| ESPN Network: ESPN | NBA.com | WNBA.com | NHL.com | ABC | Radio | EXPN | Page 2 | INSIDER | Shop | |
|
| | Thursday, November 2 Preseason Top 25: No. 8 Illinois | ||||||||
Jason, Urbana, Ill. "Illinios is gonna blow up this year. Cory Bradford looks like he's gonna do some damage with his sweet J. And after a year of growing pains, Frankie Williams will be ready to lead the team to the Final Four. What'll make the difference is the veteran leadership of Sergio McClain and the second-coming of Brian Cardinal in Lucas Johnson. And don't forget Brian Cook, who if he develops this year then we'll probably be looking at a championship." Howard Choi, New York Follow the rest of the top 25 Click on the following pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | |||||||||
|
|
Why No. 8?: The Illini have everyone returning but added super coach Bill Self. Self can seemingly do no wrong after last season's Elite Eight run for Tulsa. His players sing his praise, especially with his ability to get them to play harder defensively and as one. Illinois needs an infusion like that on the bench. The Illini have the talent to win the title with Frank Williams at the point, Cory Bradford at shooting guard, Marcus Griffin, Sergio McClain and Brian Cook up front. The starting five is athletic, tough defensively with a shot blocker in Cook in the middle, and has the potential to score in double figures at every position. If Williams can hold onto the ball and play with more patience, then the Illini figure to have their best chance for a Final Four berth since 1989. But Self has to massage more egos in one year at Illinois than he had in his tenure at both Oral Roberts and Tulsa. If he can get this team to play unselfish like Tulsa did a year ago then the Illini and Michigan State race will rival Duke-Carolina and Maryland in the ACC.