Illinois will be included in ESPN's College GameDay broadcast again - this time on the road. Illinois at Michigan State (Feb. 19) is one of thefeatured matchups this coming season. The Breslin Center game is a rematch of last season's UI-MSU game at the Assemby Hall.

Kevin Berardini, a 6-foot sophomore point guard, will join the Illini basketball team as a preferred walk-on, he said today. Berardini participated in the first day of fall workouts at Ubben Basketball Complex.

Some tough news for Nnanna Egwu. The Illini recruit will undergo surgery on a herniated disc in his back, Illinois Wolves director Mike Mullins said today. The outpatient procedure is scheduled for Tuesday.

-Among the (many) things I dig about the 2K Sports Challenge in New York City (Nov. 18-19): a star player or upstart team often emerges from the early event. Last season it was Syracuse and Wesley Johnson. Those games are played the week before the bulk of the holiday tournaments (Maui Invitational, etc.) kick in, so you have the national spotlight. That can be telling in a good way (such as in the case of Syracuse) or a bad way (North Carolina, which had holes that were exposed in the second half vs. Syracuse).

Mike Shaw got some company on a visit to the Illinois campus. Illini recruit Mycheal Henry made an unofficial visit today. So did Paul White, a rising freshman at Whitney Young.

Chicago De La Salle's Mike Shaw, one of the state's top uncommitted rising seniors, is making an unofficial visit to the Illinois campus today.