CHAMPAIGN – Awvee Storey checked out of Carle Foundation Hospital around noon Monday.

He was dunking again by 4.

"Felt good, felt good," Illinois' high-flying, happy-to-be-alive freshman forward said with a smile.

Storey got a scare during the weekend after being involved in what coach Lon Kruger called a "little skirmish" Friday night. He was taken to Carle to get a black eye looked at around 11 p.m. but ended up staying the weekend after doctors noticed something more serious.

"They tried to sit him up, and he got a little dizzy," Illinois team doctor Stephen Soboroff said.

After some tests were run, doctors detected an irregular heartbeat, a cause for concern.

"It didn't clear up in a few hours, so instead of keeping him in the emergency room, we kept him in the hospital," Soboroff said.

Storey saw two cardiologists. He was given an echocardiogram. He took an extensive stress test on the treadmill Monday morning.

The shiner aside, he was given a clean bill of health and cleared to practice.

"Everything was found to be normal," Soboroff said. "(The irregular heartbeat) was probably due to the little extra activity he was in."

"I guess it's something that happens occasionally to people," Kruger said. "Now he's alert to that possibility and will give it closer attention, which is good."

Storey, who called the skirmish "nothing serious" and left it at that, never will forget the experience, which left him trembling with fear and caused him to miss the UI's eye-opening 64-53 win over Michigan Sunday afternoon.

"Yeah, it was scary," he said. "They were talking about surgery, maybe even a pacemaker. It was scary thinking about all that."

He watched the Michigan game from his hospital bed.

"Assuming he feels good enough," Kruger said Storey will return to the Illinois lineup Wednesday at Ohio State.

Kruger wanted to see how he practiced Monday before making that call.

"A lot of it is the mental aspect. 'Hey, I've got an irregular heartbeat,' " Kruger said prior to practice. "Does he get out there and act like nothing's (happened)?"

Storey was his usual self throughout Monday's two-hour Assembly Hall workout. He participated in every drill, threw down a few dunks, skied high for rebounds.

"He didn't show any effects at all," Kruger said. "And the doctors didn't expect him to. Through the testing, they felt real comfortable with him stepping back out here."

Against the Wolverines, the Illini didn't need his offense (Victor Chukwudebe pitched in with 10 points) or his emotion (it's Michigan).

But they'll welcome both Wednesday.

"We need him," teammate Jerry Hester said. "He's an emotional leader on this team. He gets us ready before the games."