That show by Marcus Griffin on Saturday at Parkland College created in many of us an insatiable desire to look down the road ... to visualize him with the Illini team he signed with out of high school.

As a combination rebounder, defender and shot blocker, the 6-foot-9 Lincoln College center has been deemed the best ever among Illini signees. Now, the Peoria product has added offense to his repertoire. He racked 33 points and 16 rebounds despite spending 7 1/2 first-half minutes on the bench.

If all goes according to plan, Illinois will enter the 2000 Big Ten race with Manual's Griffin, Frank Williams and Sergio McClain back together, marking an end to deficit rebounding statistics and an underdog status. The worry then would become, as National Basketball Association thoughts swirl through their minds, how long they can be kept together?

And they'll have support. News on recruiting fronts remains positive.

– Festus Hawkins' old high school coach, Ellis Berry, made a couple of visits to see him play for Westark and said: "Fess is very much improved, particularly with his shooting. I'd be awfully disappointed if he doesn't start for Illinois at center next year."

And a backstop is available. Just as Victor Chukwudebe's emergence has diminished concerns about Jarrod Gee's foul tendencies, Chukwudebe's presence could take some of the pressure off Hawkins early next season.

– Cleotis Brown drilled 20 of his 25 points in the second half as Southern Union rallied to upset Alabama's top-ranked JC five, Faulkner. Brown's club is 5-0 since the holiday break.

– Williams remains in contention for Mr. Basketball honors and is on line in his core courses after making all A's and B's last semester. He is a point shy of the 17 needed on the ACT and has several more chances to take it.

– Two athletes in the 6-7 1/2 range, Lucas Johnson of Maine West and Damir Krupalija of Rockford Boylan, are showing a variety of offensive skills for highly successful teams.

Big Ten basketball future questionable

If the UI's basketball future appears positive, that cannot be said for the entire Big Ten.

Look around. Major slippage is expected at Michigan, where Maceo Baston, Jerod Ward and Travis Conlan are seniors, and it is expected that Robert Traylor will turn pro. They don't even know who their coach will be.

Minnesota took a nose-dive this season and will need time to recover. Ohio State and Penn State are mired, and there is little hope at Northwestern. Nor, in the wake of Sam Okey's stunning departure, does the outlook appear as bright as it once did at Wisconsin.

Sure, anybody can turn it around with a great recruiting class. But all six of those programs are starting virtually from scratch.

Lon Kruger's Illini, despite their recruiting disappointments with Chicago's special class of seniors, are building toward a foreseeable day when they can look Indiana, Purdue, Iowa and Michigan State squarely in the eye in terms of talent.

Kruger taking them one at a time

Meanwhile, Kruger must steer away from those of us who would look beyond the next game. He is taking each game, each day, one at a time ... and the emphasis on that approach doubles when the opponent (Ohio State) is winless in the Big Ten (0-6) and hasn't beaten Illinois in 10 tries.

"Players are fans, too," said Kruger, "and they may have a tendency to look ahead. Our goal is to get better each day, to improve our habits, to become more solid. This is a team that has come a long way since late December, by relying on each other and taking care of our responsibilities.

"We go one day at a time. That's our pitch. That's been our pitch for 20 years."

Kruger thinks a senior-laden team is easier to keep focused.

"Chemistry and winning go hand in hand," he said. "We're like most teams in that we have little margin for error. These guys have bought into the fact that we must work together and use each other. You can promote that idea, but they have to believe it. You can tell them to like and depend on each other, but it doesn't work if they don't feel it.

"Sure, we'll touch on Ohio State being 0-6 but only as it relates to this being a challenge that we must overcome."

Kruger is thriving with an underdog approach. He has beaten Indiana and Michigan here when some experts believed he didn't have a player who could start for either opponent. Fans can't help but wonder how he'll operate when he has a fuller cupboard.

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette.