September 7, 2010 | Filed Under Big 10, Illinois Fighting Illini, Northwestern Wildcats, Ohio State Buckeyes, college football, notre dame | Comments Off
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August 11, 2010 | Filed Under 2010 Illinois football, 2010 illinois fighting illini, Illinois Fighting Illini, illinois football, jason ford and mikel leshoure, leshoure, leshoure illini, leshoure illinois, leshoure running back, mikel, mikel leshoure, mikel leshoure illini | Comments Off
Illinois Fighting Illini runner Mikel LeShoure (6-0, 225) wears Rashard Mendenhall’s number (remember him? the 2008 NFL first round draft pick and current Pittsburgh Steelers star), and last year he started to display a little bit of Shard’s 2007 level of production and talent. In ’09 LeShoure rushed the ball 108 times for 734 yards and 5 TDs, averaging 6.8 yards per carry.
“When Mike Locksley was recruiting me, he was telling me that if Rashard was going to the NFL, which they thought he would, then I would get my same high school number. Turns out it worked out that way,” LeShoure said at Illini Media Day in ’09.
“Shard did take over the 2nd half of the season, and I’m sure all four of us want to be that guy,” he said later that day when tailback1 on the Illini depth chart was still in question.
In 2010, LeShoure greeted the Media as THE guy.
By Paul M. Banks
Illinois led the Big Ten in rushing in ’06 and ’07; and they finished second in the conference last fall. LeShoure and the running game were pretty much the only aspect of the team to get excited about last year, and it’s the only component of the 2010 team to be optimistic about thus far.
Under flashy and high-priced offensive coordinator Paul Petrino, the Illini might lean heavily on the run while freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase gets his feet under him. With new starters at wide receiver and QB, don’t surprised if you see LeShoure carrying the ball 25-30 times a game. In order to carry that workload, LeShoure, who started his career as a 240 pound freshman, has dedicated himself to conditioning.
“Last year I played around 235, and now I’m at 228, so it’s just something to stay consistent with,” LeShoure said. And the body fat of this local Champaign product is just 4.2%! Fellow Junior tailback Jason Ford will see a lot of carries, and Justin Green will no doubt me in the mix. However, this is LeShoure’s team now, and he obtained that position by bringing a tremendous work ethic to his conditioning routine.
“I started watching my diet last year, and it showed in my play, I felt like I was able to sustain drives longer without coming out,” he said. Obviously, he’s made some sacrifices for his own health, and for the good of the team, so I asked him what his guilty pleasures are.
“I love fried foods, fried chicken, fried fish and I used to eat kind of late sometimes. And instead of having a snack, fruit or something, I would make pizza rolls or something like that,” Mikel answered.
So with all the changes on the team- the coordinators, the two-deep roster on offense, LeShoure needs to be this team’s constant.
“Especially now that the coaches want me to be a leader for the running backs, and I’m one of the older guys, all the younger guys look up to me and ask me about plays and stuff. My whole role just changed.”
Written by Paul M. Banks, President and CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest focused webzine. He is also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, the Chicago Tribune’s blog network, Walter Football.com, the Washington Times Communities, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank and @bigtenguru
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August 9, 2010 | Filed Under Illinois Fighting Illini, Paul Petrino, a.j. jenkins, a.j. jenkins illinois, a.j.jenkins illini, aj jenkins illini, arrelious benn, fayson illinois wide receivers, illini wide receivers, illinois wide receiving corps, jarrred fayson, nathan scheelhaase, paul petrino offensive coordinator, rejus benn | Comments Off
Last year around this time, college football experts were proclaiming the Illinois Fighting Illini receiving corps to be the best in the Big Ten, and among the best in the nation.
Well, the Illini finished 10th in passing in the conference out of 11 teams and stumbled to a 3-9 record. So it’s safe to say that the WRs fell short of expectations.
QB Juice Williams took a big step back in his development, stud wideout Arrelious Benn was bothered by injuries and never came close to reaching his ultimate potential (although he did leave early and became a second round NFL Draft pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and University of Florida transfer Jarred Fayson, a preseason second team all-conference, and a prospect rated the #3 receiver in the nation coming out of high school, had a whopping 16 catches on the year.
It’s safe to say the corps fell way short of expectations. The turmoil led to changes at the Offensive Coordinator position and prompted junior wideout A.J. Jenkins to consider transferring.
Today Jenkins, now the team’s main weapon at the position, is plenty happy he stayed.
By Paul M. Banks
“Right now if you had to play today, the go-to guy would be A.J. He was the best guy coming out of the spring and the first three days of practice,” said new O-Coordinator Paul Petrino.
“That position has been a real nice surprise the first three days of practice. The next two weeks will be big to see who the other guys are, or if one of them passes up A.J.” he continued.
Petrino was a whiz with the receivers at Arkansas, and he’ll need to be because the unit lost a lot of depth beyond just Benn. Jeff Cumberland, a solid four year contributor, and tight end Michael Hoomanawanui are also gone. Petrino also needs to clean up the mess left by one-year-and-done offensive coordinator Michael Schultz. To say that the Schultz hire was a disaster would be like calling the Pacific Ocean “a body of water.”
So what did Jenkins, a 2009 Academic all conference, and the spring’s co-most improved player award winner on offense, have to say about Petrino’s endorsement?
“There’s no pressure, I’m just playing football, just like I was playing when I was seven years old. I’m not trying to be compared to Rejus, I’m just going to play football.”
Jenkins’ numbers don’t exactly jump out at you: 11-287-3 with a 26.1 yards per catch average in 2008. In four less games in ’09, he took a significant step backwards in production: 10-123-1, 12.3 ypc. But he’s got loads of potential with his 38″ vertical, and an insane amount of speed to run the deep routes of the Z-position in Petrino’s new offense.
“Honestly, Petrino is the mastermind in schemes, all I can tell you is- expect the unexpected,” Jenkins told me at Media Day.
Sounds intriguing. If you look closer at Jenkins’ numbers, you’ll see one game jumps out at you: his freshman year breakout game. In a 2008 Homecoming loss to Minnesota, he had three catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns, putting an end to his obscurity on the depth chart.
“It was kind of like a rub-off-my-shoulders game, I finally just had the opportunity to impress and get confidence in the coaches, and it was like ok, now I’m producing,” Jenkins said about the high scoring affair.
And confidence is an essential part to Jenkins’ game, especially because his role model is the legendary Michael Irvin.
“His ego, and the way he carried himself, always wanting the ball,” Jenkins responded when I asked who his role model receiver was.
And Jenkins’ QB, Nathan Scheelhaase, is well aware of Jenkins’ bravado.
“He’s a confident player, he loves the competition and is willing to go up against any DB in the country I promise you that, so that’s we like throwing to him,” Scheelhaase said of Jenkins.
Written by Paul M. Banks, President and CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest focused webzine. He is also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, the Chicago Tribune’s blog network, Walter Football.com, the Washington Times Communities, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank and @bigtenguru
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August 6, 2010 | Filed Under Illinois Fighting Illini, Longhorn girl, college basketball, illini 2k classic, illini madison square garden, illini vs. texas, illinois 2k sports classic, illinois vs. texas, illinois-texas longhorns, longhorn girl pictures, texas longhorn girl, texas longhorns-illinois fighting illini, texas vs. illini | Comments Off
It seems like Texas is trying to invade the Midwest today. They announced a football series with Notre Dame today, and now they’ll take on the Illini in hoops this fall. Pairings were announced for the 16th annual 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
The Championship Rounds will be played at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Nov. 18-19 and televised by ESPN2. Illinois will face Texas (hence the obligatory picture of “Longhorn Girl” two days in a row! Hey, any excuse to use that picture) in the second semifinal, Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. CT.
In the first semifinal, Pittsburgh will take on Maryland at 6 p.m. Winners of the semifinal college basketball games will meet in the championship game, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. The consolation game is scheduled for 4 p.m. I hope it’s not Maryland, we never beat them. EVER. “Fear the Turtle” indeed.
You may think it’s too early to be talking about college basketball. Well, #1 here at The Sports Bank, it’s NEVER too early, or late for that matter to talk college buckets. And this is Illinois. Where this season’s football and basketball projections are…well, pretty much like they are in most years. If you’re an Illini fan, you get very happy when football season ends, and basketball season starts. Not just happy. Ecstatic, jubilant, exuberant, or filled with the alacrity of the video below.
Seriously, after a 2-10 football campaign ends and a top 15 nationally ranked basketball season begins you’ll be exactly Joseph Gordon-Levitt in his dance sequence from the movie “500 Days of Summer.”
Prior to its trip to New York City, Illinois will host a pair of Regional Round games at Assembly Hall as part of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. The Fighting Illini open the season against UC Irvine on Nov. 8 and face Toledo on Nov. 10.
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June 2, 2010 | Filed Under Illini name starting QB, Illinois Fighting Illini, Illinois Fighting Illini QB, juice, juice williams illini, juice williams illinois qb, nathan, nathan scheelhaase, nathan scheelhaase named starting QB, nathan scheelhaase starting qb, scheelhaase | Comments Off
Illinois football coach Ron Zook today announced that Nathan Scheelhaase will enter the 2010 season as the Fighting Illini’s starting quarterback. One of the biggest questions entering the 2010 season was “who will replace Juice Williams?” Old #7 had a very disappointing senior season, but he still departed UI the school’s all-time leader in total offense.
By Paul M. Banks
We knew Eddie McGee, who looked so bad in his starts at QB that he mad a struggling Williams look All-Conference, would not be asked to compete for the position. At the end of 2010 it was thought, freshman Jacob Charest would be given the nod because of his experience.
Charest made his first start against Northwestern and played in four games. He had 145 yards on a career-best 14-of-27 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions against Northwestern, the only game he threw a pick in. He passed for a career-high 185 yards, on 10-of-19 passing, and a touchdown in win over Minnesota.
However, the Illini know this is a rebuilding year (if you can “re-build off a 3-9 campaign, that’s kind of a scary thought) with a new QB, new offensive coordinator, and lots of new wide receivers to break in. Might as well just start all over again clean.
“Following spring ball, our coaching staff had some time to review the quarterback situation and felt Nathan proved himself as a leader both on and off the field,” Zook said. “He showed the ability to run Coach Petrino’s offense at a high level, and we thought it was important to establish Nathan as a team leader entering summer workouts.”
Scheelhaase is a redshirt freshman from Kansas City, who led Rockhurst High School to a state title as a junior and was named the Kansas City Metro Player of the Year as a senior after passing for 1,726 yards and 17 touchdowns, while rushing for 864 yards and 18 scores.
By the way, Illinois now has eight game times set for the 2010 season.
2010 Illinois Football Schedule
Sept. 4 vs. Missouri (St. Louis) 11:30 a.m. CT
Sept. 11 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 6:30 p.m. CT
Sept. 18 NORTHERN ILLINOIS 11 a.m. CT
Oct. 2 OHIO STATE TBA
Oct. 9 at Penn State 11 a.m. CT
Oct. 16 at Michigan State 11 a.m. CT
Oct. 23 INDIANA (Homecoming) 11 a.m. CT
Oct. 30 PURDUE TBA
Nov. 6 at Michigan TBA
Nov. 13 MINNESOTA (Dad’s Day) TBA
Nov. 20 at Northwestern (Wrigley Field) 11 a.m. CT
Dec. 3 at Fresno State 9:15 p.m. CT
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June 2, 2010 | Filed Under Boston Celtics, Boston Celtics rasheed wallace, Illinois Fighting Illini, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, celtics vs. lakers, kobe, lakers celtics nba finals, lakers versus celtics, paul pierce celtics | Comments Off
The Lakers/Celtics NBA rivalry dates all the way back to the Magic/Bird days. Kevin McHale taking down Kurt Rambis sparked the physical rivalry.
Magic’s famous hook-shot to beat the Celtics in the 1987 Finals went down as one of the greatest shots of all-time. Oh the memories…. Wait a second; I wasn’t even alive during any of this. While it may be a great storyline to talk about the historical significance of the matchup, it isn’t at all relevant. Many of the current Lakers/Celtics players weren’t around during that era and even if they were, it doesn’t have any effect on the outcome of this series. Nevertheless, the rivalry between these two teams is undeniable, and it’s more recent than you think.
by Justin Mertes-Mistretta
In the 2008 NBA finals, the Celtics convincingly beat the Lakers in six games. Kobe is going to want revenge. This could be a defining series for his legacy, as he could add a fifth ring to his resume. It would be his second ring sans Shaq.
When the Lakers lost to the Celtics in 2008 they didn’t have an answer for Paul Pierce, but now they do. Ron Artest is that answer, or at least the Lakers hope so. Pierce and Artest have gone at it since Artest played for the Pacers. Watch here.
Look, Artest is one of the best defenders in the league, but Pierce is one of the best offensive players in the league, pants or no pants. Something has to give. I’d put my money on the guy who survived 11 stabs to the face. By the way, getting stabbed 11 times isn’t a reason to hate someone. I’m looking at you, LA Times: (Read here.)
This series is sure to have its fair share of pushing and shoving. Perkins heads into the series with six technical fouls. Kevin Garnett was suspended in the first round for his flagrant foul on Quentin Richardson. The testosterone measuring contest will be at an all-time high.
The Lakers run their offense through Kobe Bryant and the Celtics through Paul Pierce, but this series will come down to the bigs. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum can’t play soft, which they tend to do at crucial times. Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins will be leaned on by the Celtics to stop these two. They will have to stay out of foul trouble, since the Celtics are very thin up front with Big Baby Davis banged up.
At the end of the day, I think Laker’s size and the Kobe factor will be too much for the Celtics.
Lakers win in seven.
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May 14, 2010 | Filed Under Chicago Cubs, Illini Day, Illinois Fighting Illini, Kendall Gill, illini day at cubs, illini day at wrigley field, kendall gill 7th inning stretch, kendall gill guest conductor, kendall gill illini, kendall gill illini day, kendall gill take me out to the ballgame | Comments Off
By Paul M. Banks
It’s the time of year again- Illini Day at Wrigley, which typically draws more than 1,000 Illini fans to the Friendly Confines. The even often sells out within a nanosecond of tickets being released. This year, the event has a special guest.
All-Time Fighting Illini basketball great Kendall Gill will be guest conductor for the 7th-inning stretch at Wrigley Field Saturday for Illini Day.
Gill, who earned All-America honors and helped lead the Flying Illini to the ‘89 Final Four during his career at Illinois from 1987-90, will be making his first appearance as conductor of 7th-inning stretch.
“It’s all about Illini Day for me,” Gill said. “It’s very exciting to have this opportunity as I remember Harry Carry leading the crowd during the stretch when he was the Cubs announcer. I’m very excited to be a part of it
and am looking forward to getting to see a lot of folks from the Illini
family who I’ve had a relationship with over the years.”
More than 1,000 Illini fans will be in attendance Saturday when the Cubs
host the Pittsburgh Pirates, including several Illini football and basketball coaches.
Most will be attending a pregame party at John Barleycorn (3524 N. Clark Street) beginning at 9:30 am.
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May 12, 2010 | Filed Under 2010 big ten acc challenge match-ups, Big 10, Big Ten, Illinois Fighting Illini, Illinois-North carolina, acc big ten challenege 2010, acc big ten challenge, big ten acc challenge 2010, college basketball, illini vs. north carolina, illini vs. unc, illinois vs. north carolina, north carolina | Comments Off
Pairings for the 12th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge Presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods have been determined. Illinois will host North Carolina at the Assembly Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 30.
Illinois takes on North Carolina for the fourth time in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, with the Fighting Illini winning two of the three previous Challenge meetings, 92-65 at the Assembly Hall in 2002 and 68-64 at Chapel Hill in 2005.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to host North Carolina in this year’s Challenge,” Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said. “We’ve faced the Tar Heels a number of times since I’ve been here and each game has been competitive and intense and has gone down to the wire. Our players are already talking about the match-up. They’re looking forward to it and I’m sure the fans are as well. It will be a special atmosphere at The Hall on Nov. 30.”
For the sixth consecutive year, the Challenge will feature 11 games. ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise nine games with the remaining two telecasts on ESPNU. ESPN3.com, the broadband sports television network from ESPN, will simulcast the ESPN and ESPN2 telecasts.
The Big Ten is the defending Challenge champion, defeating the ACC by a 6-to-5 margin a year ago. Illinois contributed to the Big Ten’s victory with a thrilling 76-74 win at Clemson last season, erasing a 23-point second-half deficit to record the largest comeback win in Illini history.
NCAA Tournament Notes: The ACC (.665) and the Big Ten (.619) rank first and third, respectively, among conferences in NCAA Tournament winning percentage. Since 1988, the ACC (23) and the Big Ten (17) have had 40 of 92 Final Four teams and have won 10 national titles.
Teams from the ACC (347) and the Big Ten (312) have combined for 659 NCAA Tournament victories. The ACC (29) and the Big Ten (18) have combined to produce 37 percent of the No. 1 seeds since the NCAA started assigning seeds in 1979.
Since 2000, the ACC (10) and the Big Ten (9) have combined for 19 Final Four appearances and six national titles—North Carolina (2005 and 2009), Duke (2001 and 2010), Maryland (2002), and Michigan State (2000). The ACC and the Big Ten also rank first and second, respectively, in NCAA Tournament victories and Final Four appearances. The Big Ten leads the nation in all-time tournament bids (196), and the ACC is second (184).
First-Ever Meeting: Northwestern and Georgia Tech will square off in the first meeting between the two programs.
First Challenge Matchups: Six of the telecasts will feature first-ever Challenge matchups: Purdue at Virginia Tech, Michigan at Clemson, Georgia Tech at Northwestern, North Carolina State at Wisconsin, Indiana at Boston College and Maryland at Penn State.
Rematch: Ohio State and Florida State will meet in the Challenge for the second straight year. Ohio State won the first meeting, 77-64, a year ago in Columbus.
Familiar Foes: Illinois and North Carolina will meet in the Challenge for the fourth time, with Illinois winning two of the first three. Virginia and Minnesota will also meet for the fourth time in the event. Minnesota has won two of the first three.
2010 ACC/Big Ten Challenge Schedule (times and networks TBD)
Monday, Nov. 29
Virginia at Minnesota
Tuesday, Nov.30
North Carolina at Illinois
Ohio State at Florida State
Michigan at Clemson
Georgia Tech at Northwestern
Iowa at Wake Forest
Wednesday, Dec. 1
Michigan State at Duke
Purdue at Virginia Tech
North Carolina State at Wisconsin
Indiana at Boston College
Maryland at Penn State
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May 11, 2010 | Filed Under Illinois Fighting Illini, dee brown, dee brown arrested, dee brown arrested in italy, dee brown blog, dee brown hitting a police officer, dee brown illinois, dee brown italy, dee brown legal trouble, dee brown police officer, dee brown resisting arrest, dee brown website, illini dee brown | Comments Off
By Paul M. Banks
Illini legend Dee Brown made some headlines over the past couple of days because he had a little run-in with the law in Italy; the country where he is currently playing professional basketball. Just outside of of Naples, one of his teammates got into a car accident, and now Brown has been accused of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. He took to his blog to deny these (potentially false) allegations. Whether he’s innocent or guilty remains to be seen, but knowing what I know about most of the Illini fanbase, I’m sure 99.9999999% of Illini fans think he’s innocent.
He certainly IS GUILTY of poor editing, bad typing skills, misspelling, horrible punctuation, awful sentence structure and atrocious grammar, as his blog proves. This is surprising, given what a great interview he always is. And if he wants to tell me how atrocious my ball-handling and defense on the court is- that’s fine! It would even out the previous sentence.
But for more on his side of the traffic incident story…
Me and one of my teammates went to have dinner in Naples which is around 30 minutes from where we live and on the way back home my teammate got into a car accident and after the car accident the police accused me of hitting and resistance of arrest.
First off I want to thank GOD for keeping both parties healthy and safe. But I would never put my hands on the police, I would never do anything to disrespect them. I feel so bad about the situation I think the language barrier is another thing in this story that people don’t understand, they don’t understand me and I didn’t understand them.
With that said, a lot of the story just don’t seem believable and thats not my character a lot of things went on that night. I don’t want to talk about the beating I took during the situation thats why they are saying I attacked them to cover themselves from the situation. Yes they put their hands on me, but again thats a side of the story you will not hear about…I’m just blessed I’m healthy, I’m safe, now I have to find the strength to move on from this situation.
I just feel if this is so true that i ATTACKED a police officer why am I out of jail, I was able to play in the game the next day, thats a serious thing when you put your hands on a police officer which I would never do, first off I’m afraid of jail, I’m afraid of the police they hold a lot of power, but again its my word verse theirs and right now I’m losing…
Read the whole thing here
Dee is correct- sometimes misunderstandings, and later arguments, ensue when someone who is fluent in Italian communicates with an individual who can’t speak the language. This clip from “Family Guy” further verifies that.
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May 8, 2010 | Filed Under Demetri McCamey, Illinois Fighting Illini, Mike Davis, Mike Davis returning to school, Mike davis illini, demetri mccamey nba draft, demetri mccamey returning to school, demetri mccamey withdrawing from nba draft, illini, illini 2010 draft prospects, illini draft prospects, illini mike davis, illini point guards, illinois mike davis, illinois mike davis forward, mccamey, mccamey returning to school, mike davis draft stock, mike davis nba draft, mike davis withdrawing from nba draft | Comments Off
By Paul M. Banks
University of Illinois juniors Demetri McCamey and power forward Mike Davis withdrew their names from the NBA Draft today. The duo will return to Champaign-Urbana for their senior Fighting Illini season. With a legitimate threat of a NBA lockout in 2011, pretty much every junior in the nation who was at least half-way decent optioned to test the waters this spring. And as long as they didn’t hire an agent- no harm, no foul.
McCamey’s draft prospects were literally all over the place, so it was somewhat expected that he would return to school for his final year. “Baby Ben Gordon” earned first-team All-Big Ten honors last season, leading the Illini in scoring with an average 15.1 points while ranking second in the nation in assists with a school-record average of 7.1 apg.
As much as we all love to malign his defense (or lack thereof) he also led the Illini in steals (1.5 spg) and finished third on the team in rebounding (3.6 rpg). McCamey tallied seven or more assists in 21 games and tied a school record with a career-high 16 assists at Purdue, equaling the most assists in the NCAA on the season and ranking as the No. 3 all-time performance in a Big Ten game. He registered 10, 20-point games on the year, scored in double figures 28 times and was the UI’s top scorer in a team-leading 17 contests. McCamey is the only player in Illinois history to reach career milestones of 1,200 points as well as 500 assists in three seasons of competition.
“This was a great experience, a blessing for me to follow my dream of playing in the NBA,” McCamey said.
“After going through workouts and talking with my family and Coach Weber, I feel that it’s in my best interest to return to school for my senior season. Point guards are judged on victories. I think our team can do big things next year so I’m coming back to help us compete for championships and at the same time keep getting better so I can challenge for a first-round spot in next year’s draft.”
Davis received honorable mention All-Big Ten last season. The Big Ten’s top rebounder, averaged 9.2 boards to become the first Illini to lead the conference in rebounding in 23 years. (Ken Norman 1987). Davis’ total of 330 rebounds, meanwhile, stands as the third-highest single-season performance in school history. He also was third on the team in scoring with a 10.7 average. Davis tallied 15 double-doubles on the year, ranking second in the league behind Ohio State’s Evan Turner.
“I put my name in to hear from NBA personnel which areas of my game I need to make improvement,” Davis said.
“Deep down I knew another year of school was best for me, but having the chance to workout and get that feedback were helpful so I’m thankful for that opportunity. Now I’m motivated to work harder than ever so that we can have a great year next year, get back to the NCAA Tournament and make a run.”
“I am so proud of the way Demetri and Mike went through this process,” Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said. “They were receptive to the information they received and made mature, informed decisions. Demetri and Mike feel strongly about our program. They now have the opportunity to leave their mark on Fighting Illini basketball by graduating, leading us to a successful season and continuing to improve their game so that a year from now they can have the opportunity to play in the NBA.”
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