Klee: Recruits soak it up

FUN IN THE SUN

While the focus Saturday was on football, basketball beat writer Paul Klee covered the recruiting madness that unfolded at The World's Biggest Basketball Practice:

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Alex Foster is about 6-foot-7, he figures. On the inside of his black Nikes it reads "17," as in his shoe size.

His birthday is Monday.

"I'll be 14," he said.

Alex – it seems odd to call a 13-year-old by his last name – is in the eighth grade at a junior high in Plainfield.

"For fun? He plays video games. He's got a couple friends that come over," said his father, Tony Foster. "We like to keep his circle kind of small because of all the attention he gets. And he works out and plays basketball. Between that and a full day at school, he stays busy."

One of the nation's highest-rated eighth-graders – yes, people rate eighth-graders – Alex Foster was one of about 15-20 prospective student-athletes in attendance for The World's Biggest Basketball Practice at Memorial Stadium.

Illinois recruits Brandon Paul (Warren, 2009) and D.J. Richardson (Findlay College Prep, 2009) were on their official visits. Others in attendance included UI recruits Joseph Bertrand (Sterling, 2009), Jereme Richmond (Waukegan, 2010), Crandall Head (Crane, 2010) and Meyers Leonard (Robinson, 2010).

Among the uncommitted prospects in attendance: Chris Colvin (Whitney Young, 2009), Mike Shaw (De La Salle, 2011), Dre Henley (De La Salle, 2011), Tracy Abrams (Mount Carmel, 2011), Wayne Blackshear (Curie, 2011), Chasson Randle (Rock Island, 2011), Bradley Beal (St. Louis Chaminade, 2011) and Travis Britt (Rantoul, 2012).

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One prospect who did not require a campus map was Crandall Head. A junior at Crane, the Illinois recruit has been making the trip ever since he would join Luther, Dee and Deron for late-night trips to the campus IHOP.

"I'm going to come to some of the games during the season this year," Crandall said.

Of the seven prospects committed to Illinois, several have taken on the role of recruiters, namely Crandall, Jereme Richmond and D.J. Richardson. Head said he speaks with assistant Jerrance Howard to learn the prospects Illinois is most interested in landing.

"He tells us who they like, and we talk to them a lot and tell them how it is and how it's going to be (at Illinois)," Head said.

And Head has grown to be close friends with Richmond. They'll spend even more time together soon: Richmond has plans to join Head on the Mac Irvin Fire roster, a move that figures to cement the Fire as one of the nation's premier AAU teams.

"We talk about Illinois a lot, how we're going to be, how we think we're going to be," Head said of his phone conversations with Richmond, a fellow 2010 recruit. "Sometimes we try not to bring it up and we just kick it."

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Ironically, Saturday was the one-year anniversary of Joseph Bertrand's oral commitment to Illinois. And in just over a month, the Sterling senior will be able to sign a national letter of intent with the Illini. The signing period runs Nov. 12-19.

"It's going to be a big load off my chest," said Bertrand, who is joined in the UI's 2009 recruiting class by Tyler Griffey, Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson. "I can't wait to get down here and start playing."

Bertrand has attended multiple UI football games. But he said Saturday's contest, with the outdoor basketball practice, was particularly unique.

"I've never seen anything like that. That was crazy," he said. "It was good to see the fans stay after the football and watch the basketball team. That showed a lot of loyalty to Illinois."

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A 2011 recruit from Chaminade High School in the St. Louis area, Bradley Beal has become a hot name in recruiting circles. The 6-3 guard said he was taken aback when Illinois extended a scholarship offer earlier this year.

"I was kind of surprised, because it was kind of early, during my freshman year," he said.

Beal said he enjoyed the experience Saturday, particularly the opportunity to compete with the current Illini and the other prospects in a closed scrimmage.

"It was fun, get to play with some of the top players in the nation," Beal said. "You never know, I might play with them one day."

Where does Illinois stand with Beal?

"They're pretty close to the top of my list, along with some other schools."

And homestate Mizzou?

"I try to keep them on my list, keep my eye on them and see who they're recruiting."

Beal said he's going to take his time with the recruiting process and withhold a college decision until "early my junior year, early next year."

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The high point of Hayden Hoerdemann's AAU season? The game he connected on 10 three-pointers.

And the Bloomington Central Catholic sophomore made another visit to the UI campus Saturday. It was the second time this football season he's been in attendance at Memorial Stadium.

"It's amazing to see all these guys here together," said Hoerdemann, a 6-3 guard. "Bruce (Weber) and Jerrance have done such a great job recruiting all these guys and being able to get them here at the same time, it's just great.

"They're all in-state guys, too. My class, the 2011 class, we're deep, too. We can go 15 deep at a high level. It's fun getting them all together."

Hoerdemann said he has a scholarship offer from Illinois State. He has plans to visit Wisconsin next weekend.

"And Iowa and Illinois," he said. "Those are probably my top four."

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On a rare break recently, Bruce Weber took a trip – back to his youth.

The Illinois coach reunited with a group of childhood friends for a day at Miller Park in his hometown of Milwaukee. A lifelong Brewers fan, Weber attended their wild-card-clinching win against the Cubs in the final game of the regular season.

"It was pretty exciting. I've been going to Brewer games since they moved from Seattle, the Pilots," Weber said. "We sat in the bleachers and took the bus to the game with my buddies. It was fun to go to the game with my childhood friends."

Weber's one-day trip north didn't end in Milwaukee.

"That night I got to go to the Bears game against the Eagles," he said. "Had a full day of games, and I don't get to do that very often."

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This time last year, Rock Island's Chasson Randle was another high school freshman. That changed with strong showings on the AAU circuit with Illinois Wolves, and the 6-2 guard, who has a UI scholarship offer, made another visit to the campus Saturday.

"Life has changed a lot since this time last year. I dreamed about being in the position I'm in right now," Randle said. "I'm enjoying it, though, soaking it all in."

Randle competed in the UI team camp in June, made another visit during the summer, and he will return to the Shootout at the Hall on Dec. 13.

"I feel good about Illinois," said Randle, who added he probably will visit Wisconsin and possibly Iowa before his junior season. "I'm not going to make any decisions just yet. But I like them a lot."

His parents accompanied Randle on Saturday.

"I enjoyed the football game, too," he said. "It was a great game, too bad Illinois lost, though. To get to talk to the guys that were here, too, that was real cool."

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The World's Biggest Basketball Practice went off without a hitch. The women's squad joined the men's team for a three-point shootout, and the men stayed on the court for a brief, dunk-heavy, defense-lax scrimmage.

"We were just going out and (hoping to) not hurt ourselves, have some good dunks and some good shots," sophomore Demetri McCamey said after the scrimmage. "Just play easy basketball because next week, that's when the fun is going to stop and the business is going to be taken care of."

The Illini officially open practice Friday.

The only downer, as far as TWBBP was concerned, was the Illinois football team's 27-20 loss to Minnesota. Memorial Stadium cleared out like there was a fire and, instead of having a packed house, only a few thousand loyalists stuck around for the hoops display. Even if the event's title ultimately was misleading, it was a considerable success in terms of Illinois recruiting.

"Really, everything went well except for the football game," Weber said. "They were the main focus today. We wanted them to win."

The orange court was built by Flex Court, a company out of Kewanee, and the baskets were hauled over from the UI Armory. The temperature was right around 81 degrees when TWBBP tipped off.

"As far as the basketball thing goes, the floor was great," Weber said. "If you were up high, it looked spectacular. Just a fun deal. We did it to promote Coaches vs. Cancer and the Zook Zone towels. I think that part went well.

"We were able to get some recruits here, probably a few more than normal that we'd have on a Saturday for a football game. So overall it was a good thing."

pklee@news-gazette.com

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