Jereme Richmond, ex-Illini: The End of a (Very Short) Era

In November, 2006, less than two months after Eric Gordon stabbed Illini nation in the heart by reneging on his commitment to the Orange and Blue, Bruce Weber secured a commitment from a talented freshman named Jereme Richmond shortly after watching Richmond play his first high school game. It's fair to say that Richmond may have been the most highly anticipated recruit in Illini history. Illini fans waited four years for Richmond to arrive on campus, during which time he never wavered in his commitment. As other recruits, starting with the highly-regarded class of 2009, began to jump on board, Illini fans and the national media could sense something special building in Champaign for the 2010-11 season. Richmond was expected to be a big part of that - a versatile, athletic player with a mean streak that the team's upperclassmen lacked.

Instead of something special, however, we got more of the same from the Illini basketball team. Maddening losses to inferior teams. A .500 record in conference play. The inability to execute in close games. Chemistry problems. It all added up to a 20-14 season which ended in the "third round" (f/k/a "the second round") of the NCAA tournament. And unfortunately, Richmond was a big part in the season, but for all of the wrong reasons. He was as inconsistent as the team, occasionally putting up big numbers (witness his double-double against Ohio State), but often disappearing for long stretches. He was benched for the loss at Wisconsin after leaving the team for a few days, and didn't play in either of the team's NCAA tournament games after being suspended for unspecified rules violations. And today, after several weeks of smoke coming from the Interwebs, came the announcement that the Jereme Richmond era will end after just one season, as Richmond will enter the NBA draft and not return for his sophomore season in college.

I've been pretty rough on Bruce Weber this year and I still think he should be fired, but I'm finding it hard to fault his handling of Richmond. Clearly, Weber had to recruit him and stick with him - fans would not have been pleased if another highly-touted in-state player got away - even though Richmond had several unpleasant incidents during his high school career including getting kicked off his team for, among other transgressions, fighting with a teammate. (Does that count as foreshadowing?) If Weber did anything wrong with Richmond, it was not giving him a starting spot in the lineup right away, as future high-level recruits may wonder if they'll have to sit behind a grinder like Bill Cole if they come to Illinois. But as a short term proposition, giving more minutes to Richmond probably wouldn't have helped us win many more games this year, as Richmond never really played up to his ranking, and it's possible (probable?) that Richmond would have left after this year no matter how Weber had dealt with him.

Unfortunately, Richmond's departure leaves the 2011-12 Illini with a huge hole to fill. The team already has to replace four seniors, and now there are only two returning players on the roster (Brandon Paul and DJ Richardson) who have logged significant minutes. With Richmond gone there are no proven inside players on the team, and we'll be relying on a transfer from Bradley who missed last season with an injury (Sam Maniscalco) to help freshman Tracy Abrams run the point. The incoming 2011 class is talented, versatile, and deep but lacks star power - it's not like we're bringing in multiple McDonald's All-Americans next year.

The last time Illinois made wholesale changes to their roster like this was the 2002-03 season, but that year's freshmen (including Dee Brown, James Augustine, and Deron Williams) could lean on seniors Brian Cook (and Sean Harrington). By contrast, the 2011-12 Illini will have only one senior - Maniscalco, who has yet to suit up for the team. To me, the current scenario is more reminiscent of the 1998-99 Illini team, which replaced five senior starters with several talented (but not super-talented) underclassmen. That team, of course, finished in last place in the Big Ten. One saving grace for next year - the 98-99 Big Ten was loaded (seven NCAA tournament teams, 2 final four teams), while the 2011-12 Big Ten will be weak, which might help keep the team from sinking too far in the standings. Still, this doesn't look like the kind of situation in which a coach on the hot seat - and Weber will be on the hot seat next year - would want to find himself. Given all of the uncertainty surrounding the program right now, if the team struggles in 2011-12 it's likely that the end of the Jereme Richmond era will be followed by the end of the Bruce Weber era.

Farewell, Class of 2011 - Illini Season Wrap-up

I always find the day on which the NCAA tournament carries on without the Illini to be a sad one. This year, thanks to the vagaries of scheduling, the Illini were the last team eliminated in the "third round" (f/k/a "the second round")*, so today is that sad day. It also provides a good opportunity to remember the accomplishments of the class of 2011 - Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale, and Bill Cole.

* I guess you could say we made the "Sweet Seventeen" - maybe we should hang a banner in the Assembly Hall to commemorate it!

EDIT - we actually weren't the last team eliminated in the "third round". I forgot that FSU's evisceration of Notre Dame finished after our game did. How about an "Elite Eighteen" banner instead?

The outgoing senior class featured four good citizens who never caused any trouble off the court, and as individuals they made quite an impact on the Illini record book: McCamey finished second all-time in assists; Davis finished second all-time in rebounds; Tisdale finished second all-time in blocked shots; and Cole...ummm...posted a lot of Matto Chart points, I guess. Unfortunately, they never achieved much in the way of team success. They never came close to a Big Ten title (don't throw the second-place finish of 2008-09 at me when they were closer to ninth place than first), they only made two NCAA tournament appearances, and they managed just the one NCAA tournament victory this year against UNLV. They also have the misfortune of being probably the most disrespected class in Illini history (mostly by supporters of Bruce Weber, who'll do anything, including trashing players, to prop him up). But despite their limitations as players, I'd say that their lack of team success falls in Weber's lap, as Weber failed them in so many ways:

• Even though Tisdale, McCamey, and Davis started together from their sophomore year on, Weber never was able to get them to run his motion offense effectively, and he never adjusted to find a scheme that would better suit his players' skill sets.
• Weber failed to recruit anyone of consequence in the classes immediately before and after their class.
• Although recruiting finally picked up with the high school classes of 2009 and 2010, Weber still failed to bring in a true point guard to back up McCamey or a non-finesse big man to complement Davis, Cole and Tisdale.
• Weber failed to properly integrate the younger talent (the Illini featured five consensus top-100 players, including one McDonald's All-American, among their underclassmen) with the upperclassmen.

So thank you, class of 2011 - you had to do a lot of heavy lifting to carry the team throughout your Illini careers, and there was a lot of disappointment, but you handled yourselves with dignity and at least you went down fighting. A lot of Illini fans may not realize it yet, but we'll miss you and your contributions going forward. Best of luck to you in your future endeavors.

The Camel's Back is Broken - Fire Bruce Weber

There - I've said it. After Friday's loss to Michigan, the Bruce Weber era should be over, NCAA tournament appearance or not. Yes, of course it's the players who lost the game, say the Weber supporters - Weber didn't miss shots, or play bad defense, or allow the Wolverines to end the game on a 21-4 run after the Illini took a 12-point lead with about eight minutes to go. But how come the same thing happened at the end of the 2006 NCAA tournament loss to Washington, and at the end of the 2007 NCAA tournament loss to Virginia Tech? How come the players keep changing, but the team keeps choking away big leads? The only constant is Weber - he takes whatever talent he has and has them playing so tight that they are unable to execute down the stretch of tight games.

Yes, we might still make the NCAA tournament, but does this team deserve it? And does anyone (besides our potential first-round opponent and their fans) really want to see this Illini team play another meaningful game? And are things going to be better next year, when we'll have no seniors, no proven point guard or big men, and when too many of the "great recruits" we've already brought in have regressed (Richardson) or are basically invisible (Griffey, Head, Bertrand)? It's one thing watching ugly, boring basketball when the team wins (see 2008-09), but now we aren't even winning. The only way things are going to improve is by bringing in some fresh blood at the top. I wouldn't worry about losing our incoming recruits - they'd probably welcome the chance to play for a coach who might actually let them, you know, play.

Bottom line - Bruce Weber inherited a program that was on a par with Michigan State, and now we've fallen so far that we're even behind Michigan (to say nothing of Purdue, Ohio State, and Wisconsin). We're pretty much in the same boat with Minnesota, Penn State, and Northwestern - the "S.S. At Least We Aren't Indiana or Iowa". Our Big Ten record the last five years (44-44) is identical to the last five years of the Lou Henson era (45-45), only without the crippling NCAA sanctions. If not for the extra three NCAA tournament berths this year, we'd be in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years - and we might miss the tournament anyway.

Enough is enough. It's time to fire Bruce Weber.