And like Spank said, the Illini have the talent; they're just young. They'll get better. Weber's a great coach, but they're just really young. That's all.
This is simply flat-out, totally wrong, incorrect, woefully off the mark, hopelessly uninformed.
There are 13 players on the Illannoy roster this season: Keller is a senior. Tisdale, Jordan, Mike Davis, McCamey, Legion (already quit), Cole, Semrau (Weber is running him off a year early to grab the schollie to use for someone who won't be as much a mistake as Weber's previous big man recruits)are seven juniors on a very unbalanced roster with no sophomores.
Simpson is a red-shirt freshman (not that his status matters; he is their Brommer, and Weber will convince him that he needs to transfer. True, four freshen complete the roster--But Bertram is a red-shirt, Griffey sees the court about as often as it rains in the Sahara or the beaches are crowded with sunbathers in Anartica. Richardson is the only freshman starter; Paul is the third guy off the bench after Keller & Jordan now that Legion is gone...and Paul has been playing fairly well of late (but for all the hyped exaggerations throughout Illinois about their great recruiting classes, only the most myopic Illwhinney fan would claim that Richardson & Paul have contributed as much to their team as Hawkeyes May & Payne).
As for underclassmen, the comparison favors Iowa all the more--Simpson, Griffey, Richardson, Paul, Bertrand vs Gatens, Fuller, Tucker, Brommer, Payne, May, Cougill. Four starters (five if you count Tucker) on a BT team on the rise for the Hawkeyes, one for the collapsing Illwhinney.
