Illini head coach Bruce Weber announced today the signing of Michael Orris to a national letter of intent on. It is national signing day, even though everything Big Ten, and college sports in general, is overshadowed by the Penn State scandal.
Illinois basketball used their final remaining scholarship on Orris, a 6-2, 180-pound senior point guard from Crete, Illinois (Crete-Monee High School).
An honorable mention All-State selection by the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, Orris shot 50 percent from the field, 39 percent from 3-point range and 75 percent from the free throw line.
“Michael is a pure point guard, first and foremost,” Weber said. “He fits everything you want at that position: he’s an excellent passer, knows how to play and is very competitive. He helped lead Crete-Monee to its best finish in school history last year, going to the elite eight. Michael had great talent around him, a couple of D-1 recruits, so he didn’t really look to score and instead was more of a distributor and floor general. But he showed his offensive ability this past summer, had some great scoring performances in AAU, and has worked on his perimeter shooting to become effective out to 3-point range.”
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