EACH WEEK, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK BACK AT A MEMORABLE MOMENT IN ILLINI HISTORY, THANKS TO THE WORDS OF THE NEWS-GAZETTE

This week: It wasn't that long ago that Illinois seniors Bill Cole and Mike Tisdale were playing at the Assembly Hall as high school stars. Loren Tate was there when both showed up for the Shootout at the Hall.

Headline: Tisdale a class act

Date: Dec. 17, 2006

By LOREN TATE

CHAMPAIGN - If, as an Illini fan, you nourish a prejudice against Class A basketball recruits, if you wanted to blow out Lou Henson's tires when he headed for Pinckneyville or Clifton, get over it.

Riverton 7-footer Mike Tisdale is a legitimate prospect .. strong hands, soft touch, good reactions and he plays high. Real high. Two years after he could barely pivot without traveling, he is scoring roughly half of Riverton's points in a 5-0 start, including 18 in Saturday's 36-30 slowdown win against Petersburg PORTA at the Shootout at the Hall.

It would have been a mistake for Bruce Weber not to sign him. Yes, Tisdale still is a work in progress. Yes, he needs to get stronger. Yes, he might be wise to redshirt behind Shaun Pruitt and Brian Carlwell next season.

But based on Saturday's marathon of high school games at the Assembly Hall, he's the guy with the juiciest upside, and clearly a step ahead of another incoming Illini, 6-9 Bill Cole of Peoria Richwoods.

This wasn't Cole's day at the Hall. It was, rather, a great day for Champaign's public schools. Central was the most impressive of the day's six winners, destroying Normal West 82-54 with Verdell Jones (25 points, eight assists) leading a junior-dominated squad of race horses. And Centennial stunned Richwoods, 49-46, as neither Cole (5 of 17) nor ace guard Justin Dehm (3 of 17) could zero in.

Sophomore James Kinney racked 19 points, but if Centennial had a hero, it was 6-6, 208-pound senior Chris Britt. He bumped with Cole in the lane.

"My job today was to front him and keep the ball out of the post," Britt said.

Said Chargers coach Tim Lavin: "We let our guys beat up on Chris in practice. When he is fouled, we don't call it. It's made him a lot tougher."

That's the kind of toughness that Cole will need to develop down the road. He is fundamentally sound and will enjoy a lot of impressive weekends, but he isn't ready to post up in the Big Ten. Weber is betting that Cole will develop along similar lines to his father, who played defensive end for the Illini.

Reason for optimism

At some point it must be mentioned that Cole, star of Richwoods' Class AA runners-up in 2006, routinely plays better competition than Tisdale.

But those who saw Tisdale paired opposite Cole at Ubben last summer will recall that Tisdale outscored him, 29-21, and flashed more impressive post moves even as Richwoods won the game.

"I'd rather play one-on-one against another guy in my size range than have all those guys zoning around me and hanging on," Tisdale said. "I didn't get the ball much on the low post today. But this was awesome. It was a fun atmosphere. I can't wait to play here in college."

Said coach Jon Hampton:

"We work hard to get Mike the ball. But he also can shoot from outside. He missed his three-pointers tonight (0 of 3), but he's our best three-point shooter. Sometimes that's the best way to get him a shot. But when he misses, it's a controversial subject."

Tisdale entered the game averaging 32 of Riverton's 63 on-average points while contributing 24 rebounds and five blocks. PORTA controlled tempo and limited his numbers, but he still finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. Just as important, Tisdale's 6-4 rival, Keagan Robinson, had one basket in 12 tries.

The losers had a 30-25 lead, but Tisdale tied the game at 30 with a dunk and kept it going with two free throws as Riverton scored the last 11 points.

"Tisdale is a lot different this year," Robinson said. "He is stronger and more aggressive than last year."

View from above

Weber watched Saturday's games with interest.

"Cole appeared tight and wasn't real aggressive," he said. "He is skilled, but he needs to be more assertive. His coach, Mike Ellis, told me that he played well in earlier games.

"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."

But, like all one-man gangs, Tisdale will be a marked man throughout the remainder of the season. More teams will use delay tactics and swarm around him in a zone.

"We're going to have to win a lot of close games," Hampton said. "We gave up 35 and 38 points in the second halves of our last two games (wins against Mount Pulaski 68-53 and Girard 66-58) so it was encouraging that we only gave up three points in the fourth quarter tonight. We had to dig in and sink or swim."

With Tisdale in the middle, Riverton will mostly swim. And those who watched Wisconsin's Brian Butch dominate Pitt on Saturday could imagine Tisdale being that kind of player someday.