UIC

State of '08: Illinois

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:40:02 -0700

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Duke or Carolina? BC or UMASS? Gonzaga or Washington.. or Washington State? What is the best program in each state? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a ranking of every program in every state.. based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

Up today: Illinois. For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

ILLINOIS

ILLINOIS - In 2005, Bruce Weber led Illinois to the National Title game behind the amazing backcourt duo of Deron Williams and Dee Brown. But those were Bill Self's guys, and Weber's teams have gotten worse every season. Last year the Illini missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999.. and have little shot of making it this year as well. While Illinois is still the class of the state, SIU continues to the close the gap. The Illini's 2010 class can't get on to campus quickly enough.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS - Before last season, SIU had made 6 NCAA Tournaments in a row, including two Sweet Sixteen runs along the way. Even last year, despite the mediocre 11-7 MVC record, the Salukis were better than many think.. as they knocked off Top 40 foes like Mississippi State, Saint Mary's, and Western Kentucky.. all of whom made the Big Dance.

BRADLEY - In 2006, Bradley made a name for itself, shocking many pundits by making the Sweet Sixteen. 2007 was arguably an equally successful regular season (an RPI of 38 vs 33 the previous season), but the Braves ended up in the NIT. Bradley has topped DePaul in the RPI each of the last 3 seasons (also beating them 3 times in a row), and should accomplish that feat again in 2009

DEPAUL - Still trying to find its groove in the Big East, DePaul should most likely finish in the conference's bottom 3 in 08-09. The program has made just 2 NCAA Tourney trips in the last decade, in 2000 & 2004. Fourth year coach Jerry Wainright has some work to do getting DePaul back to that level.

UIC - Veteran coach Jimmy Collins has led UIC to 3 NCAA Tournaments since taking over in 1996. Since their last trip in 2004, the Flames have been mired in mediocrity, going 32-34 in Horizon League games in that period. Another similar middle of the pack finish is expected in 08-09.

6. ILLINOIS STATE - 1998 was the last time the Redbirds made the Big dance, but 07-08 was the best since then. First year Tim Jankovich led his team to a 13-5 MVC record, and an RPI of 34. Illinois State had the 2nd highest RPI of any team that didn't make the Big Dance.. and got screwed by playing the only higher team (Dayton) in the 2nd round of the NIT. Another NIT is possible this season, but the NCAA Tournament will have to wait.

7. NORTHWESTERN - The Wildcats' futility is known to all fans, as the program has yet to reach the NCAA Tournament in its 100+ year existence. The last postseason trip (one of 3 ever) was in 1999, a first round loss in the NIT. From 02-04, BIll Carmody supplied some hope as NU finished with a .500 Big Ten record in '04 for the first time since 1968. But the hope has mostly fizzled out with just 3 wins in their last 34 conference games.

8. LOYOLA - Coming off a down season, Loyola is hoping to repeat the success they had in 06 & 07 when Blake Schilb led the Ramblers to 19 & 21 win seasons. Jim Whitesell's crew should most likely improve on last year's RPI of 222.

9. NORTHERN ILLINOIS - The Huskies are coming off two brutal seasons (just 12 D1 wins combined), and should once again be one of the worst teams in the MAC this season. But every couple years NIU has a decent run: In 2006, they upset DePaul (for the 2nd year in a row), as well as Kansas State, and Ohio. In 2003, they finished 3rd in the MAC and won two conference tourney games

10. CHICAGO STATE - From 2001 to 2003, Chicago State may have been the country's worst program. Now CSU is simply bad, and lacks a conference affiliation since leaving the Summit League after 2006. (2006 was oddly one of CSU's best ever D1 seasons, as they finished on a tear and went to the conference title game). Its hard to expect much from the Cougars any time soon.

11. WESTERN ILLINOIS* - One of the country's usual doormats, WIU is arguably coming off its best season since 1999. Which isn't saying too much considering the Leathernecks won just 10 D1 games and only beat one Top 200 team all season (North Dakota State). There's every reason to expect another 290-300 RPI this year.

12. EASTERN ILLINOIS* - In 2004, EIU went from being a run of the mill sub par program to one of the worst in the country. With an RPI of 337 last year, the Panthers were the 3rd worst full-time D1 team, only edging out UMES and fellow OVC team Jacksonville State.

* WIU and EIU have had very similar success recently, and have even split their meetings in the past 4 years. I give WIU the edge for being in the Summit League, which has outperformed the OVC for the last handful of seasons.

Last: Indiana (Yes, I know I reversed the order of Indiana & Illinois by mistake..) - Next: Iowa

State of '08: The Introduction (& State list/links)

UIC's Collins Earns Contract Extension

Press Release — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:55:48 -0700

Chicago, Ill. - University of Illinois at Chicago Head Men's Basketball Coach Jimmy Collins will continue to lead the Flames beyond the 2008-09 season as athletic director Jim Schmidt announced on Tuesday a three-year contract extension for the winningest basketball coach in school history pending Board of Trustees approval.

"I have been truly blessed to spend the last 12 years doing what I love here at UIC," Collins said. "It is a great university with great administrators, faculty and students, who have all helped me, and this basketball program, become successful.

"I am as excited as I have ever been about our upcoming season and the young men we have returning, as well as the new recruits we have coming in," Collins continued. "I am as eager to get on the court and continue to build this program as I was the day I got the job."

Collins, who is the longest tenured NCAA Division I men's basketball coach in the state, was introduced as head coach on March 27, 1996. He has guided UIC to three NCAA Tournament appearances (1998, 2002, 2004) and one NIT bid (2003) while topping the 20-win plateau on four occasions, including a school record 24 victories in 2003-04. Collins owns a career record of 194-171.

"Coach Collins has become synonymous with UIC basketball and has become an institution on this campus," Schmidt said. "His success speaks for itself.

"He is an excellent ambassador for UIC, understands our mission and will retire as a Flame."

Collins, the 1996-97 Midwestern Collegiate Conference Co-Coach of the Year, has guided 11 student-athletes to All-League honors during his tenure, including four-time All-Horizon League recipient, and UIC's all-time leading scorer, Cedrick Banks and 1998 MCC Player of the Year Mark Miller.

Last year, Collins took a team pegged for eighth in the preseason Horizon League poll and guided them to an 18-win season and a fourth place finish in the final league standings.

Collins, who will enter the 2008-09 season just six wins shy of 200 career victories, returns three starters to his lineup, including All-Horizon League performers Josh Mayo (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville) and Scott VanderMeer (Dyer, Ind../Lake Central).

Horizon League Semis: Butler Rolls Over UIC

Bill Kintner — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:27:42 -0700

INDIANAPOLIS -- The script worked out just like it was planned. The 14th ranked team in the country and #1 seed hosting the semifinal game pounds their opponent into submission to play in the championship game on their court Tuesday night.

Butler became the sixth straight number one seed to advance to the Horizon League Championship game by beating University of Illinois-Chicago 66-50.

This started out pretty well for UIC (18-15) as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead on a layup by Robert Bush and a lob from Stewart Spencer resulting in a thunderous dunk by Jermaine Dailey.

A quick layup by Mike Green and then a 3-pointer by A. J. Graves put Butler (28-3) up 5-4 at the 17:35 mark.

The Flames went back up by one when Dailey made a layup to make it 6-5 with 16:21 left.

UIC maintained a small lead until they finally pushed the lead up to five points when Scott Vandemeer was fouled by Butler’s Willie Veasley and made one of the two free throws to make it 16-11 at the 10:18 mark.

Butler went on an 18-2 run toward the end of the first half that resulted in a 10 point lead going into halftime at 34-24. The amazing thing was that Mike Green was responsible for 16 of the 18 points by either scoring or getting the assist.

Coming out of the half Butler continued the charge by going on a 19-5 run to push their lead to 24 points at 56-32 with 8:59 left in the game.

The Vikings whittled the lead down to 15 points with 2:07 remaining when Robert Kreps hit a 3-pointer to make it 63-48.

Two more free throws by Krebs and a 3-pointer by Pete Campbell for Butler got the final score to 66-50.

Butler really put the game away from 3-point land making 12 in 27 attempts (44.4 percent) and by just turning the ball over eight times.

Campbell who was 5-10 from 3-point land said 3-point shooting is what Butler looks to do.

“It is something we look to do. The important thing is when you hit shots like that you get stops on the other end. That’s what builds the lead and that’s what we need to do at certain points in the game,” explained Campbell.

Green led all scorers with 19 points, he was 5-8 from the field and 8-10 from the charity stripe plus he had seven assists.

“Mike had a great game, no question about it. He has played like that all season,’ said Butler coach Brad Stevens. “He played with great poise and found different guys, he found the right guys at the right time.”

It wasn’t just Stevens praising Green, UIC coach Jimmy Collins thinks he may be the Horizon League Player of the Year.

“He is the player of the year. He is a tremendous leader for this team. Green looks to set up everybody else. When he doesn’t get that accomplished he scores,” said Collins. .

Horizon League Quaterfinals: UIC Dominates Loyola

Bill Kintner — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:35:48 -0800

When a team doesn’t shoot well, doesn’t rebound well and doesn’t shoot free throws very well there is a pretty good chance they are not going to win that night and that describes Loyola in their loss to UIC in the quarterfinals 60-49.

Loyola (12-19) shot a poor 38.3 percent (18-47), only made 56.3 percent (9-16) and then got killed on the boards 36-20.

UIC (18-14) was not world-beaters either shooting just 36.2 percent (17-47) including just 3-15 from 3-point land but that rebounding margin and shooting 88.5 percent (23-26) from the free throw line providing them with their winning margin.

“It wasn’t pretty according to some bystanders and some of the people I talked to after the game, but it was a win for us and it was a win that was hard-fought, especially in the first half,“ according to UIC coach Jimmy Collins.

In the first half there were eight lead changes and five ties before Loyola’s Tracy Robinson hit a jumper with :53 left to put Loyola up 21-19 at the half. At that point the rebounding edge by UIC was small at 14-11.

In the second half all heck broke lose as both teams clunked shot after shot but the Flames creamed Loyola in rebounding 22-9.

Loyola coach Jim Whitesell pointed to the bad shooting and the poor rebounding of his team as big factors in the loss.

“”Give them a lot of credit, I don’t think either of us shot it great. Sometimes you have to get the extras like offensive rebounds,” said Whitesell. “That’s what they did. They didn’t shoot it well but they got some extra boards to make up for it. In a game like this, if you get two shots at a basket or three sometimes it gets you going.”

UIC helped keep Loyola off balance by frequently switching defenses from zone to man to man.

“It was a team effort. The coaches did a good job of switching us from zone to man to zone and we were able to contain them,” explained UIC player Josh Mayo who led all scorers with 17 points.

Robinson led Loyola with 15 points.

Notes:

-UIC leads the all-time series with Loyola 29-13.

-There was no 3-point shootout between students of UIC and Loyola because there weren’t any at the game. I think there may have been three UIC students but I didn’t see any Loyola students.

-UIC plays Butler Saturday night at about 7:30 p.m.

2007-08 Illinois Chicago Basketball Preview

Joel Welser — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 09:45:49 -0700

Illinois Chicago Flames

Overall Rank: #105

Conference Rank: #2 Horizon

2006-07: 14-18, 7-9, 4^th (t)

2006-07 postseason: none

UIC looked a lot better in April than they do now. The team’s leading scorer, Othyus Jeffers, is headed out of the program and T.J. Gray has opted to forego his final year of eligibility. That is a big, big hit to the backcourt, but once the dust and disappointment settles around the Jeffers departure, this is still a team that has some talent and can be in the mix for the coveted spot behind Butler in the Horizon League standings. Yet, the program could just as easily throw in the towel before the season even starts with the once lofty expectations suddenly dwindling.

Who’s Out:

Jeffers, a 6-5 wing, led the team with 15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals and the diminutive Gray added 11.1 points and 1.9 assists. Seldom used guard D.J. Smedley will not be suiting up for the Flames next year either. Almost as important as the perimeter losses are the losses up front. Jovan Stefanov started all 32 contests for UIC and averaged 9.9 points and 5.7 rebounds and Danijel Zoric played an important role off the bench for part of the 2006-2007 season.

Who’s In:

The talent coming in will keep UIC in the upper half of the conference. Jeremy Buttell, a transfer from Texas Tech, will use his 6-7, 225 pound frame to battle in the paint. He also has a decent mid-range shot and will help stretch out the defense. Byron Pickens is a more athletic forward and the 6-7 Chicago native has the ability to help in the rebounding and shot blocking departments as a freshman. Tori Boyd and Billy Baptist will immediately bolster the depth on the wing. Boyd is a solid shooter and Baptist, a versatile junior college transfer, can play at the two, three and four spots for UIC. Sharpshooting combo guard Robert Kreps brings his hardnosed football attitude to the court and has the skills and smarts to contribute right away.

Who to Watch:

Josh Mayo was not expecting to be the star of the team, but now he will be. The 5-10 junior will take the big shots and how he handles being the go-to-guy will have a big effect on the team. Mayo, despite being hampered by an achilles injury, shot over 40 percent from beyond the arc and averaged 11.8 points per game. Robert Bush came on strong at the end of last season and will need to continue that success as a senior. During the last nine games of the season, which were the only nine games the 6-4 guard started last year, Bush averaged 9.8 points and 3.8 rebounds. If he can keep that up for a whole year, UIC will be fine. The most intriguing backcourt option may be Spencer Stewart. The 6-4 sophomore started a dozen games his first year in the program and proved to be a smart floor leader. If he develops any sort of scoring threat, Stewart will be a surprisingly good player. Karl White only played in 14 games last year and has yet to develop into the scorer he was once projected to be, but he will at least provide some experience off the bench.

Final Projection:

Scott Vandermeer returns to the center position after scoring 5.1 points, grabbing 5.6 rebounds and blocking 3.5 shots per game in 2006-2007. As long as the 6-11, 250 pounder can stay out of foul trouble, he is an effective big man on both ends of the floor. Jermaine Dailey showed flashes of his potential his first year with the Flames after spending some time at Three Rivers Community College. At the least, he is a decent big man to eat up some fouls and battle in the paint. The frontcourt may lack a little bit of depth, but they are still a decent group and, even without Jeffers, the perimeter has a few scoring options. As long the team plays as a team and can avoid further defections and injuries, UIC will be competitive in the Horizon League.

Projected Post-season Tournament: none

Projected Starting Five:

Spencer Stewart, Sophomore, Guard, 4.2 points per game

Josh Mayo, Junior, Guard, 11.8 points per game

Robert Bush, Senior, Guard, 6.8 points per game

Jeremy Buttell, Sophomore, Forward, DNP last season

Scott Vandermeer, Junior, Center, 5.1 points per game

Complete Top 144 Ranking | 2007-08 Preview | Discuss the Preview

Wright State Beats UIC in Overtime

Bill Kintner — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 22:17:23 -0800

CHICAGO – It is February and Wright State goes to Chicago to face University of Illinois-Chicago as they try to secure their seeding for the Horizon League Tournament. The game goes back and forth, and then heads into overtime.

Sound familiar?

It happened last year when the Raiders came to Chicago in a five-way tie and a win would have put them in third place. UIC beat them in double overtime 69-66 and the Raiders wound up in seventh place.

And tonight?

A different ending as Wright State (18-8, 11-2 HL) secured a second place seed in the Horizon League Tournament by defeating the Flames 74-64 in overtime.

In the second half the UIC (9-16, 4-8 HL) Flames were in control with a lead as big as five points twice in the first six minutes. With just 36 seconds left in the game Wright State’s DaShaun Wood hit a 3-pointer to give the Raiders their biggest lead of the game to that point, 58-55.

All the Raiders had to do was hold on for 30 more seconds and they would get first win at UIC since 1999.

With just 23 seconds left UIC’s Josh Mayo fired a crisp pass to Robert Bush who sank a 3-pointer to tie the game and send it into overtime. Wright State’s players must have gotten chills as their minds flashed back to last year’s overtime nightmare loss.

In overtime the Raiders came to life for the first time in the game as Drew Burleson took a pass underneath by Wood and put in a lay up in the first 30 seconds. A few seconds later Wood hits a 3-pointer, followed by another 3-pointer by Vaughn Duggins and when the dust cleared Wright State stayed within a half game of first place Butler.

Their win sets up the big showdown with Butler on Saturday night at home against Butler where they seek to revenge a 72-42 butt whipping they received at Butler in early January. Since then the Raiders have gone 9-1.

Acting UIC Coach Mark Coomes was disappointed his team could not close the deal, but saw some positives in losing to the hottest team in the Horizon League.

“They (Wright State) are in second place in our league. They went to Detroit and won, They went to Green Bay and won. They went to Loyola and won. We played them pretty good tonight, but not quite good enough and that is what hurts,” said Coomes.

Wood who led all scorers with 24 points knew this game was going to be very tough.

“They beat one of the best teams in the league (Butler) and we knew coming in here it was going to be a dog fight. We knew it was going to comedown to maybe the last procession, said Wood who was talking a mile a minute after the game. “In overtime are players just kind of realized that this was our season. We didn’t want to take a step back, we wanted to take a step up.”

This game was long on defense and short on good offense as the Raiders shot just 40.3 percent (27-67), but UIC shot an even poorer 32.4 percent (22-68)

Wright State Coach Brad Brownell just happy to get out with a win, but he was not deceived by the 10 point margin of victory.

“They controlled the game for most of the game. I think we were a little disappointed that we weren’t playing a little better. A lot of that had to do with how UIC was playing,” explained Brownell. “In overtime, one or two plays can just change it. It is only five minutes and if you get a couple baskets on a spurt and get a run, then all of a sudden the other team gets a foul, it looks like you won the overtime by a 100 but it was really a lot closer than that.”

After Wood, Burleson and Duggins both had 13 points. Jordan Pleiman put in 11 for the Raiders.

For the Flames Othyus Jeffers put in 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Jovan Stefanov and Mayo scored 13. Bush also scored 10 points.

Notes:

*UIC’s Coach Jimmy Collins is still at home recovering from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. There is no indication as to when he might be back.

*After the game Coomes predicted Wright State would defeat Butler on Saturday night.

*To make sure the Raiders are rested for the Butler game, they are flying back to Dayton on a charter plane. They bused up and originally planned to bus back, but athletic director Mike Cusack decided the players needed their rest with first place on the line on Saturday night.

*UIC leads the all-time series with Wright State 20-13.

*UIC’s next game is Saturday at Detroit at 2 p.m.

*Wright State’s next game is the Horizon League’s showdown of the year on Saturday at home against Butler at 7 p.m.

Wright State Dominates UIC

Bill Kintner — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0800

DAYTON – Raider fans were wondering, so were the parents of Wright State‘s Drew Burleson, his sisters were wondering and so were the writers that cover the Raiders.

They were all trying to figure out how Burleson could average 12.5 ppg as a junior and then his senior year in the first 14 games couldn’t crack double digits.

Tonight the wondering about Burleson ceased as he broke out and scored 18 points including three for three from 3-point land to lead Wright State (9-6, 2-0 HL) to a 76-62 victory over University of Illinois-Chicago.

Burleson attributed his break-out to feeling more comfortable with the system.

“It takes a little time to get acclimated to a new system. Throughout the season I have become more and more confident with the new offense the coach has put in,” explained Burleson. “I think I am trying to find my niche right now and it is starting show through.”

As Burleson was breaking-out Wright State’s Jordan Pleiman continued to improve his game as he put in 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against a much taller UIC (7-9, 2-1 HL).

One of most amazing stats from this game is that the small Raiders out-rebounded UIC 36-23 for the game.

One reason for that given by Wright State’s Coach Brad Brownell is that with the Raiders shooting such a high percentage for the game (54.7 percent) there were less opportunities for the Flames to get defensive rebounds.

UIC’s Acting Head Coach Mark Coomes thought it came down to Raiders quickness.

“Quickness to the ball is everything and having a nose for the ball is everything,” said Coomes.

After a lay up by UIC’s Othyus Jeffers to start the game at the 18:24 mark, Burleson hit a 3-pointer 21 seconds later to give Wright State a 3-2 lead and the Raiders never looked back keeping the lead for the rest of the game.

Wright State finally pushed the lead up to 22 points at 41-19 on a lay up by DeShaun Wood who was fouled by Jeffers and made the foul shot to complete the three point play.

The Flames got it back down to 20 points at the half on a jumper by Scott Vandermeer.

Wright State came out and pushed the lead up to 25 points at the 9:21 mark which was their biggest lead of the game.

The Flames did not get the deficit under 20 points until there was 2:12 left in the game when Robert Bush hit a 3-pointer to get the score down to 7-54.

UIC popped in three more 3-pointers as Wright State backed off a little on defense to avoid fouling to close the gap down 14 points when the buzzer sounded.

The Raiders ended up going 29-53, while holding UIC to 40.4 percent (21-53).

Jeffers scored 19 points to lead the Flames, TJ Gray scored 14 points and Bush put in 11 points.

For the Raiders both Wood and Todd Brown scored 12 points. Wood led the game with seven assists.

Notes:

*UIC Coach Jimmy Collins was operated on today for a stomach aneurism. Coomes reported that it went well and he could go home tonight from the hospital.

*UIC leads the all-time series 20-13

*UIC’s next game is on January 10th at home against Butler at 7 p.m.

*Wright State’s next game is Saturday at Butler at 1 p.m.

Horizon League Preview

CHN — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 09:55:32 -0800

Conference Previews | Top 144 | 06-07 Preview Home

Horizon League Preview

Conference Rank: 15th

Conference Page

All-Conference

Player of the Year - Blake Schilb, Loyola, G

Ryan Evanochko, UWGB, G

DeShaun Wood, Wright St, G

Quin Humphrey, Youngstown St, G/F

Othyus Jeffers, UIC, F

Nat'l	Team (Click for Preview)	Conf	Tourney
88	Loyola Chicago	1	NCAA
106	Butler	2
132	UW Green Bay	3
145	Illinois Chicago	4
163	Wright State	5
176	Detroit	6
220	UW Milwaukee	7
229	Cleveland St	8
283	Youngstown St	9

Preseason Head Coach Interviews

Brad Brownell - Wright State

Rob Jeter - UW Milwaukee

Tod Kowalczyk - UW Green Bay