In Guard Rayvonte Rice, Illini basketball has a true scorer who consistently attacks the basket in Derrick Rose like fashion. In big man Nnanna Egwu they have someone who looks up to Rose. Egwu was extolling the virtues of D Rose at Big Ten Media Day quite a bit. We know that Rose and the Chicago Bulls are going to have a special season.
Perhaps their college hoops cousins Illinois will as well? Egwu will have a lot of influence on that.
“I really feel that with the talent we have, if we share the ball and work as hard as we can, we have the opportunity to be something special and win a lot of games,” said Egwu. The Illini have added some perimeter shooters who could open up the driving lanes for Rice.
Lots of good guards and wings on the roster, but where does everyone fit in?
Too bad the NCAA doesn’t allow trades, because the Illini would be helped by exchanging some guards for some forwards. Oh and John Groce really needs to figure out January; his two Illini teams have combined to go 3-12 in that month. On the flip side, his teams tend to overachieve down the stretch in March.
Here’s what Groce had to say about why he didn’t start the freshmen earlier than he did last season. Also, here’s what we should expect from Rayvonte Rice in 2014-15.
Groce on the potential and contributions of Egwu (who’s projected number 57 overall in NBA Draft.net’s latest NBA mock draft)
“from a leadership standpoint, and he has been tremendous in that regard, teaching Leron Black and Michael Finke and helping the transfers that are playing now get acclimated. I really think he wants to give it everything he has.”
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and very often writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his features stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2