He'll finish his '08 season at Champaign's Memorial Stadium. For his next game, Hawthorne will return to St. Louis for his college debut against Missouri. It's 2.9 miles from Hawthorne's East St. Louis home to the Edward Jones Dome.

"Not many kids commit early and stick to their decision this late in the year," Sunkett said. "Some get to wavering. He's been that kid, 'I've committed to Illinois. I'm going to play there.' "

"You get to showcase your talent to the whole world," said Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre, who holds an 11-8 record on Monday night. "If you like to showcase your talent, this is the place to do it."

At 8 tonight, prime-time sports' biggest event comes to Champaign-Urbana and Memorial Stadium as the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers renew the game's best rivalry.

How did Juice Williams do in his first Camp Rantoul scrimmage?

"(Williams) made a couple of nice throws in there," offensive coordinator Mike Locksley said. "But there were the typical freshman mistakes with the clock management and the on-the-line mechanics and picking up and adjusting to the pace and speed of a game-like situation."

The problem is not that there is anything directly incriminating in the article. It's all bark and no bite. But the problem is that innuendo and sweeping generalizations lead to suspicion, causing a buzz on sports talk shows and influencing Notre Dame booster-celebrity Regis Philbin to raise doubts among his millions of TV viewers with an off-the-wall accusation: "Doesn't that look fishy?"

The subject drew center stage on ESPN's "Around the Horn" and "Pardon the Interruption," and ESPN rhymed a ridiculous lead-in teaser: "Is Zook a Crook?"

Several Public League coaches said they'd boycott sending players to Illinois should Collins not replace Henson. Collins today said he was disappointed about the UI's decision to tab Kruger, but urged high school coaches not to ignore the UI.

"I have nothing negative to say about what happened down there," Collins said.

"Cole appeared tight and wasn't real aggressive," Bruce Weber said. "He is skilled, but he needs to be more assertive.

"Tisdale has good hands and is well coached for a big guy. He doesn't bring the ball down. He has good post moves. I saw him go against good opposition in the AAU Nationals in Orlando. He can score."

Brian Cook doesn't play much for the Western Conference champs. But that hasn't stopped Lincoln from going gaga as one of its all-time favorites inches toward an NBA title.

"When I watch the Lakers, I find myself not even watching the basketball go in the basket," said Wheat, a lifelong resident of Lincoln who works at City Hall. "I'm looking for Brian when the ball's in the air. If you look really hard, you can find him."

* Best player who didn't play: LeBron James. Even with a brace on his injured left wrist, the Akron, Ohio, star - who put in a cameo appearance - was the most talented player on any court. James, who was scheduled to play at the ABCD camp before injuring his wrist last month, pulled the pop-in at Nike instead and looked every bit like the NBA star he's expected to be.