(The Illinois coaches) told me if they didn't play me both ways they'd be wasting my time," Wilson said. "Once they told me that and I heard it from Ron Zook himself, that helped me to make my decision."

The Chicago Simeon two-way star made it official Thursday night in his high school's auditorium, putting on a blue, orange and white Illinois hat and saying, "I'm going to be a Fighting Illini."

Dave Downey and teammate Bill Small helped recruit Jerry Sloan, a rugged type from McLeansboro who eventually accepted Harry Combes' offer to play at the UI.

Sloan, though, never felt comfortable on campus. Downey, then a sophomore, tried to cheer him up, offering Sloan help with his homework and a room in the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house.

For the first time since 2001, the Illinois football team is at .500. Saturday's 49-22 win at Memorial Stadium made it so.

"We came in here today to get a win, and we got a win," Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "We needed to get one."

Moments earlier, Zook was at midfield, surrounded by cameras and well-wishers. Illinois Chancellor Richard Herman gave him a hug, shouting, 'I love it!' over the cheers from the field and stands. There was pandemonium at an Illinois athletic event. And no basketball in sight.

The scoreboard showed Illinois 33, Rutgers 30. It could as just as easily have said "Zook 1, Critics 0."

Friday, Williams did what he'd wanted to do all along, giving an oral commitment to the Illini. He did so – choosing Illinois over Georgia Tech, Maryland and Tennessee – despite not having set foot on the UI campus. Williams won't do that for the first time until Oct. 12, when he'll soak up the school's Midnight Madness festivities.

"I'm not surprised he did it that way," said Tommy Thomas, Williams' coach at The Colony High School. "I'm sure once Deron got to Illinois for Midnight Madness, there wasn't going to be any doubt about where he was going to go. I'm not sure there was all along."

Once a month, we'll take a look back at memorable Illini moments through the covers of News-Gazette sports sections. Today: the Illini's surprising run to the 2008 Rose Bowl, highlighted by an upset of top-ranked Ohio State.

Rated a three-star recruit by rivals.com, Brit Miller is considered the 25th best senior in Illinois.

"I love a kid who plays option quarterback with a linebacker faceguard," recruiting analyst "Edgy" Tim O'Halloran said. "He showed his athletic ability. He runs pretty well for his size. You've got to love a kid who plays dodgeball as a hobby. He's got a great personality."

Mike Small will hope for the best on one of the toughest tracks to host a PGA in years: Whistling Straits Golf Club north of Milwaukee

"I'll be wearing the orange and blue and 'I' in Badger country," Small said. "That's why I do this. It helps our program and gives it credibility."