Quoting Chicago based ’90s alternative tour de force Smashing Pumpkins, “today is the greatest, day I’ve ever known.” If 1.) you’ve only known of days since March 2013 and more importantly 2.) the greatness of your days are only measured in relation to Illinois Fighting Illini basketball.
Yes, five-star big man Jeremiah Tilmon announced on Twitter that he is indeed joining the Illini basketball program. It’s a much bigger get than Damonte Williams (who was a huge get in itself) and the best moment for the program since their first round victory over Colorado in the 2013 NCAA Tournament in Austin, Texas.
Illini basketball hasn’t had a five star talent on the roster since Jereme Richmond, and hopefully, this Jeremiah Tilmon story will have a much better and happier ending.
The only lasting, positive impact that Richmond had for the Illini basketball community was teaching them this life lesson- don’t have high character hopes for people with hearts tattooed on their clavicles.
Always take heed of that advice, as well as this maxim: avoid consuming foods outside with a high fried cheese concentration on high heat/humidity days. Outside of those two nuggets, I have nothing left to offer you in terms of life’s wisdom. Well, maybe this too: (It’s a good lesson to learn if it’s not already in your knowledge base)
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/752287291436068864
But really what he was yelling was, "Ayyo Snow White, can I be one of your dwarves? I'll be Dopey"
— Arielle Castillo (@ariellec) July 10, 2016
Getting back to Illini basketball, Tilmon will most likely be the first McDonald’s All-American since Richmond, and again let’s hope for a more positive outcome with this prospect this time. Since the McDAAG moved to Chicago’s United Center in 2011, there have been zero future Fighting Illini basketball players participating in it.
So today’s news is huge, especially when you consider that the McDAAG doesn’t plan on leaving Chicago’s UC any time soon. It’s the first, but a major step towards Illinois returning to relevance in Chicago. In addition to the McDAAG, the UC will also host future Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments, so it would be great to see the Illini make a real presence, and actually achieve something in those kind of events again.
Likewise with the annual Illini basketball games at the UC in recent years. Prior to the 2010s, it was the program’s second home. This decade, it’s only drawn awful opponents and even more awful fan and media interest. That’s sad, because in the 1990s and 2000s, this game was truly “an event.”
It’s not Chicago, but downstate Illinois that’s actually producing the building blocks of the program.
With Peoria Manual’s Da’Monte Williams and Belleville East’s Javon Pickett already committed, Tilmon (East St. Louis native now prepping at La Lumiere in Indiana, same alma mater of Jalen Coleman-Lands) can first set his sights on friend and AAU teammate Jordan Goodwin of Belleville Althoff.
It seems very likely that Goodwin will be next to commit, and then you have a really solid core in place for 2017 and beyond.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/752573292867878912
John Groce lands 5-star center. Tilmon picks #Illini over Kansas, North Carolina, Michigan St. and Texas https://t.co/ceIYIbOFDP
— Aaron Bennett (@aaron_bennett_1) July 11, 2016
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/752572688917467136
Given how down things have been in Champaign these past couple years, it’s more of a “build” than it is a “re-build” right now, and “this rebuild” being based upon players who are a product of schools south of I-80 will not be lost on those fans who reside there and just LOVE Chicago and EVERYTHING about it EVERYONE who is from there just so much.
What’s most important about this potential Illini basketball version of MSU’s #TheClass or Indiana’s #TheMovement isn’t where they come from, it’s how they complement one another. It’s not the square pegs in round holes rosters that John Groce has cobbled together up to this point. Now you actually have some meat and potatoes, side dishes, desert etc creating a legitimate structured meal.
The past couple year have seen Illini basketball trying to find sustenance and fulfillment by throwing together appetizer portions of wings and off the ball guards.
https://twitter.com/WCIA3Annice/status/752585547990700036
That’s the point here. Your question, will John Groce finally get a return on investment out the talent that he’s now accrued? We all acknowledge today that he finally, four years after expected, showed recruiting success, but can he get Ws out of it?
Now he has talent that finally, on paper at least, coalesces and complements. Illini basketball, despite a rough season ahead, has talent. Last year’s roster, despite the atrocious results, had talent. That’s undeniable. Groce wasn’t winning with the talent that he had, but the future should be different.
His talented players all did the same things well, but left the team lacking in other important facets.
Now he’ll have an Illini basketball team where talent’s KSA (knowledge, skills, abilities…sorry, sounding like a lame MBA student here, but you get the idea) all fit together.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram