge rivarly game.

[vikingfan1]

If anyone is following along and enjoys it, please post and let me know. I am just about to tip off against Indiana.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois cruises past #23 Indiana

What started out as a tight game midway through the first half, became an Illini routt as Illinois, up 35-30 at one time, went on a huge run to close the half leading 47-32. They went to defeat Indiana 81-59. The scary part of this game was that leading scorer Yeager was hit with foul trouble early and often, and never really played much at all. Illinois put 4 guys in double figures, leading scorer Mack had 15pts and really stepped it up once Yeager went out with foul trouble in the 1st half. Williamson had 14, Bellairs with 13, Hancock with 11 & Koundoul with 9 off the bench. Elias had a quiet game, just 8pts and 9rebs. Indiana drops to 8-4 as the Illini move to 15-2. Illinois will take on Northwestern @ Illinois and then travel to Purdue at the end of the week. Illinois is currently ranked 3rd in the nation.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois to much for the Wildcats

Illinois improves to 16-2 with a win over the Northwestern Wildcats today in Champaign 89-60. Northwestern hung in the game for a little bit in the first half, but could not stop Illini's bench as they erupt for over 30 points off the bench. Dawson led the way for Illini's bench with 12pts. Illinois put 5 guys in double figures, 2 of which were off the bench. Illinois will face a tough challenge ahead of them as they travel to Purdue (11-5) and then next week will host Iowa then a big conference game with Wisconsin.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois needs OT to knock out Purdue

Illinois defeats Purdue @ Purdue 90-76 in OT to remain unbeaten in Big Ten Conference play and they also grab the #1 ranking in the nation. This was a pretty good battle and a back and forth game for most of the game. Illinois biggest did not come until the final score. Purdue on the other hand, seemed to almost have this game in hand, up 72-64 with 2:12 to play, Illinois goes on a run to tie at 72. Defense was the key for the Illini, they had SEVERAL blocks and steals to crawl back into the game and force OT. Yeager had a chance to win it for the Illini as he milked the clock all the way down to about 8 seconds, he made his move in the lane, layed it up, but got called for the charge. Purdue had one last chance to win it with 5.1 sec left, but could not hit the deep three. Illinois completely took over in OT, they busted out of the gate to take a 77-72 lead and never looked back. Elias had another good performance with 12pts and 10rebs. The high scorer was Mack with 26 and then Yeager with 20. Illinois now hosts Iowa (I think) and then plays #3 Wisconsin (17-1) at the end of the week in which it should be a classic battle!!!

[vikingfan1]

Illinois steals a game in Iowa

Illinois comes from 20pts down to defeat Iowa in Iowa City 71-68. Illinois trailed by 11 at halftime, and kept trailing throughout nearly all of the 2nd half. They settled for jump shots which really got them in trouble because they were not hitting. What lead the comeback against Iowa was good defense in the halfcourt and some pressing, along with driving to the basket instead of settling for jumpers. Illinois took 1 of just a few leads in this ball game when Bellairs hit a 3 on the wing to make it a 69-68 ball game. Iowa had 2 chances to tie at 71 but missed. Iowa completely owned Illinois on the boards, racking up 17 offensive rebounds for A LOT of 2nd chance points. Wolfe & Shepard came off the bench to combine for 15 points to really help the Illini in scoring when Mack & Yeager couldn't hit anything. Bellairs led the team in scoring with 15. Illinois moves to 17-2 with a win and sets up #1 vs #3 matchup against Wisconsin @ home.

[vikingfan1]

Yeager to much for Wisconsin to handle

Yeager has been due for a big game and he certainly had it against #3 Wisconsin (18-2) in Champaign. Yeager erupted for 33pts, a career high to lead Illinois to the 81-70 victory. However Yeager was not the only one to have done some damage. Williamson & Mack had 12pts and Bellairs had 11. Elias had a quiet day on offense only scoring 4, but he did grab 8 rebounds with several blocks. Illinois now hosts Ohio St. in what should be a good ballgame even though Ohio St. is only 10-7.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois overcomes sluggish start, beats Ohio St

Illinois got a good win over a tough Ohio St. squad in Champaign 76-59. It was a very sluggish game, especially the first half where Illinois trailed 39-32 at the break. Illinois responded with a quick 6-0 run to start the 2nd half. They really didn't start to pull away until Bellairs caught fire, he ended the game with 22 and really seemed to pull the Illini away from Ohio St. Illinois has a big conference game @ #12 Michigan St. (16-4) which should be a terrific game. Illinois is still currently ranked #1 with a record of 20-2. As far as recruting goes, Illinois really needs to pick some big men for next year because they are already small as of now, with the PF being 6-8 and the C being 6'11, but they will lose BOTH of those players, as well as the starting SF. The good news for Illini is they pretty much have the #1 overall player and SF who is 6'8 and should contribute right away for next year.

[Out of the Fire]

Nice run you've got going. Good job on grabbing #1 and overcoming some teams best shots.

[vikingfan1]

Nice run you've got going. Good job on grabbing #1 and overcoming some teams best shots.

Thanks! Im glad someone is following haha. I will continue to post updates game by game. I actually played the Mich St game already and will post how that game went soon.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets tough victory @ #12 Mich St

Illinois gets a big victory on the road as they defeat Michigan St. 78-67. The first half was a back and forth game, with neither team getting up by more then 6 points. Illinois rallied in the final minute of the 1st half and Yeager drilled a 3 from just a few steps over the halfcourt line at the buzzer to make it a 29-28 game at the half. Illinois really took control in the 2nd half and lead by as much as 20 when the subs came in. Normally, my subs play very very well, but this was the 2nd game this year where they nearly let Mich St. come back. After being up 59-39, Mich St. rallied and got it to a seven point game at 74-67, but that was all the closests they got as Illinois put the starts back in and finally took care of business. Only 2 players for the Illini were in double figures. Yeager had 18 and Williamson had 15. However, all but 2 Illini players scored in this game, and what was so rare about one of the players not scoring, it was Illini's starting Center!!! He had a miserable game, he had 0pts and 2 rebs!! A terrible performance by him, and not to mention Illinois completely got owned on the boards again. Illinois will have to step it up if they want to get 2 victories this week. Illinois is at home this week but against a very tough Purdue team (14-7) and a scrappy Iowa team (10-11). Although I must say, Illinois has a very favorable schedule the rest of the way out. They are already done playing Wisconsin, Mich St., Indiana. They have 2 games with Michigan (5-13) 1 game with Penn St. 1 with Northwestern. The toughest games left after Purdue & Iowa will probably be @ Ohio St. and vs Minnesota.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois bench steps up in blowout over Purdue

All I can say is WOW, what an effort from the "Red Team" tonight as they did not let me down this game once they got in. Illinois put 5 guys in double figures including 3 off the bench. Koundoul, Shepard, & Hancock combined for 43 points off the bench, Dawson chipped in another 8 as the Illini beat Purdue in Champaign 92-59. I was really happy the way the bench stepped up once the starters went out. The bench seemed to actually increase the lead quite a bit when the starters were resting. Bellairs had 17 and Williamson had 10 for the rest of the Illini players in double figures. Illinois led 48-32 at the half and really cruised from that point on. They actually started the half on an 8-0 run before Purdue even scored. Illinois now hosts Iowa in their next game. I will post the Conference Standings as well as Top 25 Polls.

[vikingfan1]

Conference Standings as of 2/17/2015

#1 Illinois 9-0, 22-2 overall
#3 Wisconsin 7-3, 21-3 overall
#13 Mich St. 6-3, 18-5 overall
Purdue 5-4, 14-9 overall
Ohio St. 4-4, 11-9 overall
Iowa 3-5, 10-12 overall
Minnesota 3-5, 15-8 overall
Northwestern 3-5, 8-11 overall
Indiana 3-6, 12-8 overall
Penn St. 2-6, 11-10 overall
Michigan 2-7, 4-15 overall

Top 25 Coaches Poll
1. Illinois 22-2
2. UCLA 20-2
3. Duke 17-4
4. Wisconsin 21-3
5. Maryland 18-3
6. Kansas 19-4
7. Alabama 16-5
8. Michigan St. 18-5
9. Cincinnati 19-2
10. Kansas St. 16-5
11. Oklahoma St. 17-5
12. NC State 17-6
13. South Carolina 15-7
14. St. Joe's 16-6
15. Kentucky 14-6
16. Texas 16-6
17. California 17-6
18. Depaul 17-6
19. Xavier 14-6
20. Florida 17-4
21. Georgia Tech 18-4
22. Florida St. 14-7
23. Uconn 15-7
24. Vanderbilt 16-7
25. Minnesota 15-8

[knox33]

I've been following. Nice job creating the powerhouse. Good luck against Iowa.

[vikingfan1]

Dominating performance from start to finish

After being down as much as 20 points in the last meeting vs Iowa, and coming back to win, they wouldn't even hardly let the Hawkeyes step into the gym on this night. Illinois was on top of their game from start to finish as they blowout the Iowa Hawkeyes 95-60. Williamson led the way for the Illini with 21pts. Their were several Illinois players in double figures in this game and Illinois pretty much pressed the entire game. Normally, I do not press but occassionally, but I personally do not like the hawkeyes, and after they nearly beat me in Iowa City which would have been a devastating loss, I would make sure Iowa never got in this game long enough to think that they even had a chance. I think the biggest lead I had on Iowa was something like 62-28 in the 2nd half. It was 53-24 at halftime. Illinois has 2 games on the road @ Michigan and @ Ohio St.

[guckin1989]

Good job. You have really changed this leagacy. Its a good read now.

[vikingfan1]

Good job. You have really changed this leagacy. Its a good read now.


I took your advice;) , and also looked around on some other peoples Legacy and I tried to improve it as much as I could. I will try to even get it better in the future. Right now I am really enjoying playing with this team, they are definitly not my best Illinois team that I have had any way, but they are still very good and I hope to win a national championship with them because it may be the last one in quite some time because I am losing a good handful of seniors and maybe even some underclassmen to the draft.

[vikingfan1]

Just to let you know, I have not abandoned my Legacy at all, I have just been busy these last few days with other stuff so hopefully if I cannot get to my 360 tonight, I should be able to tomorrow night and quite a bit during the weekend. I am hoping by the end of the weekend I will be in the NCAA Tourney or just about in the tourney.

[jjredick4]

good legacy to read

[vikingfan1]

Illinois to much for Michigan

Despite playing a home game for the Michigan Wolverines, it really didn't matter today. Illinois jumped all over Michigan early and won 70-47 in Michigan. Illinois didn't have one dominant player today, which is what you would like to see every game. Yeager was the only person in double figures with 10, but their were also two other guys with 9pts and two other guys with 8pts, and on down the line. Illinois will now play Ohio St. which should be a tougher game for them also.

Here is a look at the remaining schedule for the Illini:

@ Ohio ST.
vs Michigan
vs Minnesota
@ Penn ST.

Illinois now moves to 24-2

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets big scare @ Ohio St

Illinois got everything they could handle from Ohio St. and more, but the Illini buckled down and got the job done as they won in Columbus 64-61 to improve to 25-2. Yeager led the way with 18pts with Bellairs not far behind with 16. Other then those two really contributing, Illinois didn't get much help from the rest of the starters. Elias only scored 6pts but he did grab 10 rebs which was HUGE!!! Illinois now has over a week off and then they host Michigan (7-16).

[dj_morton]

Good dynasty! Posting the games have really helped this dynasty out!

[vikingfan1]

Good dynasty! Posting the games have really helped this dynasty out!


Thank you! I should finish this years team by early next week, I have spring break all next week and I don't work until Wednesday so today, Mon & Tues I am going to be playing CHoops like crazy and should finish the regular season (4 games to go) and the Conference and NCAA Tourney.

[dj_morton]

Yeah it takes forever to play the games..I can usually fit in 2 or 3 games a night and thats it...

[vikingfan1]

Yeah it takes forever to play the games..I can usually fit in 2 or 3 games a night and thats it...


Ya, I play 15min halves so its not to bad most of the time. I'll have bunches of free time coming up this week and should be able to finish my season as early as tonight, but if not definitly Monday during the day. If the tourney wasn't going on right now I would probably be done already, but I gotta watch the games.;)

[vikingfan1]

Illinois all over Michigan

Michigan really didn't stand to much of a chance against the Illini espcially in Champaign. Illinois blew the Wolverines away 80-58 in a game that was never really close. 5 guys were in double figures, four of them were starters and one bench player. Bellairs led the way 17. Illinois does have a tough game coming up against Minnesota. Minnesota is trying to play themselves in the tournament as they have a 17-8 record right now and they are on the bubble, but win @ Illinois would certainly improve their chances greatly of getting in. Illinois is going to have to play a very good game so they can beat Minnesota. The last two games for Illinois should be won rather handily, they travel to Penn St. & Northwestern before the Big Ten tournament.

[GeorgiaTechFan4Life]

Hey man, just to let you know, I'm following. I play 20 minute halves and they work fine for me. But I'm not that good because I keep having to remember that square is shoot and not circle. :) I play on Starter and yet I still lose some. I am starting a legacy with the coach as Alex Smith. He will be coaching the Kennesaw State Owls. Check it out!

Edit: Check out William Bailey's legacy for some great ideas. He has tons of followers and he writes great game reviews.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois win streak snapped

Just as I had feared. Minnesota really needed this victory in Illinois to help their chances of getting into the big dance and thats excactly what they did, getting the victory 87-77 over the Illini in Champaign. Illinois just totally got outplayed in the second half in every way that you can. The biggest the Illini were down was 80-64 late in the game. Illinois had 3 players in double figures. Bellairs led the way for the Illini with 20 points, followed up by Williamsons 17 and Yeagers 11. Dupre for Minnesota led all scores with 28pts. Minnesota snapped Illinois 17 game winning streak. Illinois will have to regroup as they head to Penn St.

[vikingfan1]

Hey man, just to let you know, I'm following. I play 20 minute halves and they work fine for me. But I'm not that good because I keep having to remember that square is shoot and not circle. :) I play on Starter and yet I still lose some. I am starting a legacy with the coach as Alex Smith. He will be coaching the Kennesaw State Owls. Check it out!

Edit: Check out William Bailey's legacy for some great ideas. He has tons of followers and he writes great game reviews.


Thats great that you are following. I am also following everyone elses Legacy and have definitly enjoyed all of them.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois comes back from being down double digits in the first half, win @ Penn St

Illinois did not look good early in the first half at all against Penn St., trailing early 31-15 and looking like they might lose for a second time in a row and maybe lose the a #1 seed in the tourney, but Illinois finished on a huge first half run that tied the game at 39 going into halftime. Illinois then had a back and forth game in the second half before they finally pulled away for the 80-69 victory. Illinois is now 27-3 (14-1 B10) and travels to Northwestern for the final regular season game of the season.

Stats

Bellairs- 22pts, 6rebs, 2stls, 4ast.
Williamson-17pts, 7rebs
Yeager- 17pts, 4asts, 4stls
Mack-15pts, 3rebs

[vikingfan1]

Illinois wins last regular season game @ Northwestern

Illinois had little trouble with Northwestern as they beat the Wildcats 72-46. Illinois played terrific defense, the best they have played in quite some time. I know it was just against Northwestern, but a huge confidence boost for the guys as they head into the Big 10 tournament. Illinois only gave up 18 second half points. Everyone contributed on the offensive end as 9 players scored. The high scorer was Mack with 16, followed by Williamson & Bellairs with 13. I will post the Big10 seedings and matchups for the first round and on.

[vikingfan1]

Big 10 Conference Tournament Matchups

Ohio St.
Iowa

Winner to play #1 seed (#1 overall) Illinois

Purdue
Penn St.

Winner to play #2 seed (#4 overall) Wisconsin

Northwestern
Michigan

Winner to play #3 seed (#6 overall) Michigan St.

#4 Minnesota (#25 overall)
Indiana

Winner to advance to the Semifinals

[vikingfan1]

First Round Results

Ohio St. 58
Iowa 38

Ohio St. vs Illinois Quaterfinals

Purdue 52
Penn St. 59

Wisconsin vs Penn St. Quaterfinals

Northwestern 57
Michigan 76

Mich St vs Michigan Quarterfinals

[vikingfan1]

Illinois holds on vs Ohio St

Ohio St. came so close yet again to knocking off the Illini, but Illinois was able to keep the Buckeyes from beating them as they win this Big Ten Quarterfinal game 82-78. Yeager came up big for the Ilini with 22pts, Bellairs was second leading scorer with 19. Reaser for Ohio St. led all scores with 24pts and really was the one who kept Ohio st. in the game. It should be a fantastic semifinal game when the Illini face off against #25 Minnesota, who recently just beat the Illini @ Illinois.

Quarterfinal Results

Illinois 82
Ohio St 78

Minnesota 51
Indiana 46

Illinois vs Minnesota in Semifinals

Wisconsin 61
Penn St. 54

Mich St. 56
Michigan 51

Wisconsin vs Mich St in Semifinals

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets revenge on Minnesota, advances to the Big Ten Championship game

Illinois had little problems as they beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers 92-68 to advance on to play the Wisconsin Badgers for the Big Ten Championship. Yeager led the way for the Illini with 20pts. Maybe Illinois biggest contribute came off the bench. Wolfe scored a career high 19pts as Illinois bench scored 35 of the 92 points. Even if Illinois happens to lose to Wisconsin, I still feel that we will get the #1 overall seed, but it would be nice to get that Big Ten tourney championship and get the automatic bid.

Semifinal Results

Illinois 92
Minnesota 68

Wisconsin 61
Mich St. 51

Wisconsin vs Illinois for the BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

[vikingfan1]

Illinois wins Big Ten Championship

Illinois beats Wisconsin in a low scoring game 54-50 to win the Big 10 Championship. Bellairs led the Illini with 23 as he just couldn't miss from anywhere, and carried the team to the victory. Williamson also had 15pts. The Big 10 did not get a lot of teams in the tournament, but they did get good seeds. Illinois & Wisconsin grabbed the #1 seed, Mich St. got a #3 seed, and Minnesota got a #7 seed. Illinois plays #16 seed Texas Southern in the first round of the tournament.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois beats Texas Southern, moves on to play Fordham in 2nd round

Illinois really did not struggle at all as they built a 60-31 halftime lead and went on to defeat Texas Southern in the first round of the tournament. The guys really played well and made sure that they would not be upset in the first round, their next opponent should be a lot tougher and Illinois will definitly have to come and play if they want to advance on to the Sweet 16.

Illinois runs over Fordham, advances to Sweet 16

This was probably one of the best games the guys have played all year. Everyone was clicking and playing very well together, Fordham didn't have a chance at all as the Illini beat the Rams 86-47 to advance to the Sweet 16 where they will play Xavier (24-9) and that should be a terrific game and I am not expecting a blowout in this game whatsoever, it could come down to the final possession to decide this game. In other Big 10 action from around the tourney, Wisconsin has made it to the Elite 8. Mich St & Minnesota both lost in the second round. It is very possible you could see a Wisconsin-Illinois matchup in the Final Four and that would be big for the Big 10 Conference.

[vikingfan1]

Williamson powers the Illini into the Elite 8

Williamson may have just had his best college game of his career in the Sweet 16 game against Xavier. After a 3-0 start by Xavier, Ilinois rattled off 14 straight points and never looked back as the Fighting Illini moves on with a 90-74 victory. Williamson led the way for the Illini with 28pts with several three point plays. Every time he got the ball in the post he was scoring, Xavier didn't have an answer for him. Yeager also played a very terrific game with 15pts and had 7 rebounds, which is very unsual for a PG. Next game up for Illinois is the #2 seed in the regional in Kentucky. The winner of that game moves on to the Final Four. Kentucky will be no easy game. They matchup pretty well with the Illini and have a size advantage up front. This may be Illinois best chance to get another national title before next year because Illinois will be losing three starting seniors and maybe even a couple more starters to the NBA after this year, which would mean they would have to reload and rely on a lot of underclassmen, who have definitly got the experience they needed, but they would need more then that to win.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois is National Champions!!

Illinois defeated Kentucky 86-58, defeated Wisconsin 58-39, and defeated NC State 59-30 to win the National Championship and finish with a record of 37-3. Illinois got much tougher challenges against Wisconsin & NC State prior to the previous rounds, but it was still not enough as Illinois was just head and shoulders above their opponent all through the tournament. Illinois loses some seniors plus a player off the bench (transfer) and will have 3 or 4 scholarships avaiable during recruiting.

Players leaving:

Bellairs Sr- Draft
Williamson Sr-Draft
Elias Sr- Graduated
Mack Soph-Draft

Transfers:
Soph Hancock

I will post my new roster and incoming freshmen class when I am done with recruiting and setting up my schedule for the new year, which I will also post.

[vikingfan1]

Here is a look at the new Illinois Fighting Illini, the schedule, the players, and some expectations of some key players in order for this team to be successful. I also want to mention that I did lose Soph Mack as well, I did not realize that so wanted to update you on that.

Illinois Schedule

Non-Conference
vs Navy
Preseason NIT
@ #22 North Carolina
vs Wichita St.
vs Stanford
@ Marshall
@ Marquette
vs Virginia
vs Oklahoma
@ James Madison
vs Kansas St.
@ Duquesne
vs E. Kentucky

Conference Schedule
@ Northwestern
vs #6 Wisconsin
vs Purdue
@ Penn St.
@ Mich St.
vs Michigan
vs Ohio ST.
@ Indiana
vs Penn St.
vs Mich St.
@ #7 Minnesota
@ Ohio St.
vs #7 Minnesota
@ Northwestern
@ Iowa
@ Purdue

Illinois Roster & Starting Lineups

Yeager 6'5 Soph PG-92
Shepard 6'5 JR SG-87
Koundoul 7'0 SR C-86
Dawson 6'4 SO SG-86
Wolfe 6'6 JR SF-83
Clemmons 6'8 FR SF-82
Joiner 6'3 FR PG-77
Peters 6'9 JR C-77
Dawn 6'5 SR SG-77
Duffy 6'8 FR PF-76
Carroll 6'8 FR PF-71
Mayer 6'8 SR PF-71
*Kent 6'7 JR SG-63
*Joseph 6'10 Jr PF- 60
*Frazier 6'6 JR PF- 58
*Arenas 6'3 FR SG-56 (Redshirt)

The last four players are reserves or redshirts.

Key players to a succesfull season:

Yeager- A preseason 1st team All-American, Yeager will have to average probably around 20 a game and be the leader of this team as he is the only starter coming back from a 37-3 and National Championship team. Can he carry the Illini into the tournament and back to the Final Four??

Koundoul- This guy keeps getting better and better by each year, and finally in his senior season, he gets the starting nod at center. This guy can do it all, he can post up down low or he can step out and hit the midrange shot with ease, he's going to have to stay out of foul trouble because the Illini are not that deep at the center position. Koundoul is a preseason 2nd team All-American.

Shepard- While his minutes were liminted because of the starting role that Mack played last year, Shepard finally gets to prove if he belongs in the starting lineup, because Dawson is right on his tail for the starting SG spot. Shepard showed some great potential in some games last year, however it did not seem like he was aggressive enough out on the perimeter and driving the ball to the hoop. If he can be more aggressive in games he is going to score a lot of points for this team.

Starting Lineups-
PG Yeager
SG Shepard
SF Wolfe
PF Duffy
C Koundoul

Again, the Illini are not real big and that will play a big disadvantage for them, however I do think that Illinois does have a better and deeper bench then last years team, even though most of the team is freshmen, they still return key bench players like Dawn, Dawson, & Peters who played supporting roles on last years team. I will play 15min halves just like last season, but the difficulty level is set on All-American now instead of All-Conference, it should be a fun season and hopefully the Illini can have another shot at a National Title.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois advances to second round of Preseason NIT

First experience playing on All-American went really well for me. Navy was a tough opponent in the first half, but the Illini took control and won 81-55 to advance on to play UW-Green Bay in the second round of the NIT. A surprise leading scorer for the Illini was Wolfe with 16pts, including 3-5 from the 3pt line. Yeager really had a bad day, but his teammates picked up the slack, Yeager finished with 8pts. Koundoul was big in the first half, scoring 11 of his 13pts and grabbing down 9 boards. Shepard was also in double figures, but only with 10. I would really like to see him score anywhere from 15-20 almost every night. Illinois rebounded better then I expected and got some good bench production, as I expected. Freshmen point guard Joiner came off the bench to score 10pts and grab 4stls. Illinois will no doubt get a tougher challenge I think from UW-Green Bay then they did against Navy, so they will have to be ready.

[GeorgiaTechFan4Life]

That Yeager kid is pretty good. He'll definatly leave after this year for the draft. You need to hit the recruiting trails hard because there are a couple others that may be leaving soon.

[vikingfan1]

That Yeager kid is pretty good. He'll definatly leave after this year for the draft. You need to hit the recruiting trails hard because there are a couple others that may be leaving soon.


Yep, no doubt about it. I was actually fortunate enough to have Yeager back for his Soph year. I do however have another freshmen PG who definitly won't leave until he graduates, so that helps me a lot. Im hitting the recrutiing hard for a few Centers because that is what I will need the most after next year. Yeager is my leader, and even though he struggled the first game, he still made some good plays and the team played better when he was out on the floor. This year is more of a rebuilding year for me even though a lot of players came back, they don't have very good ratings so I have to work with them to try to make them better, which I love to do. Mack would have really helped if he woulda stayed, but I understand why he bolted for the draft, he probably would have been rated 95 for his JR year.

[vikingfan1]

Yeager finds his touch

It sure didn't take long for Yeager to start hitting his shots, he hit early and often against UW-Green Bay in the second round of the Preseason NIT as he scored a game high 20pts, along with 6asts and 2stls. He was very impressive early on, and helped the Illini beat UW-Green Bay 87-56. Illinois got a big performance out of their starting freshmen in Duffy. He really came alive and scored 15pts while grabbing 4rebs and 2stls. Duffy & Yeager were the only players in double figures, but that just shows you how deep this team is and how many guys have the ability to share the ball and score. Illinois has an opponent who they met last year in the second round of the NCAA Tourney. Fordham and Illinois will hook up once again, this time the winner goes to the Preseason NIT Championship game to face either Marist or Texas A&M.

[GateGamer]

Vikingfan1, this is really amazing. I have just started a Legacy at Colgate, do you have any tips?

[vikingfan1]

Just to let everyone know, I have a ton of updates coming because I played 4 or 5 games last night and I will tell you about each one of them individually. I played so many last night without posting updates because I was at a friends house and his internet is really slow so I figured it would take me forever to post them. I will have all the updates up today though for sure. Thanks for following!

[vikingfan1]

Vikingfan1, this is really amazing. I have just started a Legacy at Colgate, do you have any tips?


Im glad you enjoy it. For tips, I don't know if I have many personally other then just posting information game after game like I do, most of the stuff I have I looked on other Legacys and found suggestions, thats probably your best bet. The Bailey Legacy is an awesome one! You should check that out for sure.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois comes from 20 down in the 2nd half, beats Fordham

Last year, Illinois & Fordham hooked up in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tourney, Illinois won that game by over 30 points on their way to a National Championship. The very next year, these two hooked up in the semifinals of the preseason NIT. Fordham, a much improved team was killing Illinois pretty much throughout the entire game, they led 46-26 at halftime and as much as a 24pt lead in the 2nd half. Fordham forgot one thing though, this Illini team has heart, and maybe the best player in college basketball. Illinois rallied all the way back thanks to Yeagers 32pts to force overtime, and eventually win 96-89 in what seemed to be a blowout game even midway through the 2nd half, but Yeager & Co caught fire and started the rally with about 10 min to go in the game. Yeager was not alone on this night however, as three other Illini reach double figures. Fordham knew this game was theirs for the taking, and though they shot so well most of the game, they still couldn't stop Illini's run, and the way Yeager put on a display that night many folks will remember that for years to come. The way he rallied his troops and lead them to an uphill climb to try come back and beat Fordham, a team that Yeager knew wanted revenge on them for beating them so badly in the tournament just a year ago. It was a nice victory for the Illini, and a huge momentum boost as they went into the Preseason NIT Finals with Texas A &M.

Stats
Illinois-
Yeager, 32pts, 6ast, 3 rebs. 12-25fgs, 5-14 on threes, 3-4 ft's
Shepard, 21pts, 3rebs, 4ast, 3blks
Wolfe, 15pts, 4rebs, 4stl
Duffy, 10pts, 5rebs, 3blks, 3stls

Fordham-
Detrick PF, 23pts, 5rebs, 5ast
Cable C, 17pts, 9rebs
Mulic, PG 11pts, 3ast
Chen SF, 11pts 9rebs

[vikingfan1]

Illini's press overwhelmes A&M

If the Fordham game in the semfinals of the preseason NIT wasn't a momentum boost, then I don't know what is. Illinois took control early and often as they end up routing Texas A&M 90-73 to capture the championship. What separated the game probably the most aside from A&M not being able to handle the pressure from the Illini, were Yeagers five three pointers in the game and a totaly of 21pts, as the kid just keeps amazing you game after game and he is just a Soph although with a rating of 92, I am pretty confident he will be leaving for the draft after this year.:lol: :( Fordham has to be sick to their stomach after watching Illinois completely run over A&M to easily claim the championship. Illinois has the most difficult game on the schedule coming up though when they travel to Chapel Hill to face the #21 TarHeels in what should be a great game!

Stats

Illinois-
Yeager, 21pts 6-17 fgs, 5-8 3pt
Shepard, 17pts 4rebs, 3ast 7-11 fgs, 3-6 3pt
Clemmons, 11pts

Texas A&M-
Patrick C, 18pts, 8rebs
McBride PG, 11pts
Payne SF, 11pts

[vikingfan1]

Illinois suffers first loss of season to Tarheels

Well, this was not the greatest game I have ever seen, but my guys did not give up at all, we just couldn't hit anything when we needed to. Once again, Illinois got in a deep hole and just could not recover. I knew it would be hard to come back from 20 down facing the Tar Heels at North Carolina, but my guys nearly completeled the rally. Poor shooting from everyone and the inabliity to run with the Tar Heels cost Illinois today as they lose 87-77. Illinois rallied from being 20 down again to make it a seven point ball game, 80-73. Illinois however could not get any closer then that as North Carolina pulled away for the victory. I guess I can't be to upset because Carolina is a good team, a Top 25 team, but it sure would have been nice to beat them on their home floor, but maybe another time. The bright spot for the Illini was that Koundoul had his best game of the year with 22pts and 6 rebs, but Yeager struggled from the floor as he only had 12pts. Illinois has to regroup as they host Wichita St.

Stats

Illinois-
Koundoul- 22pts, 6rebs, 8-16fgs, 1-4 3pt
Duffy- 14pts, 5rebs
Yeager- 12pts, 6-18 fgs, 0-7 3pt

North Carolina-
Starkey PF- 14pts, 11rebs
Logie PG- 16pts, 4ast
Rowland SG- 11pts

[vikingfan1]

Wichita St. hangs with Illini, but Illinois pulls away for the victory

Wichita St. surprisingly came in with an 0-4 mark, but they sure hung tough with the Illini for awhile before Illinois pulled away for the 86-61 victory in Champaign. Not one player did everything for the Illini, it was a group effort today as their were five players in double figures for the first home game. I was very pleased to see so many guys step up and contribute and not have Yeager do it all, which at times is great for us and we are definitly going to need him down the stretch, but we also need other guys to contribute and know what to do in late game situations and set plays if Yeager is off the court because of foul trouble. Hopefully guys continue to step up this year because their are only three players averaging double figures, but yet it seems like night in and night out Yeager & Shepard are the only ones doing anything on offense, I would like to see the man in the middle, Koundoul average in double figures because he is not as of right now. I know it is early in the season, but your seniors and experienced players have to step up in order to be successful and Koundoul is just not doing that good of a job as of right now.

Stats

Illinois-

Wolfe-13pts 3rebs 5ast
Clemmons- 12pts, 3rebs, 2blks
Koundoul- 11pts 10 rebs
Shepard- 10pts, 4rebs, 2ast, 2 stls
Yeager- 10pts, 3ast, 4stls

W. State-

Howard SG-16pts, 3ast, 4stl
Love PG- 11pts, 3rebs, 4ast, 3stl

[vikingfan1]

Yeager scores 24 first half points, blows out Stanford

The score at halftime read Illinois 47, Standford 22. Yeager had 24 in the first half as the Illini cruise in this non conference game in Illinois. Yeager finished the game with 28pts as Illinois was never really challenged in the game. Clemmons helped the Illini with 21pts off the bench, a career high for him, as he is just a Freshmen. The fun part about this game is that everyone scored for Illinois, which this is the first game for that to happen, and you really love to see that EVERY game, but I know it is a rarity in college basketball, or heck, even in high school basketball. I figured Stanford would be a little bit more of a challenge, but then again when Yeager is hitting his shots, it makes the game go a lot easier for us on both ends of the floor, this kid should be in the running for Player of the Year in college basketball if their is an award like that. Illinois now travels to Marshall in their first away game since the Carolina loss. O, and the final score of the Illinois-Stanford game was 75-49.

Stats

Illinois-

Yeager- 28pts 2ast, 1stl 11-17fgs, 1-4 3pt, 5-6 fts
Clemmons- 21pts, 5rebs, 2blks, 9-14 fgs

Stanford-

Krayl PG- 11pts, 3ast, 2stl
Abram SG- 10pts, 3rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Norwood SF- 10pts, 3rebs

[vikingfan1]

Marshall gives the Illini all they want and more, but falls late

I don't think the guys expected Marshall to be a tough out, after all they came into the game with a 2-4 mark, but records and rankings really don't matter when you step onto someone elses home floor. Marshall came ready to play tonight and even though they got down early, they never quit. The Illini had to make freethrows at the end to seal the win. Illinois won 97-88. Marshall was within one point with a little under five minutes to go in the game, but just couldn't stop the one man wrecking crew, and no it was not Yeager. The player of the game was the other guard for the Illini, Shepard who tossed in his career high with 32pts. Illinois did put three other guys in double figure including a double double by the big man. Marshall countered with four guys of their own in double figures, including SG Paul with 28pts. Illinois is now ranked 5th in the nation with a 7-1 record as they have three games coming up next week, all three of them are going to be very tough. They travel to Marquette, and then host Virginia & #23 Oklahoma.

Stats

Illinois-

Shepard- 32pts, 4rebs, 2stls 13-18fgs, 1-4 3pt, 5-6 ft
Yeager- 18pts 2 rebs, 4ast 4-7 fg, 10-11 Ft
Koundoul- 14pts, 12 rebs
Duffy- 13pts

Marshall-

Paul SG- 28pts
Valencia PG-19pts, 3ast, 2stl
Lavender SF- 12pts, 4rebs, 5ast
Hendricks C- 12pts, 7rebs

[vikingfan1]

Illinois blows big lead, hangs on to beat Marquette

This would have been a devastating loss for Illinois had Marquette finished the rally at home, but they just couldn't do it. Marquette came all the way back from being down more then 15pts in the second half to tie the game with seconds remaining. You knew who was going to take the last shot or make the last play for the Illini, and that was Yeager. He got the ball at the top of the key, dribbled around until about 10 seconds left before he started making his move. He drove down the lane, dished it off to Wolfe who went up for the layup, he missed the shot but was fouled. Wolfe made both to give the Illini a 65-63 lead with 4.4 sec left. On the next inbounds from Marquette, they got it to their PG, but Yeager stole the ball right in front of him, they fouled but Marquette was not in the bonus yet, they still had fouls to give. Illinois threw it in with 2.1 sec left and ran the clock off for the victory. I must say I was dissapointed how Illinois lost the lead, but at least they were able to make plays down the stretch to get the victory. Illinois now hosts Virginia.

Stats

Illinois-

Yeager-15pts, 4rebs, 4ast, 7 stl
Koundoul-15pts, 4rebs, 2ast, 5blks
Duffy-12pts, 5rebs, 2blks
Shepard-9pts, 3rebs, 2ast, 2stl

Marquette-

Neke PG-10pts, 4ast
Myles SG-22pts, 3rebs, 5ast
McElroy C- 10pts, 10rebs

[vikingfan1]

Defense is the difference in win over Virginia

I was very proud of how Illini's defense really stepped up tonight and made it hard for Virginia to do anything in the halfcourt. Yeager led the way once again with 17 points and five steals, he has really been stepping it up on the defensive side of the ball lately, and thats great to see. Koundoul also has been stepping it up on both ends, he has beeing scoring more and blocking and altering quite a bit of shots and hopefully he can continue to do so. Illinois has a tough home game coming up against #23 Oklahoma (9-1). Illinois has already lost to a ranked opponent this year in UNC, so they really need to come out fired up and ready to play at home and get this victory. The final in this game was 69-60.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-17pts, 4ast, 5stl
Wolfe-11pts, 2rebs, 2ast
Koundoul-10pts, 8rebs, 2blks
Dawson-9pts, 2stl

Virginia-

Clemmons PF- 17pts, 7rebs, 3ast, 2blks
Macklin SG- 14pts, 4rebs, 3ast
McGrath C-10pts, 10rebs

[GateGamer]

What's your record? It seems like your doing good the past couple of games. Yeager has really stepped it up, so has Wolfe; I'm not surprised.

[vikingfan1]

What's your record? It seems like your doing good the past couple of games. Yeager has really stepped it up, so has Wolfe; I'm not surprised.

Sorry I should be posting my record every game, sometimes I nearly forget to put the scores in for each game, lol. My record right now is 9-1 and I am currently ranked 5th behind Florida St. (8-1), Uconn (11-0), UCLA (7-0), & Cal (9-0). Cal returned all of its starting lineup from last years team.

[GateGamer]

Yeah I do too. I'm not sure how to get the stats from each game after I exit out of that game (if there is a way).

[vikingfan1]

Yeah I do too. I'm not sure how to get the stats from each game after I exit out of that game (if there is a way).


You can get the player stats at least by going to your season calender, and then clicking somehow on that game that you played, it should bring up the player stats, then you can just toggle through whichever team and get the player stats. Try R3 for the ps2.

[GateGamer]

I've clicked R3 and it has given me a mini-menu. Is my season calandar the one that shows all the days of the week, or the one that just shows the games (listed format)?

[vikingfan1]

I've clicked R3 and it has given me a mini-menu. Is my season calandar the one that shows all the days of the week, or the one that just shows the games (listed format)?


Well, Im not in the main menu right now, but your main calander that shows what day of the week you play a game on and your record on the left hand side along with your opponent who you are playing that day. On a completed game, just try to hit R3 or something like that and should bring up the box scores for the games.

[GateGamer]

Thanks for the help.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois beats #23 Oklahoma

Oklahoma raced out to an early 15-6 lead before the Illini could even blink, and I thought for a minute Illinois might be in trouble, but then I remembered I have Yeager.:lol: The man stepped up again and delivered several blows to the Sooners as the Illini take this game 77-70 in a non conference battle in Champaign. Yeager wasn't the only star on the team though, Koundoul had himself a very nice game with a double double. Illinois faced three opponents this upcoming week which they SHOULD beat, but nothing is garuenteed in college basketball. The remaining non conference schedule is:

At James Madison (7-4)
Vs Kansas St (7-4)
At Duquesne (1-8)
vs Eastern Kentucky (5-5)

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-25pts, 2rebs, 3ast, 5stls
Duffy-16pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Koundoul-14pts, 12rebs

Oklahoma

PettyJohn C- 18pts,13rebs
Joynes SF-14pts, 8rebs
Sanches SG- 12pts, 3ast,3stls

[vikingfan1]

Shepard's 28pts lifts the Illini over the Dukes

When your hot, your hot, and that was the story of the game for Shepard. He poured in 28pts including six three pointers to help the Illini get a road win over the James Madison Dukes 77-68. Illinois led 71-52 with 4:45 to go when the Dukes started making a push because my subs were in the game and they started pressing, forcing a few turnovers and made shots. The closets they got was 75-68 when my starters returned with about 1:30 left to go in the game. Illinois now plays Kansas St. which was a #1 seed last year in the tournament, so it should be a very competitive game. Wolfe also played one of his better games tonight as he reached double figures again. Yeager had an off night, but still contributed on both ends either with asts or steals.

Stats

Illinois

Shepard-28pts, 3rebs, 2asts, 4stls
Wolfe-11pts, 3rebs, 3asts
Dawson-9pts
Yeager-6pts, 8asts, 3stls

James Madison

Israel C- 17pts, 14rebs
Elsey SG- 14pts, 5stls
Simmons PG- 13pts, 4asts
Minnifield PF- 8pts, 10rebs

[vikingfan1]

Illinois overcomes terrible start, beats Kansas St

Illinois started off the game with back to back buckets by Duffy, then they didn't score again for several minutes, and during that time Kansas St. put up 15 points and had a quick double digit lead. No one was hitting early and Kansas St. was sitting in a 1-3-1 defense and Illinois had never really played against that type of zone yet, so they were trying to adjust to it as best as they could. Illinois finally did, and knocked down some shots to pull even at 15, but Kansas St. maintaned their lead for most of the half. Illinois made a late surge at the end of the first half to head 40-34 at the half, and that made all the difference. The Illini completely took control in the second half, and thanks to some hot shooting again by Shepard, the Illini cruised to an 81-62 win. Illinois has two remaining non conference games. Illinois is currently 12-1 and ranked 4th in the nation.

Stats

Illinois

Shepard-18pts, 4-7 3pt
Duffy-13pts, 2rebs, 7stl
Koundoul-10pts, 5rebs, 3stl, 4blks
Yeager-9pts, 4-11fgs, 1-4 3pt

Kansas St.

Tran SG- 18pts, 3rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Hammon PF- 8pts, 14rebs

[vikingfan1]

Illinois beats the Duke by 53

Im pretty sure I could have started my subs and just played them, and I still would have won this game by over 25. Duquesne just doesn't have the talent to compete against any big schools like Illinois, the game was even at Duquesne but it didn't matter. Illinois built a 22-9 lead and just took off from there, and led 44-19 at the half. The worst the score got was 75-29 in the 2nd half. Illinois played all of its subs in the second half and everyone scored in this game, the final was 97-44. They now host Eastern Kentucky for the final non conference game, and that one may be just as ugly as this past game was, although I think it will be a little bit closer, but Illinois should be able to take care of business. Illini's record is 13-1 and ranked 3rd.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-15pts 7-9fgs
Dawson-15pts, 7-9fgs
Joiner-14pts, 7-10fgs
Clemmons-10pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 4stl, 5-5fgs

Duquesne

Mencio PF-12pts,5rebs
Shavies SG-9pts
Gulang PG-6pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 2stl

[vikingfan1]

Illinois puts six players in double figures, blows out Eastern Kentucky

This game again was not even close. If the halftime score (48-23) wasn't bad enough, it only got WORSE in the second half. With my subs & starters flip flopping time, Illinois outscored E. Kentucky in the 2nd half 59-21 to win 107-44. Illinois had an all around great game from everyone, everybody scored at least 2pts. Yeager & Wolfe led the way with 20pts a piece, including 4-6 3pts from Wolfe, which you rarely see. Wolfe making shots like that helps out this team even more and makes us a much tougher team. Illinois finally starts conference play when they have to travel to Northwestern (9-6) and then host Wisconsin (6-5) at the end of the week. Before those games though, I will post season averages through the first 15 games.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-20pts, 3rebs, 5ast, 8stl
Wolfe-20pts, 2rebs, 4-6 3pt
Duffy-15pts, 4rebs, 4stl
Joiner-13pts, 3ast, 2stl, 3-3 3pt
Shepard-12pts, 5ast, 5stl
Koundoul-11pts, 6rebs, 3stl

E. Kentucky

Ramsdell SG-13pts, 3rebs, 3ast
Petersen PF-6pts, 3rebs, 2ast

[vikingfan1]

Here are the player and team stats so far after 15 games and before my conference play starts.

Player Stats

Starters

Yeager-17ppg, 1.6rpg, 4.1apg, 3.3spg, 20.9mpg (ranks 26th nationally in PPG)
Shepard-12.1ppg, 2.3rpg, 1.7apg, 1.9spg, 19.2mpg
Koundoul-10.7ppg, 6.5rpg, 1.1apg, 1.4spg, 1.9bpg, 18.4mpg
Wolfe-9.6ppg, 2.5rpg, 1.5apg, 2.9spg, 20.3mpg
Duffy-9.5ppg, 3.8rpg, 1.4apg, 3.1spg, 19mpg

Bench

Clemmons-6ppg, 1.7rpg, 8.5mpg
Dawson-5.2ppg, 1.1spg, 9mpg
Joiner-4.7ppg, 1.1apg, 1.1spg, 8.9mpg
Mayer-3.3ppg, 1.7rpg, 6.4mpg
Carroll-2.4ppg, 2rpg, 1.1spg, 7mpg
Peters-2.1ppg, 2.2rpg, 7mpg
Dawn-1.5ppg, 1.1apg, 6.9mpg

Team Stats

Averages-

Points-84.2
Rebounds-28.5
Assist-14.7
Steas-18.4
Blocks-6.1
Turnovers-8.3
Field Goals- 521/1009=51.6%
Three pointers- 68/223=30.4%
Freethrows- 153/183=83.6%

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets big early lead, holds on to beat Northwestern

At the start of this game it looked like Illinois was going to have yet another blowout, but that didn't quite happen for the Illini. Illinois raced out of the gate to a 28-4 lead, but that was pretty much the highlight for the Illini in the first half. Northwestern came all the way back and trailed by just 9 at halftime at 38-29. Northwestern continued their run in the second half and got the game to within 47-40 before Illinois started pulling away and eventually went on to defeat the Wildcats 77-62. The defense stepped up when it needed to in the second half and even though Illinois did blow that big lead, they made sure Northwestern would not steal this game from them. Illinois got great play out of all the starters, as they all reached double figures. Wolfe busted out of the game with the first 8pts, but was quite after that. Koundoul pretty much could not be stopped down low and it seemed a lot of times Northwestern would get confused and lose a guy here and there for an easy layup for the Illini. Illinois now hosts Wisconsin for the next game, usually they are a pretty good team, but right now they are only 6-5. Michigan seems to be the surprising team in the Big 10. Last year, they finished with around 10-12 wins and yet this year last I checked, they were 11-1, but unranked. Michigan, Minnesota, & Michigan St. will probably be the toughest challenge for Illinois in the conference.

Stats

Illinois

Koundoul-16pts, 3rebs, 3blks
Yeager-13pts, 3rebs, 5ast, 6stl
Wolfe-12pts, 4rebs, 4ast, 4stl, 2-3 3pt
Duffy-11pts, 3rebs, 2ast
Shepard-10pts, 5rebs, 4ast, 3stl

Northwestern

Matthews PG-14pts, 3ast
Allison SG-14pts, 4rebs, 3stl
Boatner PF-11pts, 6rebs, 4ast

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets tough win vs Wisconsin

Illinois finally got a game it had been looking for. Wisconsin came into Illinois and gave everything they had and more, and really challenged the Illini, but fell 88-79. This game wasn't decided however until about a minute to go in the game. It was just a four point game, 83-79, with 1:30 to play but Wisconsin couldn't make the plays down the stretch to get it closer and Illinois made their freethrows to seal the win. Wisconsin led at the half 41-34 and had as much as a 46-36 lead before Illinois went on a 20-2 run. Illinois also led by 10, 65-55 before Wisconsin put on a run of their own to pull it closer. I was really happy with the way Duffy stepped up today, it seemed like he scored almost every time he got in the post and also made his freethrows. Yeager was spectacular as always, scoring 23pts and hitting the freethrows at the end. The Illini's record is now 16-1 and they now have grabbed the top rating in the polls, thanks to two losses apiece to UCLA & California. Minnesota is ranked 5th with a 15-2 record.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-23pts, 3rebs, 5ast, 4stl, 9-12 fgs, 1-3 3pt, 4-4 ft
Duffy-18pts, 2rebs, 2stl
Shepard-16pts, 4rebs, 4ast
Wolfe-15pts, 4rebs, 2ast, 3stl
Koundoul-9pts, 5rebs, 3blks

Wisconsin

Ramelli PG-18pts, 4ast, 4stl
Gary SF-17pts, 8rebs, 2ast
Fullove C-14pts, 9rebs

Stat of the game- Wisconsin outrebounds Illinois 41-20

[GeorgiaTechFan4Life]

Man, you're averaging about a game an hour. Nice. I can't wait for my Spring Break. It comes the week after next. I will be playing and updating like crazy, you have my word.

[GeorgiaTechFan4Life]

Oh, and how long are your minutes?

[GateGamer]

He's doing 15 minutes a half.

[GeorgiaTechFan4Life]

Okay. In my legacy I am doing 20 minutes but I decided that is too long now because I am getting pretty high scores. Not like in the 100s but scores like 97-86.

[vikingfan1]

Man, you're averaging about a game an hour. Nice. I can't wait for my Spring Break. It comes the week after next. I will be playing and updating like crazy, you have my word.


Yeah, I am really playing a lot since its my spring break, haha. I worked tonight, but I do have a game to post here a little later and I will probably play 2-3 more tonight, and give you updates.

[vikingfan1]

Okay. In my legacy I am doing 20 minutes but I decided that is too long now because I am getting pretty high scores. Not like in the 100s but scores like 97-86.


Sadly, I average 84 a game and thats playing 15min halves, lol. My highest is 107 against Eastern Kentucky.

[guckin1989]

Teams sometimes do avg in the mid 80's it is common. But nice posts man keep up the good work. And by the way 20 minute halves arent too long. I avg about 70 pts with 20 minute halves. Just milk the clock more.

[vikingfan1]

After close first half, Illinois runs away from Purdue

Illinois was getting a pretty good challenge from Purdue, especially in the first half, but that did not last long. Even when Purdue got the last basket to end the half and momentum on their side it didn't matter because Illinois came out smoking and after the 41-36 halftime lead for the Illini, they quickly pushed it to 49-36 and cruised from that point on. Weakness was still our rebounding and inside play, Carpenter (C) for Purdue ate us up in the first half and thats why they were able to keep it close but we did a nice job in the second half to limit his scoring and win 78-52. Illinois travels to Penn St. (5-10) to end the week before they travel to Michigan St. and then host Michigan.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-19pts, 3rebs, 5ast, 4stl
Duffy-17pts, 9rebs, 5stl
Koundoul-13pts, 3rebs, 2stl
Shepard-11pts, 4rebs, 4ast, 2stl
Wolfe-10pts, 4rebs, 2ast, 4stl

Purdue

Carpenter C-18pts, 10rebs (14 1st half points)
Kouyata SG-10pts, 2rebs, 2stl

Stat of the game

ILL outscores Purdue 37-16 in 2nd half.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois steals a game @ Penn St

This is a game we probably should not have won, and looked like we weren't going to win at all. Penn St. led at the half 46-39 and led by as much as 57-43. Penn St. had a 12pt lead with less then 4 min to go, but Illinois started rallying around who else?? Yeager, after a 15 point first half which pretty much kept the Illini in the game, it didn't look like he was going to be very affective in the second half, but he caught fire during the rally and the rest of the players stepped up. Even with Illinois coming back, Penn St. was focused and was not ready to give up this game. It was back and forth the final minute before Yeager faked a shot at the top of the key, drove the lane and slammed it for the 80-79 lead, Illini's defense came through at the end and because Penn St. was not in the bonus yet, they ran out of time trying to foul the Illini. Illinois remains the #1 team in the nation with a record of 18-1. Illinois travels to Michigan St. which will not be easy.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-30pts, 2rebs, 3ast, 6stl, 14-22fgs
Shepard-16pts, 4stl
Koundoul-13pts, 6rebs, 2stl, 3blks
Duffy-11pts, 6rebs, 4ast, 5stl, 2blks

Penn St.

Hendry C-25pts, 13rebs, 2blks
Reese PG-12pts, 5astl, 4stl
Morales SG-12pts, 2rebs, 3ast

Stat of the game

Penn St. bench outscores the Illini bench 19-5.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois pulls away from Michigan St. after close game at half

It seems the Illini play much better in the second half of the game then in the first half, in which realistically thats what you look for, but you want to make sure your not down by a lot at the end of the first half so you can try to make a game of it in the second half.:D Illinois was tied at the half 39-39. Illinois didn't get much scoring other then Yeager & Shepard, but the defense was pretty solid overall and Illinois was able to pick up the victory 72-62 at Michigan St. Illinois will play Michigan (14-5) at home and then the next week will host Ohio St. and travel to Indiana. Every Big Ten fan and a lot outsiders are looking forward to the Feb 10th game when Illinois will travel to #4 Minnesota (16-3) for a battle between the two top teams in the conference. Illinois plays Minnesota again at home just a little over a week and a half later.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-19pts, 3ast, 4stl
Shepard-18pts, (16 1st half points)
Koundoul-8pts, 10rebs, 2ast, 2stl, 3blks
Duffy-8pts, 6rebs, 4stl

Michigan St.

Devonish SG-12pts, 2ast
Woodards PG-11pts, 3ast
Brooks SF-11pts, 6rebs, 2ast
Gooden C-8pts, 13rebs

Stat of the game

Turnovers- Mich St. 15, Illinois 3

[vikingfan1]

Illinois rallys LATE, beats Michigan by 1

The first half went Illinois way, the second half went all of Michigans way.....almost. Michigan clearly seemed to be taking a victory home with them back to Ann Arbor and improve their record to 15-5, but the Illini had one last late rally in them again. Illinois made one three pointer the entire game and it couldn't have come at a better time. Trailing 72-68 with under 10 sec to go, Illinois got the ball to Yeager who then hit a DEEP three pointer to put it within one point at 72-71. Shepard then stole the inbounds pass and layed it up for the lead!!! Illinois fans and players went crazy after that, but the game was not over. Michigan got one more chance to win the game but the shot was no good and the Illini get another close victory. Illinois went 1-11 on threes while Michigan was pumping them in a very rapid rate. Yeager seemed like the stud again but he only scored 11pts, the spotlight on this night belonged to the freshmen Duff who scored a career high 29pts and really kept the Illini in it all through the second half, he was amazing! They were a much improved ball team from a year ago when they only finished somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-15 wins, if even that. Illinois will now host Ohio St. who will come ready to play.

Stats

Duffy-29pts, 4rebs, 11-18fgs, 7-10fts
Yeager-11pts, 3ast, 2stl
Shepard-11pts, 2rebs, 5ast, 3stl
Koundoul-10pts, 6rebs, 2ast, 2stl

Michigan

Baker SF-27pts, 4rebs, 10-14fgs, 5-8 3pt, 2-2 ft
Garcia C- 14pts, 13rebs
Iversen SG-10pts, 2rebs, 2ast

Stat of the game

Michigan 11/22 3pt, Illinois 1/11

[vikingfan1]

Young Ohio St. team has a good showing, but not enough

I was very surprised when I saw how many underclassmen Ohio St. had on their team, especially in the starting lineup. Ohio St. would not go away and at times lead the game for certain periods of time, but Illini were able to escape the Buckeyes and win at home 82-73, freethrows is about the only thing that set this game apart. Ohio St. started 2 or 3 freshmen and then had another freshmen come off the bench to give them some great minutes, this Ohio St. team is going to be a force in the Big Ten in the next 2-3 years if all the freshmen stay. Yeager had the hot hand as he poured in 25 points including 8-10 from the freethrow line. Illinois is currently 21-1 and still holds the number 1 overall ranking. I play Indiana @ Indiana next and after I post how that game went, I will post the 3 polls (coach, media, mid-major) and list the rest of Illini's schedule.

Stats

Yeager-25pts, 3ast, 3stl 8-10 ft
Koundoul-16pts, 7rebs
Duffy-15pts, 7rebs, 3stl, 2blks
Shepard-12pts, 2rebs

Ohio St.

Randall SF-16pts, 2rebs, 2ast (freshmen)
Fearing PF-14pts, 7rebs (freshmen)
Sarchet PF-13pts, 9rebs, 6ast
Ba SG-11pts (freshmen)

Stat of the game

ILL was 18/22 from the freethrow line, Ohio St. just 4/4.

[vikingfan1]

Indiana snaps #1 Illinois 17 game winning streak

I knew this was going to be a tough road game for us, Indiana is always a hostile environment and nearly impossible place to win at. Indiana came out smoking early and often, and they in complete control of this game for nearly the entire game. Illinois kept it halfway close in the first half, but with about 5 min to go in the half Indiana starting pulling away and it only got worse. Illinois was down 52-28 going into halftime, and as much as 55-28 early in the second half. The sad thing is, Yeager was hitting very well in this game, just not enough. Yeager scored a career high 40 points and rallied his team (pretty much by himself) all the way back to make a game of it at the end. The closests Illinois got once they were down 27 points was 1, at 82-81 but then Indiana hit a big three pointer with under a minute remaining and that was pretty much the difference as Indiana won 90-84. I am very very proud of Yeager, this kid never ever gives up and plays his hardest all the time, I wish ALL the guys on this team did that, im not saying they never do or trying to put them down in anyway, but if Yeager would have had just a little bit more help then I am confident that Illinois would have been able to pull out the victory. Illinois is still ranked #1 with a record of 21-2. Illinois now has two games at home against Penn St. and Michigan St. After those two games, they will go to #3 Minnesota (18-3).

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-40pts, 4ast, 4stl, 17-30fgs, 6-15 3pt
Duffy-11pts, 5rebs, 5stl, 2blks
Clemmons-9pts, 2rebs
Koundoul-8pts, 7rebs

Indiana

Webb SG-20pts, 3rebs, 3ast (freshmen)
Tripplett C-19pts, 10rebs (freshmen)
Dilligard PF-16pts, 8rebs
Singelton PG-15pts, 3ast, 2stl

Stat of the game

Rebounds- Indiana 35, Illinois 18
Fouls- Illinois 20, Indiana 5

[GeorgiaTechFan4Life]

Wow...

Yeager with 40 points. And their freshman killed you.

I noticed the fouls too. On this game, they never call fouls on the other team...

[vikingfan1]

Top 25 Media Poll

1. Illinois 21-2
2. St. Joe's 15-3
3. Minnesota 18-3
4. Florida 15-5
5. USC 14-4
6. California 15-5
7. Uconn 18-3
8. Duke 16-5
9. Florida St. 15-6
10. Syracuse 15-4
11. UCLA 15-4
12. LSU 18-3
13. Texas 14-4
14. Rutgers 15-5
15. Oregon 15-5
16. UNLV 15-4
17. Missouri St. 19-3
18. Kansas St. 14-5
19. Cincinatti 15-6
20. Utah 16-5
21. Auburn 13-5
22. Washington St. 15-6
23 Vanderbilt 14-6
24. NC State 14-6
25 New Mexico 15-5

[vikingfan1]

Wow...

Yeager with 40 points. And their freshman killed you.

I noticed the fouls too. On this game, they never call fouls on the other team...

Ya, Yeager had an awesome game! Their freshmen were pretty good, as was Ohio St's freshmen, both of those teams are going to be killers in the upcoming years. I had to foul at the end, so thats probably what made it worse on the fouls, but they still called a lot of cheap fouls on me and hardly any on them.

[GeorgiaTechFan4Life]

Top 25 Media Poll

1. Illinois 21-2
2. St. Joe's 15-3
3. Minnesota 18-3
4. Florida 15-5
5. USC 14-4
6. California 15-5
7. Uconn 18-3
8. Duke 16-5
9. Florida St. 15-6
10. Syracuse 15-4
11. UCLA 15-4
12. LSU 18-3
13. Texas 14-4
14. Rutgers 15-5
15. Oregon 15-5
16. UNLV 15-4
17. Missouri St. 19-3
18. Kansas St. 14-5
19. Cincinatti 15-6
20. Utah 16-5
21. Auburn 13-5
22. Washington St. 15-6
23 Vanderbilt 14-6
24. NC State 14-6
25 New Mexico 15-5

You like to play a lot of early games don't you? I mean you have played 23 games and most teams have barely hit 20. You are still #1 after that game so that is good. How are you doing recruiting wise?

[vikingfan1]

You like to play a lot of early games don't you? I mean you have played 23 games and most teams have barely hit 20. You are still #1 after that game so that is good. How are you doing recruiting wise?


Playing and winning the Preseason NIT is the difference, thats 3 extra games right there as long as you keep winning. I will post how my recruiting is going in my next post.

[GeorgiaTechFan4Life]

Okay I see.

[vikingfan1]

RECRUITING

What ILL needs- ILL needs a definite center next year because they will be losing Koundoul. Peters will be returning for his senior year at the center position but the bad thing is with him is that he doesn't score a lot. He does however play pretty good defense and is an excellent rebounder. ILL also needs a power forward and a shooting because they will be losing Dawn (SG) and Mayer (PF). I also have a strong feeling that ILL will need a point guard because Yeager will most likely be entering the draft after this year. ILL has four scholarships to offer.

Signings

3* Bruce Gardner-
Height-6'5
Wt-202
Class- HS Sr
Pos- SF
Hometown-Toronto, ON
OVR-203

Grades-
Offense- B+
Shooting-C+
Rebounding- B+
Hustle-B
Leaping-B
Quickiness-B
Intelligence-A
Potential-B+

Recruit Discription-
Best Attribute-Steal (A-)
2nd- Layup (B-)
3rd- Defense Awareness-(B-)
Highest Tendency- Drive (46)
2nd- shot Med (35)

Final Thoughts- Even though he is a 3 star, I feel very confident he will come in next year being rated higher then 75 and do very good things for us. He has some pretty impressive grades for just a 3 star and he will help out the team a lot next year as a freshmen.

Targets

4* Thomas Woodard
Height- 6'5
WT- 184
Class- HS Sr
Pos-SG
Hometown-Morgantown, WV
OVR: 27, POS: 6
Offense-B
Shooting-A
Rebounding-B-
Hustle-B+
Leaping-A-
Quickness-B
Intelligence-A
Potential-B-

Priorities-
1-Being close to home
2. Playing at a big program
3. Getting good coaching
He is not concerned with playing time.

Final Thoughts- He is at 98% for ILL right now and I have offered him a scholarship but I highly doubt he comes because he is 4th on the list of schools for ILL and other schools above me have offered, but anything can happen. It would be really nice to have him at shooting guard next year for a good backup.

3* Taquan Clement
Height-6'10
WT-220
Class-HS Sr
Pos-C
Hometown-Longview, Texas
OVR-125, Pos-20
Offense-A
Shooting-C+
Rebounding-A
Hustle-C+
Leaping-C+
Quickness-B+
Intelligence-B+
Potential-B+

Priorities-
1. Good Coaching
2. Playing at a big program
3. Feeling Wanted
Not concerned with getting playing time.

Final Thoughts- I should be able to get him. I have offered and I am 100% and also tied with Texas Tech but I am the only school to offer him a scholarship. I think if I cannot get a 4 or 5 star Center for next year, this guy can come and either start or play behind Peters and eventually get into the starting lineup. 6'10 may not be that big for a center but I usually do have a pretty small team but it would be nice to have another 7 footer or bigger, maybe sometime down the road.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets stunned at home, loses in double overtime to Penn St

Coming into this game I was a little worried how my guys would respond after losing a tough game at Indiana in which I was down by as much as 27 points but battled back before losing by six points. If you remember the last time I played Penn St., it was a battle in which Illinois won 80-79 in which I believe Yeager won it on pretty much a last second shot and scored 30 points. So I knew Penn St. wanted revenge after beating them on their home court, and they certainly got it today against us. Rebounding was the biggest difference in the game and it all went in favor of Penn St. They outrebounded the Illini 65-29 as their twin tower 7 footers each had 21 apeice. Illinois trailed the majority of this game but they sucked it up in the second half to take several leads, their biggest was 65-60 but Penn St. came right back to tie it up at 67. Penn St. had the last opportunity to win it in regulation but the shot was missed and we headed into overtime. ILL came right out of the overtime pumped up and scoring the first four points, I thought we'd be in good shape but Penn St. just kept battling back to tie or take the lead, mostly on offensive put backs because my guys could not rebound.

In overtime, we were up 80-77 with under 20 seconds to go when Penn St. nailed a three pointer to tie the game up. We put the ball in Yeagers hands, although he was struggling that day on shooting he was getting a lot of assits and we felt comfortable putting the ball in the All-Americans hand and let him try to win it for us. Yeager got a really nice looking shot at the freethrow line but it was no good so we headed into another overtime. The second overtime Penn St really took control of the game but my guys battled back but just could not get the key rebounds and stops for us to pull out the victory. We had one last shot to tie or win the game but Wolfe airballed a three pointer at the buzzer and that was that.

Overall, I was dissapointed that we lost, after winning 17 straight ILL has dropped two in a row and the schedule only gets harder down the road as they play Michigan St. at home and then travel to #3 Minnesota. My guys were just to tired down the stretch and that also hurt them a lot, I believe Wolfe was the only starter who wasn't that tired playing, everyon else needed blows but they understood that they had to be out in the game. I was proud of the guys for giving a great effort and never backing down, and I tip my hat to Penn St for a wonderful showing and a game they won't soon forget. Final score was 90-88 in 2OT.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-20pts, 9ast, 2stl, 9-22fgs, 1-10 3pt
Shepard-19pts, 3rebs, 7stl, 6-21fgs, 3-10 3pt
Koundoul- 12pts, 6rebs, 2blks, 5-12fgs
Wolfe-11pts, 3ast, 2stl
Duffy-8pts, 8rebs, 4ast, 9stl

Penn St.

Hendry C-21pts, 21rebs
Haigler PF-18pts, 21rebs
Reese PG-15pts, 6ast, 2stl
Toole SF-11pts, 10rebs, 3ast

Stats of the game

Rebounding-65-29 in Penn Sts favor
Turnovers-23-5 in ILL's favor

[Twist of Lemon]

Ah, that Penn St sounds like a tough loss after going in to double over time. hopefully you maul the next team on the rebound lol

[vikingfan1]

Ah, that Penn St sounds like a tough loss after going in to double over time. hopefully you maul the next team on the rebound lol

I will post the summary tomorrow but I blew out Michigan St. 92-59. I beat them on the boards 33-21 which was awesome to see.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois back on winning track, smokes Michigan St

I wondered how the guys would respond after losing two games in a row and that a ton of confidence may have dropped from the team, but they quickly proved me wrong against Michigan St. Illinois raced out of the gate and was up 49-16 at the half, and cruised from that point on to the 92-59 win. My subs played the majority of the game, especially in the second half but they did not let up at all. I was glad to see we got back in the win column because we have a tough tough game coming up @ #9 Minnesota (18-5). Minnesota returns all starters except one, and they are all seniors and COF so they will be ready for this game. If you remember, Minnesota beat Illinois last season @ Illinois in a win that probably got them into the NCAA tourney. Illinois record is now 22-3 and still hold the #1 spot in the polls.

Stats

Illinois

Dawson-17pts, 2rebs, 3ast
Clemmons-14pts, 4rebs
Mayer-12pts, 9rebs
Koundoul-12pts, 5rebs
Yeager-12pts, 4ast

Michigan St.

Brooks SF-14pts, 8rebs, 5stl
Devonish SG-12pts, 2ast, 3stl
Gooden PF-10pts, 5rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Quinn C-10pts, 7rebs, 3ast

Stat of the game

Illinois outrebounds Michigan St. 33-21

[vikingfan1]

Illinois outlasts #9 Minnesota in overtime

This game was headed for a blowout in Minnesota's favorite, nothing was going right for the Illini at any point during the first half and much of the second half. Illinois trailed 42-27 at the half and as much as 54-33 in the second half. Duffy was about the only one scoring and I knew if he would just have a little bit of help that we could make a run at Minnesota and maybe steal this game. Yeager was held scoreless for all of the first half and even the first 3-4 minutes of the second half, then he came unglued. Yeager, along with Duffy rallied the Illini all the way back but it still looked as if it was not going to be enough. Down 75-70 5.4 sec to go, Yeager was fouled on a three pointer. He made all three of his freethrows and then Shepard stole the inbounds pass and layed it up to tie the game at 75 with 2.1 sec left. Minnesota missed a long shot at the end and we headed into overtime, feeling pretty good about our chances.

In overtime, Illinois completely took control and always seemed like they were going to win it, even when Minnesota would make little spurts and get it closer, Illinois always had an answer. Up 86-80 with under a minute to go, I was very surprised to see that Minnesota did not foul to try to get the ball back even though we were making our freethrows. Instead they chose to play defense and it burned them. Yeager made them pay with a deep three pointer that sealed the game, and the Illini win 95-84, outscoring Minnesota 48-33 in the second half, and 20-8 in the overtime. Even if we had lost this game, I wouldn't of felt so bad, unless we got beat by 30 or something, then my team would definitly be losing some confidence. Minnesota is a great team and they will be a tough out next week when they come to Champaign looking for some revenge. Hopefully we meet in the Big Ten Championship game as well, that would be nice to see.

Stats

Illinois

Duffy-30pts, 10rebs, 12-18fgs, 6-8fts
Yeager-28pts, 4ast, 5stl, 7-13fgs, 12-13fts

Minnesota

Pitta PG-18pts, 2rebs, 5ast, 3stl
Dawson SG-18pts, 2rebs, 1ast
Pittman C- 14pts, 12rebs

Stat of the game

Freethrows- 10/13 Minnesota, 22/28 Illinois

[GateGamer]

I lot of OT games, I like it. Penn State looks like they have a nice club, hopefully you can beat them in the conference tourney. Minnesota is another tough team, I'd like to know your rank after the end of the week.

[vikingfan1]

If anyone else would like to know more about my Legacy or anyone wanting me to maybe add a few other things in my Legacy please let me know.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets demolished on the road at the hands of Ohio St

The scoreboard may have only said Ohio St. 92, Illinois 80 but this game was not even close. Ohio St. jumped out yet again right off the bat and built a 45-26 lead at the half. This time, their was no Illini comeback, at least not all the way back to get it into overtime or win it. The closests Illinois got was 10 points and that was because they started getting steals off their press and getting layups or three pointers out of them, that is the only way they made this game look respectable. It felt like and pretty much was a 30 point blowout. Ohio St. had a 77-46 lead in the second half and the Illini were just stunned. Surprisingly, Illinois still holds the #1 ranking in the nation at 23-4. Illinois has the best record by far in the nation and that is probably why they still hold the top ranking.

I must say though, it certainly does not feel like we are the #1 team and we are definitly NOT playing like it. I don't know where this team went wrong but if we don't get back on track right now, we are going to lose early in the conference tournament and early in the NCAA tournament, even as early as the second round. The balanced scoring is there, but the defense and rebounding is terrible and that is whats losing us these games. We started out the season 21-1 and now we have lost 3 out of our last 5 games. This is not the time where you want to be in a bad slump. We only have four regular season games left before the conference tournament, if we don't start playing well right now, the season is over and we won't get anything.

Our next game we host #6 Minnesota (20-6) and the last time we battled back from being down big in the second half to forcing overtime and eventually win by 9. Minnesota will be out for revenge and wanting to beat us bad, even though the game is at Illinois, if we don't bring our "A" game in this one, it is going to be another embarrassing loss.

Note: Bracketology has Illinois #1 seed in the Washington Regional and has Minnesota has the #2 seed.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-17pts, 4ast, 3stl
Shepard-17pts, 3rebs, 4-8 3pt
Duffy-13pts, 5rebs, 3ast, 4stl
Wolfe-11pts
Koundoul-10pts, 5rebs, 4blks

Ohio St.

Fearing PF-16pts, 10rebs
Randall SF-15pts, 3rebs
Bowen SG-9pts
Ba SG-9pts, 5rebs, 2ast
Spear C-9pts, 8rebs, 3ast
Sommers PG-8pts, 7ast, 2stl

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets BIG win over #6 Minnesota

This win was HUGE for us. Illinois and Minnesota traded shots back and forth during the first half and Illinois led 37-32 at the break. The second half was all Illinois as they were up by as much as 19 points and looked like the Illini of old as they win 73-59 in Champaign. Pretty good balanced scoring again but it was the defense that came through for the Illini in this game. Illinois was on their game on the defensive end and forced 18 Gopher turnovers. Yeager & Shepard shared the spotlight as they both poured in 20 points in the victory. I was very happy the way Illinois came out and hung right with Minnesota to start the game, here recently we had been starting off games terribly and getting down double digits nearly five minutes into the game, but not today. Illinois had an eight point lead nearly secured at halftime but Minnesota made a push to cut it to five points, that was something I expected from a great team.

The second half was just complete domination as Illinois never let Minnesota get back in the game once they got a big lead. They also shot very well from the freethrow line (12-16) and Illinois is an 80% freethrow shooting team, so you have to like their chances in late game freethrow shooting with the game on the line. Illinois finishes its regular season with a home game vs Northwestern then travel to Iowa & Purdue to finish out the regular season. Illinois is now 24-4 (10-3) and will pretty much win the conference outright because Minnesota is now 21-7 (8-5) and Illinois holds the tiebreaker, beating them twice.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-20pts, 2ast, 4stl
Shepard-20pts, 2rebs
Duffy-12pts, 3rebs, 2stl

Minnesota

Conley SF-12pts, 8rebs, 3ast, 2blks
Pittman C-12pts, 6rebs
Pitta PG-10pts, 4rebs, 4ast

[samoka10]

do you play the game or coach?, what mode do you play on and what year are u in?, do you play the guys that are there or do you favor the guys you recruited more? Is yours an open or career legacy?

[GateGamer]

I'll answer some...

Plays the games; 10th year; doesn't have any more none recruited; open.

[vikingfan1]

do you play the game or coach?, what mode do you play on and what year are u in?, do you play the guys that are there or do you favor the guys you recruited more? Is yours an open or career legacy?

Gamer pretty much nailed it. I play 15 min halves on All-American difficulty. I adjusted the layup success and the close shot success some but those are the only sliders I have messed with. My subs are automatic so everyone gets playing time no matter what, and I like getting my whole team invovled, it makes it a lot funner that way.

[vikingfan1]

Northwestern no match for Illinois

This was another good game by the Illini today, I was very happy to see that we didn't let Northwestern in the game at all, which was a good thing because last time I don't think we beat them by a whole lot at their place. The big men for Illinois showed up today to combine for 24 points and 10 rebounds. I hope to see that kind of effort in the Big Ten Conference Tourney and in the NCAA Tourney. The final score saw Illinois winning 66-32. It may have been more low scoring then the Illini wanted, but they will take the victory anyway that they can, and holding Northwestern to 32 points for the entire game is pretty impressive. Illinois will now finish up the regular season at Iowa and at Purdue.

Stats

Illinois

Koundoul-14pts, 7rebs
Duffy-10pts, 3rebs
Clemmons-9pts, 6rebs
Yeager-8pts, 2ast

Northwestern

Matthews PG-10pts, 3stl
Boatner SF-9pts

Stat of the game

Rebounds- ILL 29-17

[vikingfan1]

Illinois drops tough game at Iowa

This was a very tough loss to take, I felt that we should have won this game but I knew Iowa would be very tough on their home floor. Illinois started off very strong in the game but faded towards the end of the half and Iowa was able to go on a big run to finish the half up 33-25. It also hurt the Illini that Yeager was in foul trouble the entire game and eventually fouled out. Illinois played pretty good defense for the most part, but Iowa was hitting anything and with the game tied at 59 with under two minutes to play, Iowa went on a 7-0 run and that was the difference as Iowa went on to win. Illinois has to go on the road again to play Purdue in which they have beat before. The Illini are STILL the #1 team in the nation with a record of 25-5 and according to bracketology they are still a number 1 seed in the Washington Regional but Minnesota has moved out of that bracket and into another one.

Stats

Illinois

Duffy-18pts, 2rebs, 3stl, 2blks
Shepard-16pts, 2rebs, 6stl
Yeager-13pts, 3ast, 3stl
Koundoul-6pts, 9rebs, 5blks

Iowa

Wofford C-17pts, 11rebs
Francis PG-14pts, 3rebs, 3ast
Munez SG-11pts, 3rebs, 3ast

Stat of the game

Rebounds- Iowa 44, Illinois 21

[Twist of Lemon]

aha, good to hear you blew out Northwestern, I have my next game against them in Legacy hopefully I can get a game like that to lol

[vikingfan1]

aha, good to hear you blew out Northwestern, I have my next game against them in Legacy hopefully I can get a game like that to lol

LOL Well it may be a little tougher for you since you don't have as good as team as I have.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois handles Purdue with ease, wins last regular season game

Illinois gets the easy victory against Purdue, they led the entire game and was never really challenged past the first half. Illinois got the victory 87-55. Everyone from Illinois got involved and the bench put up 32 points, the second highest they have scored I believe this season so that was very nice to see. Illinois still got outrebounded but only by three and Illini's press killed Purdue the most and they coughed up the ball 17 times. I will post the Big Ten Conference Tourney matchups and results soon, Illinois will play the winner of Michigan & Northwestern.

Stats

Illinois

Shepard-14pts, 4rebs
Yeager-12pts, 3rebs, 2ast, 3stl
Koundoul-12pts, 4rebs
Duffy-9pts, 3rebs
Clemmons-9pts, 5rebs, 2stl

Purdue

Nelson PG-16pts, 3stl
Carpenter C-11pts, 8rebs

[vikingfan1]

BIG TEN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

Matchups

First Round-

Michigan vs Northwestern

Winner plays #1 Illinois

Iowa vs Penn St.

Winner plays #3 Minnesota

Wisconsin vs Purdue

Winner plays Wisconsin

[vikingfan1]

BIG TEN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

1st Round Results

Michigan 51
Northwestern 45

Michigan vs #1 Illinois

Iowa 59
Penn St. 44

Iowa vs #3 Minnesota

Wisconsin 73
Purdue 66

Wisconsin vs Ohio St.

Indiana vs Michigan St.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois moves on to semis with convincing win over Michigan

This was a very good game by the Illini, smothering Michigan all day long and not letting them get anything easy. Michigan tried to play man to man defense (most opponents play zone) but they were unable to stop or even slow down the Illini with that, they should have changed defenses during the game but never did. Dawson had a big game off the bench to lead the Illini in scoring with 15. Besides Dawson-Koundoul, Shepard, & Yeager all reached double figures and Duffy right behind them with 9. Illinois was up 40-29 at the half and they were up 59-39 when the starters came out for good wih about four minutes to go in the game. Our subs kind of had a let down but only for a brief moment, then they jacked the score right back up to 70-53 and Illini goes on for the victory 81-66. Illinois will now play Indiana in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. Indiana beat the Illini by 6 in Bloomington in the only meeting of the season, but Indiana was up nearly 30 the entire game before Illinois went on a late run to close the gap. Let hope Illinois can get revenge on Indiana and beat them to advance to the conference finals.

Stats

Illinois

Dawson-15pts, 3rebs, 2stl
Koundoul-12pts, 3rebs, 2blks
Shepard-11pts, 4rebs, 2ast, 3stl
Yeager-10pts, 3rebs, 4ast, 2stl
Duffy-9pts, 2stl, 2blks

Michigan

Baker SF-15pts, 6rebs
Nutter PG-12pts, 3rebs, 4ast
Waleskowksi SF-12pts, 12rebs, 4ast
Iversen SG-11pts, 3rebs

Stat of the game

Bench Points-ILL 33, Michigan 12

[vikingfan1]

BIG TEN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

Quarterfinal Results

Illinois 81
Michigan 66

Indiana 63
Michigan St. 48

Illinois vs Indiana-Semifinals

Iowa 55
Minnesota 44

Ohio St. 53
Wisconsin 45

Iowa vs Ohio St.-Semifinals

[Towncryer3921]

I started an open franchise and here are my results thus far.

*Overall record (conference tournament record) (NCAA tournament record) (NIT)


Buffalo 2019-2020 32-5 (2-1) (6-0) (0-0) NCAA National Champions
Buffalo 2018-2019 30-6 (3-0) (3-1) (0-0) NCAA Elite 8
Buffalo 2017-2018 19-14 (4-0) (0-1) (0-0) NCAA round 1
Buffalo 2016-2017 19-10 (0-1) (0-1) (0-0) NCAA round 1
Buffalo 2015-2016 13-15 (0-1) (0-0) (0-0) ------------------------------------
Buffalo 2014-2015 17-12 (0-1) (0-0) (0-0) ------------------------------------
Buffalo 2013-2014 14-19 (3-1) (0-0) (0-0) ------------------------------------
Oakland 2012-2013 12-17 (0-1) (0-0) (0-0) ------------------------------------
Oakland 2011-2012 13-16 (0-1) (0-0) (0-0) ------------------------------------
Oakland 2010-2011 11-17 (0-1) (0-0) (0-0) ------------------------------------
Oakland 2009-2010 18-11 (1-1) (0-0) (0-0) ------------------------------------
Oakland 2008-2009 18-10 (2-1) (0-0) (0-0) ------------------------------------
Northern Colorado 2007-2008 16-13 (0-1) (0-0) (0-1) NIT round 1
Northern Colorado 2006-2007 12-17 (1-1) (0-0) (0-0) ------------------------------------


Over all record: 244-182
Conference Tournaments: 16-10
NIT tournament 0-1
NCAA Tournament 9-3

I have won 3 regular season titles
I have won 2 conference title
I have won 1 NCAA National Championship

I was just hired as the Kentcky head coach

[vikingfan1]

Illinois wins a thriller over Indiana in double overtime, moves on to face Ohio St. in Big Ten Championship game

Wow is all I have to say, this game was AMAZING!! This is one of those games you wish you could save and go back and watch it over and over and over again. Both teams never backed down, never got a big lead, and never lost their composure in probably this years BEST game. We got out a terrific start, our biggest in this game was 10, and that was early in the game at 32-22. I had a good feeling coming into this game that we would pay back Indiana for the beat down they gave us earlier in the season and spoil their Big Ten Champions dream. Indiana fought back every time we made a run, including having a 35-34 lead late in the first half, but it would brief. Illinois answered quickly and all of the sudden Indiana found themselves down 39-35 at the break.

The second half was about as back and forth as your ever going to get between two teams, not one leading by more then six points. As good as we were playing, Indiana had leads on us in the second half and was leading late 71-68 with under two to play, and sometimes we don't execute very good in late game situations and I think thats why we have had some of those losses in the final few minutes of play this season. We executed very well down the stretch and forced overtime 75-75, but that was only the beginning.

The first overtime was again back and forth for most of the way through, until we built an 89-81 lead and it seemed like they were finally going to pull away and win this game, but we had another thing coming. Missed freethrows were the key for the first overtime as we could have ended it but missed way to many and Indiana capatlized big time. The bad thing was for us, is that we had Yeager & Duffy on the line and they are both OUTSTANDING freethrow shooters but they struggled in this game big time, Yeager mostly struggled going I think 6-14 for the game. Indiana started bombing threes when they had to, and they went in, 3 after 3 after 3. I couldn't believe how many they were making and with the score 95-93 with under 10 sec to go, Yeager had a chance to seal the game, but could not do it. He made 1 of 2 and that set Indiana up for a game tying three at 96-96 with just three seconds left. Yeager missed the long shot and we headed into yet another overtime.

In this overtime, I was very worried because we had to bring in Joiner, Peters, and Dawson because our starters were very tired, not to mention that Duffy & Koundoul had been playing with 4 fouls ever since the first overtime started, but yet neither of them fouled out of the game. Indiana won the tip but could not score on the first possession of the overtime, and Joiner came down for us and got a three point play right off the bat that put us up 99-96. Indiana cut it to one with a basket and that was the closets they got the rest of the game. We finally took control in the overtime, ok....so YEAGER took control in the overtimes and helped us get the win as he made some crucial freethrows down the stretch and was just simply on fire throughout the entire game, he was game high scorer with 44 points, a new career high. His previous career high was 40 points against this excact same Indiana team that eventually beat us in the only meeting we had with them in the regular season. Illinois won the game 117-108 and this was definitly not the best defensive game in the world, lol but I do believe it was probably the most intense game you will see this season. A battle between two conference rivals for the right to play in the Big Ten championship. For Indiana, they wanted to sweep us twice in the season and for us, we wanted revenge, it was nice to get this win today and now we have Ohio St., a team that also beat us pretty handily at their place.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-44pts, 5ast, 7stl, 17-28fgs, 4-9 3pt, 6-14 ft
Wolfe-16pts, 10rebs, 4ast, 3stl
Shepard-14pts, 3rebs, 3ast, 2stl
Koundoul-14pts, 7rebs, 4stl
Duffy-11pts, 7rebs, 2ast, 2stl

Indiana

Dilligard PF-28pts, 14rebs, 7ast, 2blks
Webb SG-24pts, 6rebs, 5ast
John SF-20pts, 8rebs
Tripplett C-18pts, 13rebs, 2ast, 3stl

Stat of the game

Turnovers- 25-6 ILL favor
2nd chance points- 33-16 IND favor

[vikingfan1]

BIG TEN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

Semifinal Results

Illinois 117
Indiana 106 Double OT

Ohio St. 64
Iowa 55

Illinois vs Ohio St. for the Championship!

[Melo15AI3Nuggets]

nice job21

[vikingfan1]

Illinois blows over Ohio St., wins Big Ten Championship

Going into this game, I knew we had a lot of momentum because of the thrilling win over Indiana, but I didn't think we had this much momentum. After a close, low scoring first half with the score 30-28 in our favor, we took off in the second half and just smoked Ohio St. in every way possible. Our bench was the biggest difference in the game. When our starters went out we had a nice lead and our bench just bumped up that lead by quite a bit and we went on to beat Ohio St. 87-45, only giving 17 second half points, it was truely a very impressive defensive game and we really needed that. Ohio St. is now on the bubble with a 19-13 record. We are very confident now and playing very well that we can make a deep run in the postseason as we grabbed the #1 overall seed. We will play the winner of Western Kentucky and Missouri-Kansas City out of the Mid-Con. The other number one seeds were Rutgers, Flordia, & Flordia St.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-18pts, 3ast, 3stl
Wolfe-13pts, 3stl
Duffy-12pts, 5rebs, 6stl

Ohio St.

Bowen SG-14pts, 4rebs
Sarchet PF-8pts, 6rebs, 2stl
Randall SF-7pts, 12rebs, 2stl, 2blks

Stat of the game

Turnovers-35-10 in ILL favor
Bench Points-40-8 in ILL favor

[vikingfan1]

Illinois hammers Western Kentucky, moves on to the second round

Illinois had no problems at all as they beat Western Kentucky (14-20) 93-68 in the first round of the NCAA Tourney. Yeager led the way with 20 but the real story was the bench, coming up big again and outscoring Western Kentucky's bench 32-4. Clemmons led the bench with 11 points. Illinois also got another good game by their small forward, Wolfe. He has really been stepping up a lot here the last month or so of the season and he is just a junior so he will be a load next year. Illinois now will play 8th seed Texas A&M in the second right. If the Illini make it to the Elite 8 they could meet up with the #2 seed in their region....Minnesota Golden Gophers. Only us and the Gophers were the only Big Ten teams to make it to the tournament. I must say I was very surprised to see them in our region, I was certain we would be split up since we are both ranked in the Top 5 and could maybe meet in the Final four instead of Elite 8, but thats what the committee decided on and we have to just live with it and hope we meet Minnesota again. If we do meet them again, and happen to lose, we have to root for Minnesota to go all the way and win the National Championship because that would be a nice finish for the Big Ten.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-20pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 5stl
Wolfe-13pts, 2rebs
Shepard-12pts, 4stl
Clemmons-11pts
Duffy-9pts, 4rebs, 2stl

Western Kentucky

Bigelow SF-22pts, 5rebs, 3ast, 4stl, 2blks
Laurelin SF-13pts, 8rebs
Ireland C-12pts, 7rebs
Burton PG-11pts, 8ast, 3stl

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets scare vs Texas A&M, moves on to the Sweet 16

This was a pretty good Texas A&M team that we were playing, we were very fornuate to come away with the victory. We didn't play to bad really but they came out pretty aggressive and had some early leads, although they weren't very big leads. The biggest lead we got was 14 points about midway through the second half. Even though they came back, we never felt like we were going to lose the lead and completely choke down the stretch. Texas A&M cut our lead to four points with under a minute to go but we executed very well and was able to get the victory 81-70. Shepard really stepped up for us and scored a game high 21 points. I am glad we are moving on to the Sweet 16 and one step closer to our ulimate goal: A National Championship. We play 13# seed Bowling Green who upset #4 Louisville and then #5 Nebraska in the first two rounds, we definitly cant take them lightly. #2 Minnesota will play #3 Uconn in the other Regional Semifinal game.

Stats

Illinois

Shepard-21pts, 4rebs, 3ast, 2stl
Yeager-13pts, 3rebs, 6ast, 4stl
Duffy-11pts, 4rebs, 3ast, 2stl
Koundoul-11pts, 5rebs, 2stl

Texas A&M

Harris SG-20pts, 2stl
Bush PF-15pts, 9rebs, 3ast
Payne SF-10pts, 3rebs, 2ast

Stat of the game

Turnovers- Texas A&M 17, Illinois 9

[GateGamer]

I'm wondering every game what is going to happen; just keep on playing for it all.

[vikingfan1]

Bowling Green puts up good performance but not enough as the Illini are in the Elite 8

Bowling Green was probably the best 13 seed we have seen in quite some time and they hung right with us pretty much through the entire game, but they just ran out of gas. We took advantage of them getting tired and in the final 3-4 minutes we made a big run and went on for the victory 79-59 but it was hardly a 20 point contest. Our bench came up spectacular once again, outscoring Bowling Green's 23-5. Bowling Green didn't even play a 13 seed, they played like a team that has been to the tourney before and wasn't surprised to be in the Sweet 16, they came out very prepared and wanted to steal this game from us. I was happy with the way our guys played, I still felt we had some dumb turnovers and poor shot selection but overall we did a nice job on the boards and really cranked up the pressure on defense. Unfortunately, Minnesota was beaten by Uconn in the other regional semifinal so that is who we will play instead of a third game with Minnesota.

Some other tourney news, Saint Francis (PA) came into the tournament as a 16 seed and upset #1 Rutgers in the first round, and if that wasn't enough for you, they have pulled off TWO more wins to advance to the Elite 8 in their region. I don't remember who they play but we wish them luck as they are making history game by game.

Stats

Illinois

Wolfe-14pts, 4rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Duffy-14pts, 2rebs, 3blks
Shepard-12pts, 2ast, 3blks
Koundoul-8pts, 10rebs
Yeager-8pts, 2ast, 3stl

Bowling Green

Brady PG-19pts, 3rebs, 2stl
Touissiant SG-14pts, 3ast
Carmichael SF-10pts, 5rebs

[elprez98]

St. Francis sounds like an interesting side story. Keep us posted.

[vikingfan1]

Dawson shines as Illinois steamrolls UConn, advances to the Final Four

What is so special about how this game went is only one person scored in double figures the entire game, and that was Dawson. Dawson is a sophomore this year but is rated in the mid to high 80's and is a sharp shooter, but he does more then that. Today, when he got into the game he was all over the place and scored a game high and career high 25 points. Another thing that was so amazing and special about this is that we completely dominated Uconn for pretty much the whole game. It was 9-8 us early the first half and then we went on a big run to get up 26-12 and just never looked back. It was 48-26 at the half, and we just kept cruising along in the second half, building our lead higher and higher. The bench (besides Dawson) was awesome once again, scoring 25 points and really is the main reason we are going to the Final Four. If you don't have a good bench that can challenge your starters each and everyday at practice, then your not going to have a very good ball team. The bench has probably been the best it has been in a very long time. The final score was 83-49.

In the Final Four we will matchup with Boston College (27-9) and they are a 4 seed. Utah and Flordia St. will matchup in the other Final Four semifinal game. St. Francis (PA) lost by just five points in the Elite 8 vs Utah. Our team is playing very well right and we have a lot of confidence that we can get these last two games and win the National Championship, but it will be tough.

Stats

Illinois

Dawson-25pts, 2rebs
Yeager-9pts, 3ast, 2stl
Wolfe-9pts, 2rebs, 3ast

UCONN

Smalls SG-13pts, 3rebs
Archibald SF-10pts, 2rebs, 4ast
Brooks PG-9pts, 2rebs, 2ast

Stat of the game

Turnovers- Uconn 16, ILL 2
Bench Points- ILL 50, Uconn 10

[vikingfan1]

Illinois advances to the title game with win over Boston College

This was a very good game from start to finish. Boston College has a very nice ball team and they lead mostly throughout the first half and had a 38-33 lead going into the break. We didn't rebound very well at all in the first half and that costs us the most, just like it has all season long. Besides Koundoul in the first half, we were struggling shooting the ball from pretty much everywhere except the freethrow line. The second half was a different story as Yeager started taking over and made some big freethrows and big shots down the stretch to help us get the victory 87-75. The game was probably closer then the final score because we didn't start pulling away until three and a half minutes to go in the game. Flordia St. is who we will be playing in the National Championship game as they defeated Utah 68-46. It is a battle between ACC & Big Ten. Hopefully we can knock off our second ACC team this weekend and head home with the title. We are one game away from our goal at the start of the season, now our guys just have to go out and play and give it their best shot to win it all!!

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-28pts, 2rebs, 3ast, 8-8 fts
Koundoul-14pts, 3rebs, 7blks
Shepard-11pts, 4rebs, 2stl
Duffy-9pts, 4rebs, 2ast, 2stl, 2blks

Boston College

Reece SF-16pts, 8rebs
Vaughn C-15pts, 12rebs
Newson PG-13pts, 6rebs, 4ast
Johnston PG-11pts

Stat of the game

Blocks- ILL 12, Boston College 1

[vikingfan1]

Illinois overcomes 16 point second half margin, beats Florida St

Wow, what a game from both teams tonight, absolutely incredible!! My guys never quit, they have the most heart out of an Illinois team I have seen in years and it showed throughout the season, throughout the tournament, and again here tonight in the National Championship game. Florida St. had their way with us the entire game and built as much as a 57-41 lead in the second half with just eight minutes to go in the game. My guys buckled down and finally starting getting some stops and we came all the way back to eventually take the lead at 66-65 with 2:20 to play and we would never give that lead up the rest of the game. Freethrows down the stretch and during our run was the difference. The final score was 82-74. Everyone played their hearts out, but Yeager and Wolfe took that to the extreme as both of them (especially Wolfe) kept the Illini in the game and were the stars of the late rally that eventually won the game. I can't say enough about my seniors either, Koundoul had a very nice tournament and he will be missed so much next year and we will have a hard time trying to replace him. Yeager will no doubt go for the draft, and I don't blame him although I wouldn't mind if he stuck around another year.;) Dawn and Mayer are the other seniors who will be graduating also.

I will let you guys know what goes on in offseason recruiting and show you my full roster for next years team. I hope you all enjoyed the updates and followed game by game throughout this entire season and I will no doubt be back for another year and probably more in Illinois. I also plan to crank up the non conference schedule for next year and probably will play it on All-American next year as well, but hopefully the year after I will be playing it on MOP.

Stats

Illinois

Yeager-19pts, 3ast, 6stl
Wolfe-18pts, 4rebs, 3ast
Shepard-15pts
Duffy-10pts, 3rebs, 5stl, 3blks
Koundoul-9pts, 8rebs, 3blks

Flordia St.

Crites PF-15pts, 3rebs
Hernandez PG-14pts, 5rebs, 3ast, 3stl
Gadson SG-14pts, 4rebs
Love SF-11pts, 3rebs, 3ast, 2stl

[vikingfan1]

OFFSEASON

Players Lost-

PG Yeager
SG Dawn
PF Mayer
C Koundoul

Players Added-

SF Gardner
C Barber
PF Abrams
C Clement

Illinois Fighting Illini 2016-2017

Rosters

SG Shepard-91 SR, 6'5 211
SG Dawson-90 SR, 6'5 197
SF Wolfe-88 SR, 6'6 209
SF Clemmons-86 SO, 6'8 208
PG Joiner-82 SO, 6'4 188
PF Duffy-81 SO, 6'9 209
C Peters-81 SR, 6'9 244
PF Carroll-74 SO, 6'8 211
SF Gardner-70 FR, 6'5 204
C Barber-69 FR, 7'1 271
PF Abrams-68 FR, 6'10 214
C Clement-67 FR, 6'10 222
SG Kent-64 SR, 6'7 207
PF Joseph-61 SR, 6'10 259
PF Frazier-59 SR, 6'6 207
PG Arenas-57 FR, 6'4 184

Starters

PG-Dawson
SG-Shepard
SF-Wolfe
PF-Duffy
C-Peters

Bench

SF-Clemmons
PG-Joiner
PF-Carroll
C-Barber
PF-Abrams
SF-Gardner
C-Clement

Reserves

SG-Kent
PF-Joseph
PF-Frazier
PG-Arenas

Key players to a successfull season

Shepard- Shepard returns for his senior season in which he probably could have gone to the draft after his junior year, but I am glad to see him stay. He is a preseason 1st team All-American and very deservingly so. Averaging 12 points per game last year, he will be expected to score even more this year and will be one of the leaders on this team and he'll have to lead by example if we have any shot of returning to the final four.

Wolfe- This guy might just be our ulitmate leader out on the court and I wouldn't mind that at all. Wolfe really came on strong towards the end of the season and helped us out A LOT in the NCAA Tourney on our way to the National Championship. He is not very big but not afraid to get in the paint and grab rebounds on the defensive end as well as offensive. Wolfe is also the kind of guy who can step out and hit that mid range shot and even a few three pointers which he displayed from time to time last year.

Peters- This kid finally gets his shot his senior year and we will see if he proves to be in the starting lineup or not. I have nothing against Peters at all as far as defense and rebound, he is awesome at that, but can he score?? I don't remember a time where he may have even put up 10 points last year. As far as past centers go, he is nowhere near the player of Koundoul and the starting center before that, Batte. I do believe though he may be the most underrated player we have on the team and hopefully will improve game by game and score some for us inside.

SCHEDULE

Non-Conference

11/15 Preseason NIT
12/4 vs #23 Kansas
12/5 at #5 Florida
12/7 vs Arizona
12/15 vs #18 Flordia St.
12/16 at #5 Uconn
12/17 vs NC State
12/20 at VCU
12/21 vs Missouri
12/22 at Fordham
12/27 Comcast Lobe Invitational

Conference Schedule

1/4 at Iowa
1/7 vs Purdue
1/11 vs Penn St.
1/15 at Northwestern
1/18 at Michigan St.
1/21 vs Indiana
1/24 vs #17 Michigan
1/28 at Minnesota
1/31 vs Northwestern
2/4 vs Michigan St.
2/8 at #19 Wisconsin
2/11 at #17 Michigan
2/19 vs #19 Wisconsin
2/22 vs Iowa
2/25 at Ohio ST.
3/4 at Penn St.

Thoughts on Schedule- I think we will have close to the best SOS (Strenght of Schedule) when its all said and done, I really like the level of competition we are playing and I have glanced through the bracket of the Pre Season NIT and their are some very good ball teams in the tourney including Syracuse, #14 North Carolina, #13 Alabama. The tough non conference schedule should get us prepared for our conference very well. It also looks like the Big Ten should get more then just two teams in the NCAA Tourney this year, Wisconsin & Michigan return pretty much all of their starters and I expect Michigan St., Indiana, and Minnesota to be very good as well. It should be another great season and hopefully we can do very well. We play Navy first round of the Preseason NIT, just like last year.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois overpowers Navy, moves on to second round of Preseason NIT

This game was not even close, and it wasn't expected to be either. No offense to Navy, but this game was more for how my players would perform, especially my freshmen. I knew we were going to win big but I was really focused on watching how the freshmen would play, and I came away most impressed with Barber. He was all over the place and made a big statement that first game. The starters of course didn't get much playing time because of the blowout, but Shepared, Dawson, and Duffy all looked very strong. Illinois will play Syracuse in the second round. The final score was 94-33.

Stats

Illinois

Clemmons-19pts, 3rebs, 3stl
Duffy-12pts, 8rebs, 3stl
Joiner-11pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 3stl
Dawson-10pts, 4rebs, 2ast, 6stl
Shepard-10pts, 4ast
Barber-9pts, 7rebs, 3blks

Navy

Minter SF-11pts, 5rebs
Reece SG-7pts, 3ast
Payne C-7pts, 5rebs, 3stl

Stat of the game

Rebounds- ILL 40, Navy 19

Illinois is now 1-0 (0-0)

[vikingfan1]

Illinois crushes Syracuse, moves on to semifinals

This game really surprised me, I figured Syracuse would be a pretty solid ball club but they weren't to impressive at all. If it wasn't for them pressing my subs very late in the game, the final score probably would have ended up near the 30 point range instead of 18. I have to give credit to my guys though, they played very very well and even though they still got beat on the boards, it wasn't by much at all, and you like to see that. Shepard scored a game high 22 points. We shot very well from the three point line, especially in the second half. We got a big boost going into halftime because right before the half, we stole the ball and Dawson hit a three pointer at the buzzer to give us a 40-30 lead, and from there we cruised. We won 82-64 and will now play #13 Alabama in the semifinals.

Stats

Illinois

Shepard-22pts
Duffy-14pts, 4rebs, 3stl
Wolfe-11pts
Clemmons-8pts, 3rebs, 2stl

Syracuse

Minus PF-12pts, 13rebs
Carrington SF-10pts, 7rebs, 3stl
Lee C-10pts, 4rebs
Little PG-10pts, 2rebs

Stat of the game

Three Pointers- ILL 7/14, Syracuse 1/11

Illinois is now 2-0 (0-0)

[vikingfan1]

Alabama goes on huge run, beats the Illini in Preseason NIT

I must say the tournament ended for us sooner then we expected, we were looking to take the Preseason NIT yet again this year, but its not going to happen now. Alabama used a 19-4 run in the second half to pull away from us and get the victory 89-76. This was a very dissapointing loss for us this early in the season, and even though Alabama is a great team, we needed this win tonight. As big as my team is, we got completely hammered on the boards tonight (44-15). We had pretty good balanced scoring but when they went on a run, they hit every shot they threw up and we just couldn't fire back. If our rebounding would have been better this would have been a much closer game and we would have had a shot to win the game if we just could have rebounded better. A week off and then we host Kansas in a big non conference matchup.

Stats

Illinois

Duffy-18pts, 6rebs, 7stl, 2blks
Wolfe-16pts, 3stl
Shepard-14pts, 4ast, 2stl
Dawson-11pts, 4ast, 3stl, 2blks

Alabama

Krywonis PF-21pts, 11rebs
Dean SF-19pts, 8rebs
Wallace C-9pts, 6rebs, 3ast

Stat of the game

Rebounds- Alabama 44, Illinois 15

Illinois is now 2-1 (0-0)

[vikingfan1]

Illinois puts on an impressive performance, beats Kansas

Believe it or not, this game was never really close. Kansas came in with a 7-0 record but they were unranked. Everyone played a great game and big men for us were on top of their game. Im still upset about the rebounding because I feel we have a lot of big guys underneath and we SHOULD be able to win the rebounding battle in most of our games, but so far we have only outrebounded Navy and thats it. I know we will work on that improve game by game. Peters had his best game of the season so far with 11 points and 4 rebounds in limited action because of the blowout. Clement was the star of the game with 15 points with Barber right behind him with 12. Illinois has a tough task as they travel to #6 Flordia. Also, pretty soon I will be posting how I am doing with recruiting and what I need to get for next years team. The final score of the Kansas game was 90-67.

Stats

Illinois

Clement-15pts, 2rebs, 2stl
Barber-12pts, 2rebs, 2stl, 2blks
Peters-11pts, 4rebs, 3blks
Wolfe-10pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 3stl

Kansas

Christopher SG-13pts, 4ast, 2stl
Thomas SF-13pts, 5rebs
Viegas PG-10pts, 4ast, 2stl

Stat of the game

Turnovers- Kansas 18, Illinois 7

#10 Illinois is now 3-1 (0-0)

[Melo15AI3Nuggets]

niiiiiiiiice

[guckin1989]

Got some good stuff. Can't wait for the updates =P

[vikingfan1]

Illinois loses heartbreaker to Florida

This was a good game by both teams, its a shame someone had to lose, and we wish that it wasn't us. I have to give credit to Florida though, they are a tough tough team and a Top 5 team for sure this year, plus the game was at Flordia. They had a ten point lead on us at halftime. Forntuately for us, it never grew to much past that, but we did have to rally in the late minutes, and actually took the lead several times. We scored off a steal with 20 seconds left to tie the game at 72. We knew Flordia would hold on to the last shot, we had one foul to give so we took it with 4.7 seconds left on the clock. Flordia then inbounded it along the sidelines and in the corner they launched up a heavily contested three and it went in!!! My guys had the play covered really well and contested the shot as good as your gonna get without blocking it or fouling the person, its just one of those unfortunate things that it went in. We had time left on the clock for one last heave but it was well short.

Usually, we have a go to guy late in games that we can rely on to score and get the big stops, this year so far we don't have that. This is a very young team and I know they will get better. Two losses out of 5 games seems bad for an Illinois team, but everyone knows this year is more of a rebuilding year then any other, and Im OK with that. I still have to look to my seniors and experienced players to lead the team, but I also realize they MUST have more help scoring and on defense also to be a really good team. We are currently ranked 7th right now after starting the season #3, in which I thought that was to high for our young team anyway, but I definitly think we are a Top 25 team, no doubt.

Stats

Illinois

Shepard-20pts, 6rebs, 2ast, 5stl, 3blks
Dawson-12pts, 4rebs, 4ast, 4stl
Peters-9pts

Flordia

Halsell C-16pts, 6rebs, 4ast, 2stl
Riddle SG-14pts, 4ast
Reed SG-13pts, 4rebs, 2stl
Alexander PG-12pts, 8ast, 3stl

Stat of the game

Blocks- ILL 13, Flordia 7
Assits- Flordia 25, ILL 10

#7 Illinois is now 3-2 (0-0)

Next game: vs Arizona (4-2)

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets big win over Arizona

The first half was the good one for Arizona, they were only down 4 at half. The second half was a completely different story, we ran them out of the gym and they had no shot to win this game. The bench came up huge again, scoring I believe 60 points on our way to a 98-82 victory. Six players were in double figures as Clemmons led the way with 15 points. Illinois had some great times on defense where Arizona just struggled to even pass the ball around to look for a shot, it was suffocating defense. We still got outrebounded and I really can't figure out why when I have a 7 seven footer on my team surrounded by several 6'10 and 6'9 guys. I will definitly work with them on getting better at rebounding. We pressed Arizona for much of the second half to see if they could handle it, and they could not. They committed 28 turnovers. Our next game is at home as well but against a very familar opponent....#10 Flordia St.

Stats

Illinois

Clemmons-15pts, 3rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Carroll-13pts, 5rebs, 7stl
Duffy-12pts, 4rebs, 5stl
Barber-12pts, 2rebs, 2blks
Dawson-10pts, 4ast, 2stl
Abrams-10pts, 2rebs

Arizona

Cox PF-17pts, 5rebs, 2ast
Low PG-16pts, 4ast, 4stl
Terry PF-11pts, 9rebs, 3ast, 2stl
Queen SF-10pts, 4rebs

#13 Illinois moves to 4-2 (0-0)

Next Game: vs #10 Flordia St. (7-1)

[vikingfan1]

National Championship rematch goes to the Illini

This was our biggest win of the season so far. After a very close first half, in which we led 36-31, my guys blew it open in the second half outscoring #9 Flordia St. 47-31 and winning 83-62 in Champaign. The bench came alive yet again for us, which is so awesome to see because we have just a bunch of young freshmen out there trying to get to know one another and find themselves as well and how they can best contribute to the team. Dawson seperated the game by hitting back to back three pointers midway through the second half and we just took it from that point on. Abrams led the bench with 10 points and 2 rebs, Clemmons was not far behind with 8 points. Peters played probably his best game of the season so far, scoring just 7 points, but grabbing down 6 rebounds along with 4 blocks, he was wonderful tonight. We are going to need this type of effort every single night if we want to be the best we can be and get back to the NCAA Tourney.

Stats

Illinois

Dawson-16pts, 3ast, 6stl
Duffy-13pts, 5rebs, 3stl
Abrams-10pts, 2rebs
Wolfe-9pts, 5rebs, 2ast, 3stl
Peters-7pts, 6rebs, 4blks

Flordia St.

Lennon SG-15pts, 3rebs, 2ast
Gadson SF-12pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Weber PF-10pts, 6rebs, 3stl

Stat of the game

Bench Points- ILL 34, Flordia St. 14

#13 Illinois moves to 5-2 (0-0)

Next game: At #10 UCONN

[vikingfan1]

Illinois dominates UCONN from start to finish, wins in a route

This was a very impressive win for my guys, they played so well today and deserved to win, I just didn't think they would win by how many points that they did. UCONN never got into a rythym all game on the offensive end, and they couldn't stop Shepard or Clemmons on the defensive end either. The final score was 78-45. This team just gets better and better and we have to continue that way because our non conference schedule doesn't get any easier. After we play NC State (5-3) next, we will travel on the road to I believe VCU and Fordham, but also host Missouri in between those games. If we can get through these upcoming games, we shouldn't have a problem finishing out the non conference schedule with just two losses.

Stats

Illinois

Shepard-18pts, 3rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Clemmons-16pts, 3rebs
Duffy-14pts, 3rebs, 2ast, 2blks
Wolfe-8pts, 4rebs, 4ast, 5stl

UCONN

Harrison SF-11pts
Reese SF-9pts, 4rebs

Stat of the game

Turnovers- UCONN 17, Illinois 5

#13 Illinois moves to 6-2 (0-0)

Next game: vs NC State (5-3)

[vikingfan1]

ILLINOIS RECRUITING

What ILL Needs- Illinois will need a shooting guard, small forward, point guard, and center for next year. Shepard, Wolfe, and Peters will be graduating. Dawson, even though a junior, is rated 90 and he may go to the draft after this year, but I do not think he will. Even when Peters is gone, I would like to recruit at least one big man for next year. I know have two centers already in Clement and Barber it would be nice to have another big guy in their incase of injury or something like that. Wolfe will be missed at small foward but I expect Clemmons to start at that position next year. I also need a point guard for next year because Dawson is actually a shooting guard and Joiner is the only true "point guard" on my roster as of right now.

Signings-

4* Ervin Weisse
Height-6'3
WT-187
Class-HS Sr
Pos-SG
Hometown- Altanta, GA
Rank-31
Mr. Basketball

Grades-

Offense- A-
Shooting- B-
Rebounding- C+
Hustle- A-
Leaping- B+
Dunk- A+
Intelligence- B+
Potential- B+

Recruit Description-

Best Attribute-Speed (A-)
2nd Best- Layup (A-)
3rd Best- Block (A-)

Recruit Priorities-

Priority 1- Playing at a big program
Priority 2- Getting good coaching
Priority 3- Being close to home
Not concerned with Playing Time.

Final Thoughts- This kid should come in next year as a freshmen and battle Joiner for the starting point guard position. I think Joiner will be the starting point guard next year mostly because of his experience and he will be rated probably about 84 next year as a junior. I think though Weisse will get plenty of playing time next year and will be maybe our best bench player.

Targets

5* Cory Bone
Height-6'8
Weight- 206
Class- HS Sr
Pos- SG
Hometown- Spokane, Wa
Ovr- 16, Pos-5
Mr. Basketball

Grades-

Offense- B+
Shooting- B-
Rebounding- B+
Hustle- C+
Leaping- A-
Quickness- A-
Intelligence- B+
Potential- B+

Recruit Description

Best Attribute- Dunk (A-)
2nd Best- Layup (B)
3rd Best- Block (B)
Highest Tendency- Drive (66)
2nd Highest- Shot Med (58)

Priorities-

Priority 1-Getting good coaching
Priority 2- Getting Playing Time
Priority 3- Being close to home
Not concerned with playing at a big program

Final Thoughts- If this kid didn't live on the west coach, he would be as good as ours and EASILY the starting guard next year for us. But their is just that problem, he does live on the west coast and right now California is his leading school with probably 97% and then Illinois at 88% but I think if we can get him 100% before the signing period starts again, we may have a shot. Im not certain that Cal has offered him a scholarship, but I do know we have and since Cal is his top school and only two schools offered, I am assuming that its us and Cal. Minnesota, Utah, and Colorado round out his Top 5, but he will most likely either go to Cal or Illinois.

4* Ellis Toole
Height-6'5
Weight-189
Class-HS Sr
Pos-SG
Hometown- New York, NY
OVR- 26, POS-6

Grades-

Offense- B-
Shooting- A-
Rebounding- B
Hustle- B-
Leaping- B
Quickness- A-
Intelligence- A+
Potential- B

Recruit Description

Best Attribute- Shot Close (B)


Recruit Priorities-

Priority 1- Playing at a big program

Final Thoughts-Obviously, we are not done contacting him and scouting him, ect ect. We are in his Top 5 schools, at number 5 but the gap is not near as big between us (5) and Boston College (1st). 3 schools including ours has offered this kid a scholarship. Just like before, if we can get him in the top two or three before the signing period then we have a good shot at him, as long as he's not 100% with Boston College.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois hosts block party, beat NC State by 19

This was a dominant display of shot blocking, rebounding, and defense. We got after it early and often and really separated ourselves in the second half to cruise to the victory 70-51. We played such good basketball today on both ends of the floor, I was really proud of the guys. Not often do you see a team that has such good shot blocking ability, we are one of those teams. We put up 12 blocked shots, I believe a season high. Peters led the block party with 5 just by himself. I was really impressed with Abram tonight, he seems to be the freshmen who is probably producing the most and developing quicker then the other guys, but don't sell the other guys short because they are definitly coming along pretty well themselves. Abram had 10 off the bench. Illinois has moved up in the polls from 13 to 7 and has 3 games yet again this week.

Stats

Illinois

Shepard-17pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 5stl
Dawson-10pts, 4rebs, 4stl
Abram-10pts
Peters-6pts, 8rebs, 5blks

NC State

Blizzard SF-14pts, 3rebs
Bradley PG-13pts

Stat of the game

Blocks- ILL 12, NC State 4
Rebounds- ILL 34, NC State 25

#7 Illinois now moves to 7-2

Next game: At VCU (7-3)

[vikingfan1]

Illinois off to fast start, blows away Rams

Going on the road and winning is never an easy thing to do, I am proud of the guys stepping up and playing very good basketball against a good VCU team. Dawson definitly brought his game as he scored a game high 23 points along with four steals. Shepard also played a good game as he poured in 20. I would really like to see this combo score about like this every game because we really need them two, along with Wolfe to lead this team as much as possible. Right now we still don't have a go to guy but Dawson and Shepard would probably be the top two guys. The only thing I am dissapointed about so far in the season is Duffy. I know we have only played 10 games but I feel he should be doing a lot more, and hopefully that will come in conference play because we are going to need him. I plan after the non conference schedule to post the team and player stats, as well as tell you how the freshmen are developing and fitting into the system.

Stats

Illinois

Dawson-23pts, 4stl
Shepard-20pts, 4rebs, 2stl
Peters-10pts, 7rebs
Abram-10pts

VCU

Moss C-16pts, 14rebs, 2stl
Songcuacy SG-15pts, 3ast
Carlson SF-9pts, 2rebs

Stat of the game

Freethrows- ILL 20/22, VCU 3/6

#7 Illinois is now 8-2

Next game: vs Missouri (9-2)

[GeorgiaTechFan4Life]

Those were some nice signings you got.

It's a good thing that Weisse isn't concerned with playing time or else he may transfer after his first season. You're lucky, there aren't many of those guys out there.

Are you playing on the 360? Because some of these stats I don't see on my PS2. Such as Tendancies and like Shot Close and Speed.

[vikingfan1]

Those were some nice signings you got.

It's a good thing that Weisse isn't concerned with playing time or else he may transfer after his first season. You're lucky, there aren't many of those guys out there.

Are you playing on the 360? Because some of these stats I don't see on my PS2. Such as Tendancies and like Shot Close and Speed.

Yes, I play on the 360. Actually, their are several players who I have seen and signed in the past that aren't concerned with playing time at all. I don't know if its just a 360 thing or what, but it seems like nearly all the recruits care more about something else rather then playing time.

[GeorgiaTechFan4Life]

I need a 360. I hate always having the worse games now because I don't have one. And my birthday's in OCTOBER!!

[vikingfan1]

Illinois wins bragging rights game over Missouri

Missouri didn't stand much of a chance coming into this game. Even though they had a 9-2 record, I don't think they have played near the competition that we have had to play up to that game, and playing in Illinois only goes to our advantage. We came out smoking early and often, and built on our 12 point lead at halftime. Our subs came in and did a terrific job holding the lead and even building the lead. Our bench scored 35 points and Carroll led the way with 11 points, with Abram right behind him at 10 points. Duffy led the way with 20 points and probably had his best game of the year so far, and it was great seeing that type of effort from him. The final score was 87-51. The next game we play is going to be very tough. We travel to Fordham (7-1) and we have plenty of history with them the past couple years, it should be a great game and we are going to have to play our A game if we want to win this game.

Stats

Illinois

Duffy-20pts, 4rebs, 3stl
Dawson-13pts, 5rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Carroll-11pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Shepard-8pts, 2rebs, 7ast, 3stl
Abram-7pts, 4rebs, 2stl

Missouri

Engle PF-15pts, 9rebs
Coutibaly PG-11pts, 4ast
Romero SF-11pts

Stat of the game

Bench Points- ILL 35, Missouri 9

#7 Illinois is now 9-2

Next game: At Fordham (7-1)

[vikingfan1]

Illinois blows late lead but makes up for it in overtime at Fordham

It was almost a nightmare, we were in control for all of the first half and a majority of the second half, but Fordham came back and made a run. I think we may have a go to guy now for the rest of the season, and he's only a sophomore. Duffy had his best game of his career and one that I won't soon forget, and neither will he. Fordham needed a steal and a three just to tie the game with five seconds left on the clock. I didn't call a timeout and just let Dawson try for a last second shot that was no good. I had a bad feeling then that we were not going to pull this game out, and we really should have. My guys though completely whipped them in overtime as they didn't even score a basket until 2:40 left in the overtime, and we already had a 10-12 point lead on them. The final score was 89-75, we outscored them 21-7 in the overtime.

Back to Duffy though, I knew he had this type of potential last season as a freshmen and he was struggling a lot this year because more teams know about him and know what he can do, so its tougher for him and it will continue to be tough for him throughout the rest of this year and his junior and senior year (assuming he doesn't go pro). Duffy had a career high 42 points including 10-12 from the freethrow line, it was truely a great performance. Our next game is in a tournament against winsless Alabama St.

Stats

Illinois

Duffy-42pts, 2rebs, 3stl, 2blks, 16-23 fgs, 10-12 fts
Wolfe-12pts, 5rebs, 2ast, 4stl, 3blks
Peters-11pts, 7rebs

Fordham

Mulic PG-17pts, 3ast
Toumous SG-16pts, 5rebs, 4ast
Lucas SF-12pts, 7rebs, 4ast
Whitworth C-10pts, 13rebs

Stat of the game

Turnovers- Fordham 20, ILL 8
Blocks- ILL 10, Fordham 2

#2 Illinois is now 10-2

Next game: vs Alabama St. (0-6) Tourney Game

[vols21]

speaking of those attributes, what does hustle and intelligence equate to?

[vikingfan1]

speaking of those attributes, what does hustle and intelligence equate to?

I imagine if a player is rated pretty high on both of those, that you will see them not make too many mistakes out on the court and they will hustle for every loose ball and really get after it on defense. Even if you have a guy who is undersize, he won't be afraid to get underneath the basket and try for an offensive or defensive rebound.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois has less than impressive performance, still beats Alabama St. by 40

Overall, I really wasn't that happy about the way we played. I think if we even play half as good as we did tonight, we beat them by 60 or more, they were terrible and we seemed to play to the level of them mostly through the first half before we finally woke up. I knew Alabama St. was going to slow the game down, and they did that pretty well in the first half. We had a halftime lead at 38-19. I was more impressed with how the bench played then my starters, and they all had pretty much equal playing time until it got really ugly. We won the game 87-47 but I just felt like this wasn't a very good performance. I do understand however that it is hard to get up for a game against a team who doesn't even have a win on the season yet, and who knows if they actually ever will. Abram led the Illini in scoring with 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, he played a very nice game tonight. Loyola Marymount for the championship and we should come out on top rather easily if we just play our game and don't play to the level of our competition, because if we do that then we may get beat.

Stats

Illinois

Abram-13pts, 8rebs, 2stl
Wolfe-12pts, 2rebs, 2ast
Clemmons-12pts, 5rebs
Clement-11pts, 2rebs

Alabama St.

Wheless SG-15pts, 2rebs, 2ast
Mendoza PF-10pts, 4rebs

Stat of the game

Points in the Paint- ILL 62, Alabama St. 24
Bench Points- ILL 51, Alabama St. 11

#2 Illinois is now 11-2

Next game: vs LMU (8-5) Tourney Game

[vikingfan1]

For those of you following my Legacy (and I hope thats a lot), after my final non conference game I will be posting team and player stats, as well as player progress on ALL of the current Illini players, I hope you enjoy.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois crushes LMU to claim the Comcast Lobo Tourney

This game wasn't as easy as the final score had appeared, but we did what we needed to do after having a back and forth first half to eventually run away with it in the second half and go on for the victory 101-74. Its nice to always see EVERYBODY contributing in one way or another, like they did tonight. Five players in double figures and a few nine and eight point performances in there as well. LMU just didn't have the talent or the legs to hang with us in the second half. I will give them plenty of credit though, they hung right with us the entire first half, actually leading a few points during the half. In the second half they were still competitive and it really didn't get out of hand until about 10 minutes to go or so when we just started pouring it on. I have been really impressed with the defense so far this year. Even when we lost to Flordia we only gave up 75 points. I hope our defense can continue to get better because our conference schedule is going to be brutal.

Overall for the 14 games in non conference, I was pretty satisfied we walked away with a 12-2 record considering we were playing some great teams, whether they were ranked or not. Playing Flordia, Uconn, VCU, and Fordham on the road was one of the toughest things we have done in awhile, and we walked away with just 1 loss. The Alabama loss hurt mainly because we had a nice 10-12 point lead in that game and then everything just turned around. Alabama is a good team though and they are still ranked in the Top 25. I will now be posting my Player and Team Stats so far for the year as well as give you a little summary on how well each player is getting better.

Stats

Illinois

Dawson-19pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 8stl
Duffy-17pts, 6rebs, 3ast
Wolfe-14pts, 3rebs, 2stl
Shepard-13pts, 3rebs, 3stl
Abram-10pts, 3rebs, 3stl

LMU

Domercant PF-14pts, 9rebs
Boddie PF-13pts, 2rebs
Blue PF-9pts, 9rebs, 4ast, 2stl

Stat of the game

Turnovers- LMU 27, ILL 7
Fast Break Points- ILL 24, LMU 6

#2 Illinois improves to 12-2

Next game: at Iowa 11-4

[vikingfan1]

ILLINOIS STATS AND PROGRESS

Player Stats

Duffy, So-12.9ppg, 3.4rpg, 1.0apg, 2.2spg, .9bpg, 17.9mpg
Shepard, Sr-12.9ppg, 2.3rpg, 2.6apg, 2.0spg, .6bpg, 20.1mpg
Dawson, Jr-10.7ppg, 1.9rpg, 2.6apg, 3.6spg, .4bpg, 18.4mpg
Wolfe, Sr-9.2ppg, 3rpg, 1.9apg, 2.6spg, .8bpg, 18.9mpg
Clemmons, So-8.6ppg, 2.1rpg, .8apg, 1.4spg, .6bpg, 10mpg
Abram, Fr-6.4ppg, 1.9rpg, .3apg, 1.1spg, .5bpg, 8.7mpg
Peters, Sr-5.5ppg, 4.6rpg, .8apg, 1.2spg, 1.4bpg, 18.1mpg
Clement, Fr-4.8ppg, 1.7rpg, .3apg, 1.0spg, .5bpg, 7.5mpg
Barber, Fr-4.4ppg, 2.6rpg, .2apg, .6spg, .9bpg, 8.8mpg
Carroll, So-4.1ppg, 2.1rpg, .8apg, 1.2spg, .4bpg, 9.1mpg
Gardner, Fr-3.2ppg, .5rpg, .7apg, .5spg, 8.3mpg
Joiner, So-3.1ppg, .6rpg, 1.9spg, 1.4apg, 10.6mpg

Team Stats

85.1ppg, 27.1rpg, 13.8apg, 18.6spg, 7bpg, 9.9topg, 8.3fpg

PLAYER PROGRESSION

Freshmen

Gardner- This is a tough, tough kid who will only get better by each game. he already looks more comfortable now then he was at the beginning of the year. He has some pretty good hops and is an excellent defense who hustles all the time. His weakness may be that he doesn't shoot the ball very well from both the three point line and mid range jumpers, although he can penetrate rather well.

Barber- Wow, this guys is an animal. I can't wait to see him in a few years when we work with him more and he develops his game. You better not try to drive to the basket when he is in the middle because he will swat it out. I expect him to probably start next year or come right off the bench. It would also be nice to see him grow a few more inches and be 7'3 by the time he is a senior!

Clement- Here is the guy who will be competing with Barber for that center position next year. Clement is a superior defender who gets his hands on a lot of balls because his arms are so long. Its almost an automatic basket when he's posting up close to the basket.

Abram- He is the best of the bunch, and I never would have thought that but I will definitly take it. Abram has developed the quickest out of the freshmen group and put up double figure points several times already this season. Also, for a power forward he handles the ball pretty well and has a little 8-10ft shot that he can make. I wouldn't be to surprised if Duffy started at center next year and Abram got the starting spot at the power forward position.

Sophomores

Joiner- After having a solid freshmen year, he's having a less then average sophomore season so far this year. Their are still plenty of games left and I hope he can improve and be a solid backup point guard. He will need to be because next year he may be starting at point guard.

Carroll- This guy has stepped up very nicely for us this year and is the leader of the second team. Carroll can hit long mid range jumpers and also post up. He grabs rebounds for us and should only get better by his junior and senior year.

Clemmons- Hard worker, excellent ball handler, can finish around the hoop. Clemmons blocks shots and gets assits, so what is his weakness?? Shooting the basketball. Clemmons is mainly a post up or drive the ball player, but thats because he can't shoot the three....yet. I am hoping this summer we can complete that part of his game because if we can do that, then he will be unstoppable.

Duffy- At the start of the season Duffy was struggling quite a bit and not really himself. He has turned it around now a lot and is really a force for us and we need him to be. If he could improve his mid range game, he would be nearly unstoppable. Duffy is only rated 81 but I feel he is much higher then that and hopefully we don't lose him to the NBA next year or the year after.

Juniors

Dawson- Surprisingly, Dawson is the only junior on this team and I am really hoping he comes back for his senior year. He is a deadly three point shooter but also can penetrate and dish with ease. He is an excellent defense who picks up bunches and bunches of steals. Dawsons only weakness is that he sometimes he gets out of control and turns the ball over. Dawson also makes some dumb fouls but overall I think he is our best guard, including Shepard.

Seniors

Peters- After having supporting roles off the bench his freshmen through junior year, Peters finally gets that starting position at center that he has been waiting for. Peters has been playing acceptional basketball on both ends of the floor. He grabs a lot of rebounds and gets a lot of blocks as well. I think by the end of the season he could be scoring almost 10 points a game as well as 10 rebounds per game as long as he keeps improving.

Wolfe- Wolfe had a tremendous junior season and he is following it up with a pretty good senior season so far as well. I'm going to need him to step up even more in conference play and the NCAA tourney if we have any hope of going back to the Final Four. Wolfe is very undersized for a small forward as he only stands 6'6. However, he can do anything you ask of him as well as guard anyone. He can also step outside and hit the three or drive the lane and finish. Wolfe is also our best freethrow shooter.

Shepard- This is the guy who has probably let me down the most so far this season. It could be because he had a lot of expectations coming into the season. The good news for Shepard is that we still have over half the season to go and anything can happen. Shepard, as of right now he is averaging almost 13 points a game. By the end of the year I hope he is around 16 to 17 point range.

[vols21]

no real stand-outs in point production, but a super group effort. That balance makes your team that much tougher since the other team can't zero in on a single player. Any number of guys can step up and beat them on any given night. Duffy and Shep could get hot down the stretch and carry the team.

[vikingfan1]

no real stand-outs in point production, but a super group effort. That balance makes your team that much tougher since the other team can't zero in on a single player. Any number of guys can step up and beat them on any given night. Duffy and Shep could get hot down the stretch and carry the team.

Yep, excactly and I love it that way. Don't get me wrong, I loved when Yeager took over games last year but I don't mind the balanced performance, and like you said the defense can not key on just one guy. I think Shepard and Duffy will eventually carry this team deep into the tourney. Im glad you like reading about each of the players.

[vikingfan1]

Shepard and Wolfe carry the Illini over the Hawkeyes

Well I think we finally saw what Shepard can really do when he wants to play ball and help the team out. He was amazing today with 35 points. Shepard seemed unstoppable about anywhere that he was today. He hit the three, drove the lane, dished it off, and hit freethrows, and thats what you want out of your senior guard. Shepard was not alone though, Wolfe had his best game of his career with 25 points including six steals. With these two on their game, Iowa really didn't have much of a chance.

I was still dissapointed when we got outrebounded 41-19 but that was probably the downside of the day. After Iowa raced out to a 18-8 lead, we responded big time going on a huge run that put us up 23-20 before they scored again. We built our lead even farther, once up by 15 but Iowa would not surrender on their home court. Iowa made a big run to get it to within six points, but that was the closets they would get as we made our freethrows down the stretch for the 84-73 win.

Stats

Illinois

Shepard-35pts, 4rebs, 2ast, 2blks, 12-23fgs, 4-10 3pt, 5-6fts
Wolfe-25pts, 3ast, 6stl
Duffy-10pts, 4rebs, 4ast, 7stl, 3blks
Dawson-9pts, 5stl

Iowa

Bailey PF-13pts, 7rebs
Bonfin SG-11pts, 4ast
Wofford PF-11pts, 6rebs

Stat of the game

Rebounds- Iowa 41, ILL 19
Turnovers- Iowa 24, ILL 8

#2 Illinois improves to 13-2, 1-0 (10 game winning streak)

Next game: vs Purdue (6-5)

[vikingfan1]

Illinois completely dominates Purdue

With Purdue bringing back some key players from a year ago in which they had a pretty decent year, I figured this would be a somewhat of a close game even though we were playing at home. This game was anything but a close game as we jumped on them early (thanks to Duffy) and never let up in this game for a second. Duffy scored 23 points total, all in the first half as he hardly played in the second because we were up by so much. You would think Purdue may close the gap a little bit because of our four young freshmen that we play on the second team, but even the freshmen came out firing on all clynders and increased the lead even more. Abram led all scores with 24 points and was really a monster down low. Clemmons also put on an impressive performance with 20 points. The final score in this game was 116-57. We led at halftime 67-25 and played our subs probably half the time as well, it was just an all around great performance by everybody, I was really proud of them. Our next game may be a little tougher even though the name of the opponent would not say so. We will travel to Northwestern who is currently 11-5 but all of their wins are against really really bad teams.

Stats

Illinois

Abram-24pts, 8rebs, 5stl, 2blks
Duffy-23pts, 5rebs
Clemmons-20pts, 5rebs, 3stl, 2blks
Shepard-12pts
Clement-11pts, 2rebs, 2ast, 2stl

Purdue

Kouyata SG-19pts, 4rebs
Carpenter C-12pts, 6rebs
Conklin PF-10pts, 5rebs, 2ast

Stat of the game

Bench Points- ILL 71, Purdue 5
Fast Break Points- ILL 25, Purdue 2

#1 Illinois is now 14-2, 2-0

Next game: at Northwestern 11-5, 1-1

[vikingfan1]

Just to let everyone know I had the schedule wrong, I did not play Northwestern next, I played Penn St. and have already completed that game and I will post the update within the hour or so. Northwestern is my next game though. I also would like to know who all is still following my Legacy??

[chestnutz6]

hey thanks for reading my legacy. I'll be reading yours. keep it up man. How do you find stats for bench points, fast break points, etc. or do you just guess? Any other good info would be greatly appreciated

P.S. vikings suck
go eagles
=D

[vikingfan1]

hey thanks for reading my legacy. I'll be reading yours. keep it up man. How do you find stats for bench points, fast break points, etc. or do you just guess? Any other good info would be greatly appreciated

P.S. vikings suck
go eagles
=D

Before you exit the game click on Stats and then Teams and that will give you the entire list. Im glad you are following mine, and my username vikingfan1 doesn't mean for the Minnesota Vikings but for my hometown high school name, haha.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets revenge big time on Penn St

If you remember last year, Penn St. came into Champaign and shocked the whole college basketball nation with a stunning 90-88 double overtime win. This time around, the Illini made sure that it was not going to happen again. Our bench was fantastic again tonight and was the big difference maker in the ball game for us. I must also say that our defense was stellar and rebounding much better also. If you remember, Penn St. outrebounded us last year 65-29, but this year we outrebounded them 35-28, a very good turnaround. Abram led all scores with 19 points. Abrams performance here recently has really given us a gaurenteed lift from our bench every single night, and we love that. The next game we play will be at Northwestern and we shouldn't have any problems at all with them, but I do expect them to be a little tougher then Purdue and Penn St. The final score was 97-65.

Stats

Illinois

Abram-19pts, 3rebs
Duffy-17pts, 3rebs, 2stl
Shepard-14pts, 3rebs, 3ast
Clement-13pts, 5rebs

Penn St.

Washington SG-16pts, 2rebs
Reese PG-13pts, 2ast
Haigler PF-13pts, 11rebs, 2ast
Morales SG-10pts, 2stl

Stat of the game

Bench Points- ILL 53, Penn St. 9

#1 Illinois is now 15-2, 3-0

Next game: at Northwestern 11-6, 1-2

[chestnutz6]

Oh that'll be hard for me to do since I don't really play many of my games. Not really though...if you're interested I'll have an update up within the hour

[vikingfan1]

Northwestern puts up a good fight against the Illini, but not good enough

I figured this game would be tougher then the few previous games we have had, and I was right. We held a slim lead at the half, 40-38. In the second half we did take more control of the game but Northwestern is a much improved team and if they can recruit like they have been or even better they may be a force in the Big Ten in a few years or so. We got some very balanced scoring from our starters except for Peters. Wolfe had a game high 19 points and continues to shine game by game in his final season. The final score was 75-58. We go on the road again to a much tougher opponent, Michigan St. They come in with a record of 12-6 and they are unranked. The Big Ten seems much better this year then last year as Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio St. are all ranked and Indiana and Minnesota have very good records as well and Minnesota has been ranked.

Stats

Illinois

Wolfe-19pts, 3rebs, 2ast, 4stl
Dawson-17pts, 2rebs, 3ast, 5stl
Shepard-17pts, 4rebs, 5ast, 3stl
Duffy-14pts, 2rebs, 2ast

Northwestern

Matthews PG-13pts, 4ast, 4stl
Bogans SG-12pts, 4rebs, 3stl
Sowers PF-11pts, 5rebs
Allison SG-10pts, 4ast, 3stl

Stat of the game

Rebounds- ILL 30, Northwestern 19

#1 Illinois is now 16-2, 4-0

Next game: at Michigan St. 12-6

[GeorgiaTechFan4Life]

Hey man, you know I'm following. ;)

[vikingfan1]

Dawson and Shepard carry the Illini past Michigan St

By the way this game started out, I knew it was going to be a special day for Dawson and Shepard, and I was right. Those two were on fire throughout most of the entire game as we beat Michigan St. in East Lansing 98-88. Dawson scored a career high 37 points along with 5 three pointers and Shepard was right behind him with 35 points and 4 threes. I was impressed with my two guards today as they stepped up and lead the team today. Michigan St. was equally on fire and was a high scoring, 47-46 Michigan St. lead at the half. The second half was about the same, except for we really seperated ourselves because we got some key stops and Dawson and Shepard just kept on hitting shots, and when your that on fire, you can't help but to keep going to them over and over again. Duffy also had a nice game with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Our next game will be very tough as we host Indiana.

Player Stats

Illinois

Dawson-37pts, 8ast, 6stl, 13-21fgs, 5-9 3pt, 6-6fts
Shepard-35pts, 4stl, 15-25fgs, 4-10 3pt
Duffy-9pts, 5rebs, 4ast

Michigan St.

Sanchez PG-18pts, 5ast
Beacham C-16pts, 8rebs, 4ast
Devonish SG-15pts, 3rebs
Gooden PF-14pts, 6rebs
Piatt SF-13pts

Stat of the game

Freethrows- ILL 17/18, Michigan St. 2/2
Turnovers- Michigan St. 20, ILL 5

#1 Illinois is now 17-2, 5-0

[vikingfan1]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I won't be playing for awhile. The reason is my xbox 360 and College Hoops 2k7 disc is really messed up so I am sending it in to get them both fixed. This will be the second time I will be sending my 360 in. I do plan to play again once I get both of them back but I imagine it will be 3-4 weeks at least to get it sent in and returned to me.

[Superjames1992]

That stinks! I am going to send my Xbox 360 in today as well. My 360 will not read any disks and part of the screen seems to be cut off on the edges. My 360 has always made strage sounds and done weird things, I just didn't think anything about it. I'm going to be sad to see my 360 leave me. Like you, I've always taken good care of it. Luckily for me it's still within the three month warranty by about ten days.

[vikingfan1]

That stinks! I am going to send my Xbox 360 in today as well. My 360 will not read any disks and part of the screen seems to be cut off on the edges. My 360 has always made strage sounds and done weird things, I just didn't think anything about it. I'm going to be sad to see my 360 leave me. Like you, I've always taken good care of it. Luckily for me it's still within the three month warranty by about ten days.


Thats good that it will be under warranty. Im hoping maybe in 2 weeks I wil get my 360 back and then start playing again. You will definitly know when I start because I play a lot of games and keep people updated game by game.

[vikingfan1]

Good news folks, I have received the shipping box for my 360 and have shipped it back for repair. I am hoping to get it back in the next week or so. Also, I got another copy of College Hoops 2k7 so I will be ready to play once my 360 returns to me.

[knox33]

Hope you get it back soon. Seems like you've got a faithful following.

[vikingfan1]

Hope you get it back soon. Seems like you've got a faithful following.

Yeah, I knew quite a few followed when I was actually playing. I just hope people will continue to follow my Legacy once I get my 360 back.

[vikingfan1]

Good news folks, while I do not have my 360 back yet, I did however play 2 games on my buddies xbox 360 today. I will be posting those updates here in a few hours but just wanted to let everyone to know that I have played a few games to keep people interested. Thanks for following!

[vikingfan1]

#1 Illinois goes toe to toe with rival, beats Indiana

This game was definitly not the prettiest you will ever see, but my guys stepped up when they needed to and hit the freethrows down the stretch to get the win at home. It is always nice to beat your rival school, especially of how big it is with Indiana. Peters played a tremendous game and was really a force on both ends of the floor. Dawson led all scores with 20 points. The big story of the game may have been that all of our starters got double figures, which I believe is a first this season. Indiana tried to make a last second game tying three but it was no good. The final score was 77-74. Our next game is at home yet again, this time it is against Michigan.

Player Stats

Illinois

Dawson-20pts, 4stl
Shepard-14pts, 6rebs
Duffy-14pts
Wolfe-12pts
Peters-11pts, 6rebs, 6blks

Indiana

Webb SG-15pts, 4ast
John SF- 12pts, 5rebs, 6ast
McBridle PF-12pts, 7rebs
Coggins SG-11pts

Stat of the game

Steals- ILL 23, Indy 10
Bench Points- Indy 24, ILL 6

#1 Illinois is now 18-2

Next game: vs Michigan

[skarface2k1]

Yep, excactly and I love it that way. Don't get me wrong, I loved when Yeager took over games last year but I don't mind the balanced performance, and like you said the defense can not key on just one guy. I think Shepard and Duffy will eventually carry this team deep into the tourney. Im glad you like reading about each of the players.
Balance is something i teach to my kids year in and year out.I bring in all-americans and teach them to share the ball.That way one game i may be lead in scoring by the SF or C.it's up to you pick which two you want to beat you.That type of game plan makes your team hard to beat in the NCAA.You have so many weapons to use.

[vikingfan1]

Balance is something i teach to my kids year in and year out.I bring in all-americans and teach them to share the ball.That way one game i may be lead in scoring by the SF or C.it's up to you pick which two you want to beat you.That type of game plan makes your team hard to beat in the NCAA.You have so many weapons to use.

Great post. The high school where I went to was so keyed on team play that any one person could score at any time. I think that is where I love team play so much, watching the high school teams win because of team play on both offense and defense. I just can't wait until I get my 360 back so I can start playing more games and finish out this year.

[skarface2k1]

Well check my post on my legacy i just enter more stats.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois rallies late, beats Michigan

This was another game that wasn't pretty by any means, but it wasn't just us, it was Michigan as well. We came out with a lot of energy but we just couldn't get the shots to fall, but the defense kept us in the game. Michigan came in the game with a 14-5 record so they were definitly no slouch. Trailing 66-60 with 45 seconds left I thought we were doomed, but some missed freethrows from Michigan and some steals off the press changed all that. We came back and finished the game on a 9-0 run to win 69-66. Michigan had a few chances to hit a three to tie but a few of them were blocked, and then the other one just bounced off the right side of the rim. A win is a win is pretty much all I can say to this point, im not really upset with our guys because we are playing very good defense, but the offense just isn't there right now. We will take a few days and have some practices before our next game and get into more shooting drills and into our offense a little more so our guys are ready next game.

Player Stats

Illinois

Shepard-18pts, 3rebs
Dawson-17pts, 3ast, 3stl
Duffy-13pts, 6rebs

Michigan

Waleskowski SF-12pts, 5rebs
Garcia PF-12pts, 6rebs
Couisnard PG-11pts, 3ast
Baker SF-10pts, 10rebs

#1 Illinois is now 19-2

[vikingfan1]

Good news to all, I am getting my xbox 360 back TODAY!!! I hope to play 2-3 games today as well as play quite a bit of NBA 2k7. I just wanted to let everyone know. Most likely it will be here by 2:30 or before.

[vols21]

awesome! welcome back!!

[chestnutz6]

great great. About that whole team play thing, I agree and a great example of that is my Terps. Idk if youre readin it, but my team has so many weapons and not just one star.

[knox33]

Welcome back viking.

[guckin1989]

Indeed. Im looking forward to your updates.

[skarface2k1]

welcome back viking!

[vikingfan1]

I just wanted to say to everyone that I do plan to keep this Legacy going. I just haven't played college hoops because im still really hooked on nba 2k7 but once I get bored with nba 2k7 (which is slowly approaching), I will continue on with this Legacy.

[TREIZE2K]

That cool cause right I m in my 5th season with San Diego State but coached Campbell univ my first 4 year and won 4 straight ncaa title witn Campbell now I trying to get it with San Diego State wish me luck

[vikingfan1]

Well I finally played my first game of college hoops in a long time, and the game was very successful. I will give you my usual recap of the game along with stats. I hope people start following again.

[chestnutz6]

Yay he's back

[skarface2k1]

vikingfan,welcome back coach.We look forward to seeing what your boys are going to do.

[vikingfan1]

vikingfan,welcome back coach.We look forward to seeing what your boys are going to do.

Thank you very much!! I was a little rusty that first game back in probably a month or more, but I got the win and I am about to play again, after that game I will post the two that I have played.

[vikingfan1]

Sloppy game ends up in Illinois favor

It definitly was not the prettiest game you will ever see, but my guys got the job done when they needed to down the stretch and thats what you want from your club. Although we did hold many double digit leads in the second half, Minnesota kept fighting back and never let us pull away on their home floor. I was proud that our guys made the freethrows down the stretch and thanks to a big steal by Duffy when the game was 69-68 in our favor that ulimately iced the game. We will definitly work on some things in practice and get ready for Northwestern as they will come to town. The final score was 73-68.

Player Stats

Illinois-

Duffy-18pts, 6rebs, 2blks
Dawson-16pts, 3ast, 5stl
Wolfe-12pts, 3rebs

Minnesota-

Pitta PG-17pts, 4ast, 4stl
Proffitt SG-13pts, 6rebs, 4ast
Armstrong PF-12pts, 12rebs

#1 ILL is now 20-2

Next game: vs Northwestern

[vikingfan1]

Illinois strangles Wildcats

Their are always going to be turning points in a game, even if the game seems close all the way throughout, their is always that one play or one move from a player or coach that decides the game, and this game was no different. The score at halftime was 35-20 in our favor and you would think that seems like a regular old butt kicking, but it was actually closer then the score. Northwestern came out and played hard against us the entire game, but I made a move that ulimately would change the game, and it was a move I had made before, just not often.

With the game in anyones hands, my guards were getting very tired and they needed a rest so I went with a lineup of three centers and two power forwards. They came in for about three or four minutes and pushed our lead up even bigger and Northwestern could never recover.

A lot of people asked me why I made such a change, but the fact is my guards were very tired and I had complete confidence that my big men (most freshmen) would come in and do a great job on both ends of the floor. I have such great confidence because even though they are young, they know the system very well and they don't get out of control or cocky with the basketball. The final score was 70-60. Our next game is against Michigan St.

Player Stats

Illinois-

Wolfe-23pts, 3stl
Shepard-18pts, 6rebs, 3stl
Peters-10pts, 8rebs, 4ast, 2blks

Northwestern-

Clark C-16pts, 12rebs
Sowers PF-15pts, 11rebs
Bogans SF-14pts, 3rebs, 3ast

#1 ILL is now 21-2

Next game: Michigan St.

[skarface2k1]

great two wins since comming back.Hey,vik can you post your players again or just the starters.

[vikingfan1]

great two wins since comming back.Hey,vik can you post your players again or just the starters.

Yes, I can do that. I will have them up shortly

[vikingfan1]

Illinois Fighting Illini Roster

Freshmen

Gardner SF-6'5 240 70
Barber C-7'1 271 69
Abrams PF- 6'10 214 68
Clement C- 6'10 222 67

Sophomores

Clemmons SF- 6'8 208 86
Joiner PG- 6'4 188 82
Duffy PF- 6'9 209 81

Juniors

Dawson PG- 6'4 197 90

Seniors

Shepard SG-6'5 211 91
Wolfe SF- 6'6 209 88
Peters C- 6'9 244 81

Bold- Players ratings at the beginning of the season.

Starters-

Dawson
Shepard
Wolfe
Duffy
Peters

[knox33]

Illinois Fighting Illini Roster

Freshmen

Gardner SF-6'5 240 70
Barber C-7'1 271 69
Abrams PF- 6'10 214 68
Clement C- 6'10 222 67

Sophomores

Clemmons SF- 6'8 208 86
Joiner PG- 6'4 188 82
Duffy PF- 6'9 209 81

Juniors

Dawson PG- 6'4 197 90

Seniors

Shepard SG-6'5 211 91
Wolfe SF- 6'6 209 88
Peters C- 6'9 244 81

Bold- Players ratings at the beginning of the season.

Starters-

Dawson
Shepard
Wolfe
Duffy
Peters

Man, you got plenty of talent on the roster! Oh and btw, welcome back.

[vikingfan1]

Thanks for the compliment knox!

[CincyFan]

nice team except for i thought u would of brought in better freshman, but then again you have a better team than mine so are smarter than me.

[vikingfan1]

nice team except for i thought u would of brought in better freshman, but then again you have a better team than mine so are smarter than me.

Im not the best recruiter, that is the area that gives me the most problems. But on the other hand, I don't mind bringing in 3 stars (I never go below that) and developing them and working harder and see what their strengths and weaknesses are. Even if my freshmen are rated around 70 doesn't mean they are bad. They all have something they can contribute to the team.

[Twist of Lemon]

Thats the way to do it, i love taking the lower star guys if I can't get a 4-5 star guy and turning them in to stuff. Plus they stay around longer lol

[vikingfan1]

Thats the way to do it, i love taking the lower star guys if I can't get a 4-5 star guy and turning them in to stuff. Plus they stay around longer lol

Thats very true, they will stay around longer. Wolfe who is an 88 SF, I believe he was either a 3 star or 4 star and came in as a freshmen rated about 70 or 71. He has really improved over the years and is a nice player and sometimes a go to guy for my team.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois falls at Wisconsin

I didn't really expect us to win this game over the 5th ranked Wisconsin Badgers on the road. But I am upset of how we did lose. We played very very well in the first half and overall the defense was OK. Towards the end of the game though we just lost control and our poise and could not recover. They outrebounded us by around 20 I would guess and really ran us to death, which rarely happens because we are usually the team running well.

I was also upset that besides Shepard, no one really came to play, especially on the offensive end. Shepard chipped in 16 but didn't have much help besides that. Dawson has really been struggling with his shot and I keep telling him to drive the ball because he is really good at getting into the paint and dishing it off or taking the close shots. The problem is sometimes he doesn't listen and just does what he wants, and thats not good. I m not saying he's a complete ball hog, but I just wish he would make better decisions, especially since he's a captain.

Our next game will be on the road again against a very tough Michigan team who I think is ranked. The final score was 85-69.

Player Stats

Illinois-

Shepard-16pts, 4ast, 3stl
Duffy-9pts, 5rebs, 3ast, 3blks
Clemmons-9pts, 3rebs, 2stl
Wolfe-8pts, 4rebs, 4ast, 5stl

Wisconsin-

Gary SF- 19pts, 9rebs, 3stl
Reece C-18pts, 8rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Seymour C-13pts, 12rebs, 3ast
Stivers PG-12pts, 5rebs, 6ast

Stat of the game

Rebounds- Wisconsin 44, Illinois 23

#1 ILL is now 21-3

Next game: at Michigan

[CincyFan]

Im not the best recruiter, that is the area that gives me the most problems. But on the other hand, I don't mind bringing in 3 stars (I never go below that) and developing them and working harder and see what their strengths and weaknesses are. Even if my freshmen are rated around 70 doesn't mean they are bad. They all have something they can contribute to the team.


ohh i am not hatin on your team i am just saying its weird that you can't pull in anyone above a 70. Especially at a Big Ten school. Now i am not the best recruiter either (only reason why is cause i only go after guys that play my style, which are hardly the top recruits in the class) and it took me like 9 years or whatever to finally crack a top 10 draft class.

Funny thing is that when i was at Iona i would only bring in 4 star people and they were dominate. They been rated 89 and above for the past six years and i left them what like 4 years ago.

I agree that you have to go after people u like and sometimes the top player isn't the best. They might leave early, might be a bust, or whatever. If your recruiting classes work well then more power too you. It just looked to me as those players weren't your type of people. Maybe i was wrong. Either class good luck in the season.

[vikingfan1]

ohh i am not hatin on your team i am just saying its weird that you can't pull in anyone above a 70. Especially at a Big Ten school. Now i am not the best recruiter either (only reason why is cause i only go after guys that play my style, which are hardly the top recruits in the class) and it took me like 9 years or whatever to finally crack a top 10 draft class.

Funny thing is that when i was at Iona i would only bring in 4 star people and they were dominate. They been rated 89 and above for the past six years and i left them what like 4 years ago.

I agree that you have to go after people u like and sometimes the top player isn't the best. They might leave early, might be a bust, or whatever. If your recruiting classes work well then more power too you. It just looked to me as those players weren't your type of people. Maybe i was wrong. Either class good luck in the season.

Well my main reason for recruiting is to get the players I need to fit into my system but also fill in the missing positions that I lose the previous years. Now I have had some success in recruiting. In back to back years I was able to get the #1 overall recruit to come to my school (Mack and Yeager) and both players left after their sophomore season, and rightfully so. Some years I do well in recruiting, others not. But I do know the freshmen class I have now will stay all 4 years in college and probably be rated in the mid to high 80's by the time they graduate, and thats OK with me.

Next year I am really hoping that Dawson will stay, I know he is rated 90 but im just praying that I get him back at PG but eventually move him to the SG (original position). I think he would be much better at the 2 guard if that is possible. I know I probably don't have the best team you've ever seen, but I have a ball club that work their tails off to get where they are now.

[vikingfan1]

Dawson has a big night as Illinois beats Michigan

Before this game with Michigan, we had been struggling with our offense and not scoring as high as we usually do. Wisconsin I can understand but we only scored 70 against an average Northwestern team, but played great defense. Dawson didn't have his shot going very well for him in this game, but he killed Michigan from the freethrow line. Dawson ended up with 28 points including 12-12 from the freethrow line. That was not all that Dawson did, he also chipped in 7ast and 8stls. I could tell it was going to be a high scoring game when it was 43 all at halftime. We were able to keep up the offensive display and also get some key stops at the end of the game and of course ice it at the freethrow line, winning 100-91. Our next game is against Wisconsin and we have a chance to get revenge on them after they beat us by 16 at Wisconsin. It should definitly be a terrific game.

Player Stats

Illinois-

Dawson-28pts, 7ast, 8stl, 12-12 fts
Duffy-16pts, 5rebs, 3stl
Wolfe-16pts

Michigan-

Baker SF-16pts
Iversen SG-15pts, 3stl
Perez SF-15pts
Nutter PG-12pts, 10ast

#1 Illinois is now 23-3

Next game: vs Wisconsin

[knox33]

Way to bounce back after the Wisconsin loss. Looks like Dawson came to play tonight. Good luck against Wisconsin.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets revenge on Wisconsin

The game started out not so hot for us as Wisconsin as much as a nine point lead early in the first half. We were able to come back from that but still trailed at the half by a few points. The second half seemed like a game of runs and I knew whoever had the last one would win, and I am just glad it was us. We were down by about 10 with eight minutes to go when we went on a big run and got about six or seven points. From there were able to hang on and make our freethrows down the stretch for the 74-70 victory. My bench played extremely well tonight, outscoring Wisconsins 21-4. We also had 12 blocks which matches the teams high this season. No one particular stood out in this game as everyone contributed, in fact I think everyone scored except for one person. Dawson led us with 14 points. Our next game is at home again against Iowa. We only have a few more regular season games before the conference tournament starts.

Player Stats

Illinois-

Dawson-14pts, 3ast, 4stl, 2blks
Peters-12pts, 6rebs, 2ast, 4stl
Wolfe-11pts, 2rebs
Duffy-9pts, 7rebs, 3ast, 2stl, 3blks

Wisconsin-

Bowers SF-16pts, 4rebs, 2stl
Seymour C-15pts, 12rebs, 2ast
Reece C-13pts, 12rebs

Stat of the game

Turnovers- Wisconsin 17, ILL 9
Bench Points- Illinois 21, Wisconsin 4
Blocks- Illinois 12, Wisconsin 4

#1 Illinois is now 24-3

Next game: vs Iowa

[vikingfan1]

Iowa overcomes second half deficeit, beats Illinois

We let this game slip away, plain and simple. I really could not believe we just gave this game to Iowa, our last home game and especially against a rival, it makes me sick. We had as much as a 16 point lead in the second half and we couldn't hold on. Iowa came back and forced overtime, and they pretty much took control from there. We battled back but came up short 97-95. This loss really hurts because it was at our house and it was on senior day and you just hate to lose on that day. Iowa completely murdered us on the boards, 51-29 to their advantage. Dawson and Wolfe had nice games, but Dawson really could not find his shot.

We let Iowa in the game because we got away from our offense and it just seemed like they were chuchking up shots instead of actually moving and making good passes and setting screens. I don't really fault the defense to much, Iowa was making some tough contested shots that were just falling at the right time, I am just more dissapointed with the offense. We have a couple of days to practice and get ready to travel to Ohio St. which will not be an easy game.

Player Stats

Illinois-

Dawson-26pts, 5rebs, 6ast, 3stl
Wolfe-26pts, 3rebs, 2ast, 4stl
Shepard-16pts, 4rebs, 4ast
Peters-12pts, 10rebs, 2stl
Duffy-11pts, 3rebs, 2ast, 3stl, 3blks

Iowa-

Francis PG-22pts, 5ast
Bonfim SG-16pts, 3rebs, 2ast
Bailey PF-16pts, 10rebs
Wofford PF-15pts, 14rebs
Massie C-14pts, 11rebs

Stat of the game

Rebounds- Iowa 51, Illinois 29

#1 Illinois is now 24-4

Next game: at Ohio St.

[vols21]

nice payback on Wisconsin -- but as often happens, a letdown in the next game (maybe looking ahead a bit to OSU too). Tough to give one away on Senior Day.
Huge rebounding deficit like that can hurt in the close games and looks like it certainly helped them erase your big lead. I often overcome the rebounds with a lot more steals (they get less shots). In close games though, you want to get that second chance bucket (and keep them from getting it on the other end)

[vikingfan1]

nice payback on Wisconsin -- but as often happens, a letdown in the next game (maybe looking ahead a bit to OSU too). Tough to give one away on Senior Day.
Huge rebounding deficit like that can hurt in the close games and looks like it certainly helped them erase your big lead. I often overcome the rebounds with a lot more steals (they get less shots). In close games though, you want to get that second chance bucket (and keep them from getting it on the other end)

Yeah, I am glad I was able to beat Wisconsin, I will probably face them in the Big Ten finals or something like that. About the Iowa game, it hurt losing to them because I can't stand Hawkeye fans lol. I usually also get a lot of steals and so usually the rebounding margin doesn't hurt me as much, but this game it did. I have been rebounding a lot better this year then I had with any other previous teams. I can't wait for the conference and NCAA tourneys to start, thats where the real fun begins!

[CincyFan]

maybe your team needed the loss so they could get fired up about the OSU game. Hopefully you can pull a win out there like you did against Wisconsin.

[vikingfan1]

maybe your team needed the loss so they could get fired up about the OSU game. Hopefully you can pull a win out there like you did against Wisconsin.

Ya, beating OSU would give them a big boost going into the conference tourney. I will definitly play that game here soon.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois clamps down on the Buckeyes

This was a great overall game and a must win game in my eyes with only have one regular season game left before the tournament. I can tell you this, the Big Ten tourney is not going to be easy with the likes of Minnesota, Ohio St., Indiana, and Wisconsin, including us battling it out for the right to be called Big Ten champs. I also expect Big Ten teams to do very well in the NCAA tourney. Ohio St. was a great opponent but we played such awesome defense, allowing them only 70 points for the 80-70 win. Wolfe and Duffy led us with 17 each. Summers led Ohio St. with 22 but he was the only Buckeye to score in double figures. We will go to Penn St. for our last regular season game.

Player Stats

Illinois-

Wolfe-17pts, 3rebs, 2stl
Duffy-17pts, 8rebs, 4stl, 3blks
Shepard-13pts, 3ast, 4stl

Ohio St.

Summers PG-22pts, 4ast, 4stl
Griffin SF-9pts, 10rebs
Randall SF-8pts, 4rebs, 2ast

Stat of the game

Turnovers- Ohio St. 20, ILL 5
Blocks- ILL 9, Ohio St. 2

#1 Illinois is now 25-4

Next game: At Penn St.

[CincyFan]

great game. Especially with the ball control for your team. I don't know it looks as if your team will be the one to beat in the Big Ten. Well if anything your trap games will be against the smaller (non-ranked) teams.

[skarface2k1]

Great season.Good luck going into the Conference toun.

[vikingfan1]

Great season.Good luck going into the Conference toun.

Thanks! I think I will be playing Minnesota in the Quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tourney.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois wraps up regular season with win over Penn St.

I was very surprised to see that Penn St. hardly had a home crowd on their senior day. I know they didn't even finish the season with 10 wins, but I figured they would get it mostly packed for their seniors and to see the #1 team in the nation. As for the game, we were pretty much cruising the entire game, had a few times where we would let Penn St. get in the game, but we were able to sustain their runs and we beat them 77-68 in a pretty low scoring game, or at least it felt like it. We now play Minnesota in the Quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. I will show you the matchups in my next post.

Player Stats

Illinois

Duffy-14pts, 9rebs, 4ast, 2stl
Peters-14pts, 6rebs, 2ast, 2stl
Shepard-13pts, 6rebs, 3ast, 2stl
Wolfe-11pts, 6rebs, 3ast, 4stl
Dawson-11pts, 4stl

Penn St.

Haigler PF-19pts, 9rebs, 2stl
Washington SG-13pts
Reese PG-10pts, 3ast

Stat of the game

Freethrows- ILL 16/16, Penn St. 4/6

#1 Illinois is now 26-4

Next game: vs Minnesota in Big Ten Quarterfinals

[knox33]

Nice win. Good luck against Minnesota in the quarters.

[vikingfan1]

BIG TEN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

MATCHUPS and Round 1 Results

Minnesota vs Michigan St.

Winner gets #1 Illinois

Iowa vs Penn St.

Winner gets #6 Wisconsin

Michigan vs Purdue

Winner gets #10 Ohio St.

Round 1 Results

Minnesota 59
Michigan St. 52

Iowa 74
Penn St. 47

Purdue 46
Michigan 45

Quarterfinal Results

#1 Illinois 92
Minnesota 76

Northwestern 69
#22 Indiana 49

#1 Illinois vs Northwestern in Semifinals

Iowa 53
#6 Wisconsin 45

Purdue 71
#10 Ohio St. 51

Iowa vs Purdue in Semifinals

[Brew Crew07]

Good job so far i'll start following.

[CincyFan]

wow northwestern with the upset. don't let this be your "trap" game.

[vikingfan1]

wow northwestern with the upset. don't let this be your "trap" game.

Northwestern is a pleasant surprise, but I think Purdue is even more shocking. Northwestern has a record of 21-10, but Purdue was the very last seed in the tournament and they made it to the finals. I have yet to play Northwestern because I have been playing Guitar Hero lately.

[vikingfan1]

Good news folks, I will now be resuming my career legacy with Illinois. I have started playing again and will have a few updates for you as well as the new roster for the new year, I ended my last season (simmed conf final and NCAA) and made it all the way to the Final Four before losing. I have played about 5 or 6 games so far in my new season, and I believe my record is 3-2 or 4-2. I am hoping to have some updates by the end of the night, I hope people will follow again, I know its been awhile but I am glad to be back!

[knox33]

Good to see you back.

[vikingfan1]

Good to see you back.

Thank you, updates will be posted by tonight because I finally got a night off work so I should be playing it pretty hardcore.

Updates for tonight:

Illini Roster

Key Players

Team Goals

Game Updates

Coache's Thoughts

[vikingfan1]

Illinois Roster 2017-2018

Name/Position/Height/Rating/Class

Dawson SG, 6'4, 93, SR
Clemmons SF, 6'8, 90, JR
Duffy PF, 6'9, 87, JR
Joiner PG, 6'5, 85, JR
Carroll PF, 6'9, 78, JR
Weiss PG, 6'3, 76, FR
Garrity PG, 6'2, 75, FR
Gardner SF, 6'5, 73, SO
Barber C, 7'1, 73 SO
Abram PF, 6'11, 72, SO
Robins SG, 6'4, 71, FR
Clement C, 6'10, 71, SO

SCHEDULE

Preseason NIT
vs Navy W 78-47
vs West Virginia W 92-61
at #1 Alabama L 88-86

Regular Season

vs Baylor W 60-37
at Flordia L 85-84
vs California W 59-45
vs UNC W 89-72
at #21 Villanova W 82-68(stats to come next post)
12/16 vs Wake Forest
12/19 at Hofstra
12/20 vs Texas Tech
12/21 at #12 Rhode Island
12/28 vs Grambling (Tourney)

Conference Schedule

1/3 at #4 Ohio St.
1/6 vs Penn St.
1/10 vs Michigan St.
1/14 at Iowa
1/17 at Northwestern
1/20 vs #2 Wisconsin
1/23 vs Indiana
1/27 at #21 Michigan
1/30 vs Iowa
2/3 vs Northwestern
2/7 at Purdue
2/10 at Indiana
2/18 vs Purdue
2/21 vs #4 Ohio St.
2/24 at Minnesota
3/3 at Michigan St.

KEY PLAYERS

Dawson- After a surprise move, Dawson returns for his senior season at U of I with a rating of 93. Dawson made pre season 2nd team All-American and he will most likely be our leader in scoring, steals, freethrow percentage, and 3 point baskets. Dawson is a do it all type player, much comparable to Yeager, which is scary. If we are going deep in the tourney, he is going to have to carry us.

Joiner- We all know how big a good point guard is to your team, and with Shepard gone, it moves Dawson to the shooting guard, which is his orginal position. Joiner has gotten playing time more and more as the years have went on, he is now a junior looking to run the offense and hit some big shots because he is a shooter. I must say, Joiner probably is the most improved player over the last two years with the exception of Clemmons.

Duffy- Here is a kid that has gone in the opposite direction as Joiner. Duffy started out his freshmen year smoking, and had a previous career high of 30 points in his first year, but has been slipping as of late. I don't know if the desire is there anymore or if teams are just hounding him so much to where he can't get as good as looks, but I really need him to start stepping up because he is a fierce competitor and the most experienced big man that I have.

Clemmons- His rating of 90 and only being a junior means that I will probably lose him after this year, although Dawson did come back so we'll see what happens. I like Clemmons a lot because he can play about any position on the floor and he's going to be successful. Clemmons is also a great defender and rebounder. And for his size (6'8) he is probably the biggest small forward that I have had since I started coaching here at Illinois. I think if Clemmons was on any other team, he could score 30 plus easy, but he knows that its a team game and we rely heavily on team play and Clemmons knows this and sacrafices a lot.

Team Goals

My players have discussed what they want out of the upcoming season, and of course they want a National Championship, but it goes beyond that. They want to have great chemistry and the upperclassmen want to teach the freshmen and sophomores all they can before they have to leave so they can carry on the tradition of winning. The players also want to finish the conference schedule undefeated, which has not been accompished by an Illini team in probably 5-6 years, maybe even more. They also want to get better on defense.

Coache's Thoughts

My thoughts on the team is that this may be one of my most experienced teams in recent years. I have a lot of juniors on this team who have played quite a bit of minutes since their Freshmen year, and I am really hoping they all come back for a senior year because that would be great. The freshmen and sophomores are progressing better then I could have imagined this early in the season, they come in off the bench and give us a big spark, as well as letting our starters get quite a bit of rest with no worries. It would seem like we are off to a rough start, starting 6-2 but we better every game, and we had two heartbreaking losses. The first loss was against the #1 team in the nation and we lost them on a buzzer beating three. The second loss was also pretty much lost right at the buzzer, so I can't complain to much. I am very excited about this team and can't wait to see how good they become as the season goes on.

I hope everyone follows this Legacy, I am sorry I was gone for so long, but I am glad to be back and catch up on other Legacys.

[vikingfan1]

Illinois gets huge road win against #17 Villanova

This game went pretty well for us today as we were able to play pretty good defense, holding Villanova to just 29 points at halftime. They made runs at us the entire game, getting it to as close as three points, but the guys were able to pull together and go on a run of their own to get by 15 and cruise from that point on. Joiner and Dawson shared the honors in scoring as they both had 17, including 5 three pointers from Dawson, as well as 6 steals. I would have to say that this game so far was our best defensive game of the year, we got a lot of steals and blocks (9). The final was 82-68 and now our next game is at home against Wake Forest, our second ACC team we have played this year.

Player Stats

Illinois-

Joiner-17pts, 4ast, 3stl
Dawson-17pts, 4ast, 6stl, 5-7 3pt
Clemmons-14pts, 4rebs
Carroll-9pts, 7rebs, 4ast, 3blks

Villanova-

Waters C- 18pts, 6rebs
Norton SF-13pts, 6rebs, 5ast
Burns SF-10pts, 6rebs
Grove C-10pts, 14rebs

Stat of the game

3 Pointers

ILL- 10/17
Nova- 3/12

Illinois is now 6-2

[skarface2k1]

great win.Keep it up!

[knox33]

Man, Dawson and Clemmons stuck around? I can't believe those guys didn't opt for the big money!

[Superjames1992]

I love this dynasty! Keep it up. :)

[vikingfan1]

I love this dynasty! Keep it up. :)


Thanks for the comment. I will try to keep it up as much as possible. Im switching back and forth alot between MLB 2k7, College HOops 2k7, WOW (World of Warcraft), and GH2.

[vikingfan1]

Man, Dawson and Clemmons stuck around? I can't believe those guys didn't opt for the big money!


I was very surprised Dawson came back, I didn't think he would at all.