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Illini prep for Hoosiers

Posted by: Paul Klee

Thursday, January 8, 2009 7:00 PM

Cleaning out today's notebook as Illinois prepares for Indiana's visit on Saturday...

- Sophomore Mike Davis has battled tonsillitis on several occasions while at Illinois, including during the loss at Michigan on Sunday. He's getting better - he practiced Wednesday and today - but the tonsils issue probably won't be resolved until the spring.

Weber said Davis considered having his tonsils removed last spring, and Davis said he will go through with the procedure after this season. The sophomore has had "trouble eating, trouble breathing" and "it's just tough to go up and down the court," Weber said.

Watched Davis in practice today and yesterday and thought he played very well, actually. It's gotten to the point where I'm surprised when he misses one of those 8- to 12-foot jumpers over a defender. Weber said Davis figures to have his usual role Saturday.

"I feel a lot better," Davis said today.

- Sports Illustrated is in town, and you'll want to pick up a copy next week. S.I. staff writer Mark Beech is working on a feature on Illinois' 13-2 start and, specifically, the emergence of Mike Davis. Beech said the piece is about the Big Ten's surprise team (Illinois) and a surprise player (Davis).

"That should be pretty cool," Davis said about being profiled in S.I.

- After practice Wednesday, the Illini watched the Indiana-Michigan game while eating dinner as a team. Indiana led by 17 at halftime before losing in overtime.

Though Weber didn't say as much, Michigan's close call was a best-case scenario for the Illini: his players saw first-hand that Indiana (5-9, 0-2 Big Ten) is capable of pushing a team to the limit.

"If they just watched the game last night, the first half, that did my talking," Weber said.

- Wednesday's practice was one of the more difficult sessions - from a conditioning standpoint - that I can recall over the past month. Weber said it was an attempt to keep their game conditioning up to speed during a week that includes only the Indiana game.

"They (the players) were calling me the track coach and teasing me," Weber said.

- Bruce Weber complimented the work of Indiana's coach. And that's not a sentence this beat writer has written over the past three years.

"I think he's (Tom Crean) doing as good a job as anybody in the league," Weber said.

- After a difficult two-game road swing to open the Big Ten season, Illinois has four of its next five games at the Assembly Hall. Weber's concern isn't from a strategic standpoint, but in how the Illinois players approach the semi-homestand.

"We've almost played better on the road," Weber said, adding, "My biggest fear is that our emotional maturity of getting ready to play every game. That's what I'm worried about."

- UI athletics director Ron Guenther said today the current plan for the Assembly Hall is to renovate in phases, in order to keep the basketball teams from being displaced for an entire season. He said the earliest the renovations would begin is 2010.

- As you probably know, the UI will honor members of the 1984 Co-Big Ten champions (its their 25th anniversary) and the 1949 Final Four team (its their 60th anniversary) during Saturday's game.

Illini great Derek Harper has made plans to attend the game, UI officials said. Harper wasn't able to attend A Night of Legends in the fall, so they will raise his honored jersey (#12) during Saturday's game.

"I know he was unbelievably athletic," said Weber, who, as a Purdue assistant, coached against Harper's teams at Illinois. "So talented. Blow-by speed. Just could get to the basket. Those are the things I remember."

Weber said there are plans for Eddie Johnson to return later this season, as well.

- Another homecoming is set for Saturday: Verdell Jones III's return to C-U. The Hoosiers guard grew up around the Illini program and helped lead Champaign Central to third place in the state tournament last season.

To give you an idea about Verdell and his family's ties to Illinois, I'd be willing to bet he's taken as many jumpers at the Illinois practice facility as almost anyone on the current UI roster. He's worked out and played around at Ubben since Lon Kruger was coach.

"Personally, its just another game for me," Verdell said today by phone. "The only special thing for this game is that I'll have a lot of people there. But other than that, it's just like the Michigan game or the Iowa game."

More on Verdell Jones and the Indiana game coming Friday and Saturday on HQ.

- Updates on Illinois' recruits. Click here.

- D.J. Richardson has some good news. Click here.

pklee@news-gazette.com

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