Peoria product D.J. Richardson committed to Illinois on Oct. 11, 2007. One year later, last weekend, the Peoria product made his official visit to the school. Beat writer Paul Klee caught up with Richardson after he returned to prep school in the Las Vegas area:

- Richardson was joined on campus by five other UI recruits, including Waukegan's JEREME RICHMOND and Robinson's MEYERS LEONARD, prospects committed to Illinois in the 2010 recruiting class. He knows Richmond from the AAU scene and phone conversations, but he met Leonard for the first time last weekend.

"I got to meet Meyers Leonard in person. That was pretty cool," Richardson said by phone Tuesday. "I got to play against the guys. That was the first time I got to play with the current Illinois guys. I enjoyed that, playing with DEMETRI (McCAMEY) and ALEX (LEGION) and those guys."

- Saturday afternoon pickup games with other prospects and the current Illini turned into a weekend highlight for Richardson, he said. The 6-foot-3 guard said he teamed with 2009 UI recruit BRANDON PAUL. They won about 12 or 13 games together, he said.

"That was fun playing with Brandon Paul," he said. "We had a good time."

- Richardson's take on the current Illini?

"They got another scorer on the wing (with Legion). The only thing that's really hurting them is an inside presence," he said. "Most of the big men they got can shoot. That's tough to guard. I think they'll do good with that."

- As for the outdoor practice at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Richardson echoed the sentiments of the fellow recruits in attendance.

"It was pretty interesting. I think if the football team would have won, more fans would have stayed. It was still nice," he said. "It was something new. They were the first team to ever do this, weren't they? That's a good thing. If they keep bringing in stuff like that, there's no telling how big it could be. It was cool. I liked it."

- The start of Richardson's return to central Illinois didn't go as planned. He flew from Las Vegas to Chicago, but his flight from Chicago to Champaign never took off. UI assistant JERRANCE HOWARD drove to Chicago to pick him up.

"We got in at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. on Thursday," Richardson, who spent three nights in C-U.

- Much like the official visits of JOSEPH BERTRAND and TYLER GRIFFEY in September, Richardson and Paul joined the current Illini for dinner at BRUCE WEBER'S house on Saturday.

"Brandon Paul was the king of pool. He lost to DOMINIQUE (KELLER), I think," Richardson said. "CHESTER (FRAZIER) was the king of ping-pong."

- According to the Findlay College Prep Web site, the Pilots open their season Nov. 29. The schedule includes tournaments on the road in Ohio, Florida and Kentucky (two).

Richardson lauded the talents of his backcourt mate, AVERY BRADLEY, a five-star point guard committed to Texas.

"We just started putting in our defensive drills, started putting in our offense a lot," he said. "We have a big schedule this year. With me being a competitive guard, Avery Bradley being competitive, we should have a good team. That's two good defenders, two good offensive scorers.

"We've got a team full of players that can get 20 points a game on any night, in any game. The best thing about it is everybody accepting their roles and what they can do."

- Richardson said he plans to sign a national letter of intent with Illinois in November. The signing period runs Nov. 12-19.

"I'm pretty much comfortable with it. A lot of players are saying they're nervous. But I've been knowing where I'm going," Richardson said. "I've been committed for almost a year now. This (signing a letter of intent) is another thing to get off my chest. I'm not worried about it at all. Some people think I was going to decommit. But that's not true at all. I've been knowing where I'm going for a while."

pklee@news-gazette.com