Illinois-Michigan State notebook: Recruits visit Hall

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If it looks like the guys from College GameDay are having fun, that's because they are. ESPN's Saturday morning college hoops showcase made its first visit to Champaign ahead of Illinois' showdown with No. 5 Michigan State, and Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis and Digger Phelps endeared themselves to the 4,134 fans who got up early to attend.

The personalities seemed to have as much fun as the rowdy students.

"I can't believe they pay us," said Bilas, the former Duke star. "Don't tell anyone I said that."

Perhaps no one had more fun than Phelps. The former Notre Dame coach was on the floor an hour earlier than any of his cohorts and spent the majority of the time engaging with the fans and the Illini band.

He was especially fond of the William Tell Overture dance that he coaxed the other members of the panel to perform.

"We've been doing this for six years and I think that's the best student section dance we've seen," Phelps said to the crowd.

"Digger is our leak to the fans. He is the guy we can make fun of, that we can pick on," Rece Davis said. "All of us have a great appreciation for how good a coach he was and how well he knows the game even now. But what he does for our show better than anybody else is he has a unique ability to be able to laugh at himself. And he has an even greater ability to be able to connect with those kids – and he does that better than anybody I've ever seen."

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Saturday marked Bilas' first trip to Champaign since 2008 when he and Rece Davis called the "Eric Gordon Game" that the Illini lost in overtime to Indiana.

The veteran analyst has been all around the country covering college hoops, and the Assembly Hall remains near the top of his list of favorite places to work.

"This is one of the more unique atmospheres in college basketball. It's probably not talked about enough how great this building is and how great the Big Ten is for atmospheres," Bilas said. "The first time I came here, I think it was '01, Michigan State was playing, that was one of the best basketball games I've ever seen. Seeing how loud this place was and running the flags around the concourse, the Orange Krush and all that. That was the first time I remember everyone all wearing the same colors, Paint the Hall Orange. I think that might have been the first time they did it and it was awesome. It was hard to work, I was like, 'This is great.' It was one of the best atmospheres I'd ever seen and I have seen anything over the years that would make me feel any different about it."

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In that game Bilas called in Champaign in 2008, Illinois' Demetri McCamey, then a freshman, scored a career-high 31 points. Bilas liked what he saw from the point guard then, and likes the way his game has developed through the years.

McCamey was honored prior to Saturday's game for scoring his 1,000th career point in last week's win against Indiana. In that game, McCamey made a floater in the lane as time expired to win the game.

He ended Saturday's game with 222 points and 11 assists for his third career double-double.

"He's their engine. If he doesn't play well, they're not gonna beat any good teams," Bilas said. "They've got some really good players and I think Illinois is a good basketball team that is an NCAA tournament-caliber team. They can beat a lot of people. But if he doesn't play well and if he's not scoring, assisting, leading, they're not as good a team. That's true of a lot of teams, it's not as if Illinois is in their own boat, there are a whole bunch of people in that boat."

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He's only 39, but the visit to Illinois made Hubert Davis feel a little older. The former North Carolina star and 12-year NBA veteran played with Michael Jordan during their time with the Washington Wizards and remembers a certain little kid hanging around the practice facility.

"I used to see (Illinois junior) Jeffrey (Jordan) as a little kid running around the locker room and now he's in college, so I am old. I drive a minivan, I got three kids, I'm over the hill," Davis said.

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There's been talk in the last week of the NCAA tournament expanding the field to 96 teams from the current 65. Bruce Weber and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo are in favor of an expansion.

Bilas isn't.

"This should be about the best teams. Everybody already had the chance to get into this tournament, everybody. With the exception of the Ivy League, you have to win the league without a tournament," Bilas said. "At the start of championship week, everyone's in their conference tournament. Everybody's got a chance, so how much more fair can this be?"

The NCAA expanded the field from 64 to 65 in 2001. Prior to that, the last expansion was 1985, when it went from 53 to 64.

"The unintended consequence of this is we're gonna further devalue the regular season which people seem to think is devalued already," Bilas said. "The conference tournaments are gonna be dead. The conference tournaments aren't gonna mean anything because anyone who can walk, chew gum and dribble at the same time is gonna be in the tournament."

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One team that is on the verge of missing the NCAA tournament is defending national champion North Carolina. The Tar Heels have lost five of their last six and are 13-9 overall and 2-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"It's a team that doesn't have an identity right now," said Hubert Davis, who averaged 21 points a game for North Carolina as a senior in 1992. "They're young and inexperienced and they're not a defensive team, not a team that can really score and they're trying to find themselves out, which is typical to do in February."

Roy Williams' squad is in danger of becoming the first defending national champion to miss the tournament since Florida missed in 2008.

"It's going to be interesting to see how it turns out, they've got a number of road games remaining in their season and I think it's going to be tough for them to make the NCAA tournament," Davis said.

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Howie Schwab, the star of the old ESPN sports trivia show "Stump the Schwab" was at the Assembly Hall working for ESPN. Schwab assists color analyst Dick Vitale with statistics during the telecast.

"This is a great environment, the fans are really into it and the band is great. It's my first time here and I'm impressed," Schwab said.

Even though his show's run is over at the Worldwide Leader, Schwab is blessed to still be employed by ESPN.

"We stopped with the show after four seasons. I was 64-16, which is fine, it's exactly 80 percent. I had a lot of fun with it," he said. "I still have a job at ESPN doing a lot of different things and I'm just enjoying it."

Oh, and he's taking the Colts in today's Super Bowl.

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Good friends Izzo and Weber took part in a free throw shooting competition following the morning taping of College GameDay.

The coaches are big supporters of the Coaches vs. Cancer charity and the loser vowed to raise at least $5,000 for each missed shot.

Izzo, who is widely known in coaching circles for his free throw accuracy, prompted Weber to work on his stroke this week.

"I've been waiting for this. I heard Izzo shoots like 100 a day," Illinois' Dominique Keller said prior to the contest. "I saw Coach Weber in the gym the other night after practice and I told him that Coach Izzo was gonna beat him. So, you know Coach stayed after and worked on his shot some more. I'm gonna get on him and say he needs to follow through and shoot more in practice."

Izzo won the contest, nailing 9 of 10 shots. Weber made eight.

Despite the outcome, each coach announced he and his wife would drum up $50,000 for the cause.

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One of the prospective Illinois recruits in attendance was Mike Shaw, a 6-foot-7 junior from Chicago De La Salle. Though his squad appeared in the June team camp at Illinois, Shaw said it was his first recruiting visit to the campus since the outdoor practice in 2008.

Shaw said he's in no hurry to make a decision on where he'll attend college. He listed a bunch of schools, including but not limited to Texas, Florida, Michigan State, Louisville and Kentucky, in addition to Illinois.

"Right now I'm just taking my time," he said. "I want to go where I'm going to play right away and get better and take my game to the next level."

Shaw said his relationships with Illinois recruits Tracy Abrams, Crandall Head, Jereme Richmond and Meyers Leonard is a positive for Illinois.

"Every time I see them, they're like, 'Man, you've got to commit,' especially Meyers," Shaw said.

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Another recruit in attendance was Niles North junior Abdel Nader, a 6-6 or 6-7 swingman. He said it was his first visit to the Illinois campus.

"It looks pretty good to me," Nader said.

The 2011 prospect doesn't have a scholarship offer from Illinois, though an Illinois assistant attended one of this games last week. Nader said he spoke to Weber in the UI locker room before tipoff.

Nader said he recently earned offers from Baylor and Bradley, among others.

Marcus Jackson and Paul Klee

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