Live from Assembly Hall…

It’s Christmas Eve for Illini basketball fans. Three shiny new recruits for the Class of 2009. A new season already underway (Illinois held its first practice at 7 p.m. today). Thousands of people in pink T-shirts filling up Assembly Hall for “Illini Madness,” mainly of whom are plainly giddy over the recent oral commitments by Warren guard Brandon Paul, Peoria Central guard D.J. Richardson and Sterling wing Joseph Bertrand.

There’ll be a dunk contest, 3-point contest and a brief scrimmage here in a little while. But to pass the time, let’s empty the notebook from today’s Media Day festivities.

OBSERVATIONS:
While messing around after the player interviews, freshman forward Mike Davis nearly equalled Julius Erving’s trademark dunk. With a running start from half-court, Davis took off with his heel an inch past the free-throw line and all but threw down a dunk. It banged off the rim, but I’m guessing he had the distance to make it happen.

Freshman guard Demetri McCamey tossed a ball to himself and threw down a 360-degree dunk with ease. Freshman center Mike Tisdale tried several “two-ball” dunks in preparation for tonight’s contest.

Tisdale, by the way, can touch a higher point on the backboard than any of his teammates. He reached 12 feet off the floor during his official test with strength and conditioning czar Jimmy Price. Since his 7-foot-2 wingspan enables him to touch 110″ standing, that means Tisdale boasts a 34-inch vertical leap. Not bad for a 7-foot-1 kid.

Senior forward Brian Randle (who says he’s as healthy as he’s been in a long time) touched a point 11-foot-9 off the floor.

Junior shooting guard Steve Holdren owns a 37-inch vertical leap. Not too shabby considering he doesn’t have any cartilage in either knee. Due to one surgery during high school and one surgery while at South Dakota State, Holdren says both of his knees are bone-on-bone.

Some Bruce quips from Friday (paraphrased unless shown otherwise):
If Illinois had to play today, Trent Meacham would start at shooting guard. But he also said the job could/should be filled by committee. Holdren, Chester Frazier and Calvin Brock also could be asked to play there.
My guess? Frazier and freshman Demetri McCamey will wind up starting at the guards, with McCamey doing most of the handling to give Chester a break from playing defense on other teams’ point guards.

“Rodney Alexander has the body, has the athleticism. He has to figure how hard you have to play at this level. He’s probably as talented as anyone on the team, he can do some things nobody else can.”
Alexander and Randle have similar vertical leaps, but Alexander has a little stronger body. Interestingly, Alexander apparently can shoot 3s with the best of them. According to Weber, when Alexander gets his feet set he’s right there with Meacham and Holdren as the team’s best shooters. Now he needs to learn to come off a screen and put it up.

Other random observations:
Tisdale’s on a 6,000 calories per day diet, which has him up to 225 pounds.
Shaun Pruitt’s up to 252 pounds, but his body-fat percentage has dropped.
McCamey has dropped 12 pounds.
Carlwell has dropped at least 10 pounds, but apparently needs to shed at least 10 more.
Chester Frazier won the team’s mile run at 5:09. Perhaps more amazingly, Frazier wasn’t wearing any braces or wraps or other medical gear.

One last note: Here’s this year’s winning entry for Most Understated Media-Guide Sentence:
As part of Jeff Jordan’s “Personal” file, it reads, simply …”Father’s basketball accomplishments are far too great to even attempt listing.”
All credit goes to Derrick Burson in Illinois’ Media Relations Dept.

That’s it for now. ‘Bout time for the pre-Madness entertainment. Check Saturday’s Daily Herald for more info on the recruits, quotes from class of 2010 stud Jemere Richmond and, of course, Illinois FB coverage.

LW