The News-Gazette''s top sports stories of 1996

No 1-4. Lou, Lon, Lou2, Ron. Winds of change. Rarely does an athletic

director have to make so many major moves in a single year. First, Ron Guenther

replaced Lou Henson who retired, with Lon Kruger as basketball coach. Then

Guenther replaced Lou Tepper who was fired, with Ron Turner as football

coach. Kruger was picked over Jimmy Collins, who later took the job as head

basketball coach at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Turner was picked

from the Chicago Bears staff, where he was offensive coordinator. Tepper

later was named defensive coordinator at the University of Maryland.

No 5. Welcome additions. Lon Kruger''s first victory at Illinois

came on Nov. 20, when Peoria Manual seniors Marcus Griffin (52) and Sergio

McClain (40) signed letters of intent to play for the Illini. It was a recruiting

coup to remember, the UI beating out Indiana and Cincinnati among others

for Griffin and McClain, who have teamed to win three consecutive Class

AA state championships.

No 6... no, #2 & #3 to the NFL. April was a good month for

former Illini football players Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice. Hardy was drafted

No. 2 overall and Rice No 3, both players enjoying stellar rookie seasons

in the National Football League. Hardy made the playoffs while Rice was

Defensive Rookie of the Year.

No 7. Powerhouse in prep ranks. November was nirvana for LeRoy''s

never-say-die football team, which rallied past Moweaqua Central A&M

16-14 to win the Class 1A state title the day after Thanksgiving in Normal.

No 8. Ex-Illini gain renown. Women made their mark at the Summer

Olympics in Atlanta, and two former Illini joined in on the fun. Tonja Buford-Bailey

won a bronze medal in the 400-meter hurdles while Jean Driscoll won a silver

in the 800 wheelchair race. In April, Driscoll won a record seventh Boston

Marathon wheelchair title.

No 9. Madness. March was mad for Paxton-Buckley-Loda''s trend-setting

boys'' basketball team which captured Ford County''s attention while marching

to fourth place in the Class A state tournament in Peoria.

No 10. Links. In May, Steve Stricker won his first PGA tournament

at the Kemper Open. The former Illini followed with a win at the Western

Open in July and finished in the top five on the tour money list.

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