Memory Lane: 2004-05 Illini get going

Remembering 2004-05: N-G front pages

Remembering 2004-05: Midnight Madness

Remembering 2004-05: Orange & Blue Scrimmage

EACH WEEK, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK BACK AT A MEMORABLE MOMENT IN ILLINI HISTORY, THANKS TO THE WORDS OF THE NEWS-GAZETTE

This week: In our continuing series on the five-year anniversary of the 2004-05 Final Four Illini, a look at the team's exhibition opener against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, where the focus turned on redshirt decisions of Calvin Brock and Shaun Pruitt.

Date: Nov. 5, 2004

By BRETT DAWSON

CHAMPAIGN – Shaun Pruitt wants to leap into the fire. Calvin Brock is content to simmer a while longer.

Illinois whipped Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 78-58 in Friday's exhibition opener at the Assembly Hall, but the story of the night was the divergent paths chosen by the Illini's freshman duo.

Prior to tipoff, Brock and Pruitt told Illinois coach Bruce Weber they intended to play this season.

Six minutes into the game, Brock went to assistant Tracy Webster and told him he'd changed his mind.

"I'm not sure if a bolt of lightning hit him .. but he just decided (to redshirt)," Weber said.

Actually, what hit the swingman from Simeon was the realization of what he'd be playing behind - All-America candidates Dee Brown and Deron Williams, senior Luther Head and sophomore Rich McBride, all of whom figure to play significant time.

"There's so many guards in front of me," Brock said. "Instead of getting little or no tick, I just want to get better in practice and then wait my turn next year."

Pruitt is less patient. But with good reason.

At 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds, the West Aurora product has bruiser potential, and as a true post player, he has a more specialized skill set than Illinois' versatile veteran big men.

"I'm just trying to find a niche, just to separate myself from the other guys," said Pruitt, who was scoreless in his preseason debut but grabbed four rebounds in 11 minutes. "I definitely feel like I'm in the mix. There's going to be a lot of competition, but that's what it's all about."

Pruitt certainly faces more competition for minutes than the Illini did in Friday's exhibition game.

Edwardsville fell behind 25-5, and though the Cougars played the Illini even from that point on, the game was decided before some fans settled into their seats.

Still, Weber saw enough to know there's plenty to like about his team. And plenty to take back to the drawing board.

The offense? Solid, even with foul trouble limiting Williams to 15 minutes and Brown fighting some stomach issues ('He had the runs, so he ran out,' Weber said of Brown's brief disappearance from court-side).

The big guys? Decent. Roger Powell Jr. stuffed the box score with 16 points, and Jack Ingram's 10 points – on 4-of-5 shooting – were a lift off the bench.

But despite holding SIUE to 58 points on 41.5 percent shooting, the Illini weren't able to sell Weber on their defense. The Cougars shot a healthy 46.4 percent after halftime and outrebounded the Illini 34-33 in the game.

"We realize that we have to really focus on guarding quicker players, the bigs, because we might run up against a team like that in the future," Powell said. "But I think altogether we got a good experience out of it."

Even so, Weber will stress stops in the days leading up to Illinois' final preseason tuneup Nov. 14 against Lewis.

But he was all smiles in his postgame news conference, practically beaming about Brock's decision to take a redshirt season.

"I think it's a very mature decision on his part," Weber said. "We have some of the best guards in the country, and his minutes would be limited. But down the road, I think he can be a great player."

Weber said he approached his freshmen earlier this week about the possibility of redshirting, and though he'd have been happy to let both sit out, he stuck by his longstanding policy not to force the issue with either.

"(Pruitt) has played well enough to possibly be in the mix," Weber said. "Now, can he beat out those guys? I'm not sure that'll happen. I hope in the long term it works out for him and Calvin."

Brock already can see how well it might work out for him.

Weber had charted his substitution patterns for Friday's first half before tipoff.

He'd mapped out four minutes for Brock, and that was with Brown, Head and Williams playing 10 to 12 minutes apiece, far fewer than they'll see in most regular season halves.

"You look at the guys we have, and it just makes sense," Brock said. "It's going to hurt to sit out, but I'm glad I made the decision. I think it's the smart decision."

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