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CHAMPAIGN – Recruiting down to the wire against national basketball powerhouses hasn't proven beneficial for Illini coach Bruce Weber.

Sometimes it almost seems like drawing to a four-card flush against a pat hand. Imagine the lost hours in the futile quests – just to name a few – for Jon Scheyer, Julian Wright, Iman Shumpert, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, Evan Turner, Sherron Collins, Darius Miller and Dar Tucker.

"It was during that stretch with Gordon and Rose when our coaches started pushing me to make earlier offers," Weber said Thursday. "I was hesitant because I didn't want to make a mistake or have to go back on my word. But we found out that the later we waited, the more trouble we had just getting kids to visit campus. We began to see the advantage of getting in early before a lot of major schools and some of the peripheral people get involved."

Ever-traveling Weber, renowned as one of the nation's hardest-working coaches – a head coach with an assistant's mentality – always has been a step ahead of everyone else. He watched Rose play in the eighth grade and stayed for JV games at Chicago Simeon when Rose was a freshman. Prior to Gordon's freshman season, when Purdue and Indiana were in changeover turmoil, the Indianapolis standout sat through an entire Illini football game with Weber.

If Weber's tenacity did not pay off in those celebrated cases, the early bird is starting to get the worm. Two UI standouts in Tuesday's 80-61 defeat of Northern Illinois – Brandon Paul with 20 points in the first half and Mike Davis with 17 rebounds – are examples of meticulous ground-sweeping by Weber and his staff. Weber dug in his cannons before others knew there was a war. And these early connections continued to produce with Weber's recent signings of Crandall Head, Meyers Leonard and Jereme Richmond, the latter committing at the start of his freshman season.

Each case is different, but the common denominator is Weber's enterprising, non-stop effort to make deep inroads before the big kahunas come firing in.

Good tip

Illinois had Californian Quinton Watkins on campus in the summer of 2007 before academic shortcomings became evident (Watkins was last seen being cut from the New Orleans Hornets' summer roster). Weber had need for another body, and it was in July that then-aide Tracy Webster attended a tournament in Orlando and first saw Davis in action.

"I had heard about him from a buddy," said Webster, now a DePaul assistant, "and I watched some of his high school film. I talked to his dad, and he was worried whether Mike would get a chance to play at Illinois. They were considering prep school.

"In Orlando, I wasn't there specifically to see Mike, but I made it a point to check him out. He wasn't real impressive in the first game. Then he went against a 6-11 guy, and I began to see his potential. I thought, 'He's got a chance.' He could shoot that turnaround jumper almost without looking. He was wiry and a little nonchalant ... you know, like Frank Williams. It was part of his demeanor. He looked like a player with potential."

Weber jumped into the fray on Webster's recommendation and liked what he saw.

"We didn't have any 6-8 athletes like that in Illinois," Weber said. "The dad (Steven Davis) felt Mike was immature and might be better off in prep school. Mike had transferred from a county school after his junior year (to T.C. Williams, where he became a second-team All-Metro player by The Washington Post). We weren't sure of his academic status at first, but that turned out to be fine. I saw him in Augusta and I told the family that rather than prep school he could redshirt with us and develop his body with our training program.

"The father agreed to make one visit and if they liked it Mike would enroll at Illinois. It was early August and we had to scramble to get him in school. If we had waited another year, everybody would have been after him."

Davis did not redshirt, averaged 10 minutes as a freshman reserve and came on to average 11.3 points and 8.1 rebounds, shooting 53.3 percent as a sophomore. His recruitment was a Weber gamble that is paying big dividends.

Strong connections

Paul never had started a varsity game (prior to his junior year) when Weber received his commitment as part of a three-day splash that included backcourt running mates D.J. Richardson and Joseph Bertrand.

"My brother is up that way (David Weber coaches Glenbrook North) and he told me there was an athletic kid coming up in Gurnee," Weber said. "Also, I knew the Warren coach (Chuck Ramsey) because he was an SIU guy who came to our team camp down there. During the summer, (UI aide) Jay Price saw him in Indianapolis and said, 'Man, he is really good and not many people have seen him.' Ten days later I saw him in Las Vegas and I had no doubt. We made a big push in the fall. His brother (Cliff Jr.) was already at the UI, and the family wanted him here."

Again, Weber went on the come. Paul spent his sophomore year as a second-teamer after being promoted to the varsity in January.

"He actually played 33 quarters in 16 games for us," Ramsey said. "We had three senior perimeter players, one of whom was a four-year regular, and two others who were with the varsity three years. We had a good team (26-4) and won the conference. Brandon was just beginning to harness his talent. He was streaky. In one game against Lake Zurich, they went into a zone and we brought him in, and he hit five three-pointers in the second quarter. He was very good at times but not consistent. He is still learning."

Then, as now, Paul launches bombs that begin with "Oh, no!" and end with "Great shot!" He has eight treys in his first two varsity out-ings.

"Give Weber credit for recognizing talent in the developmental stage," Ramsey said. "Weber saw him at a lot of places that summer (2007) as Brandon kept working and improving. The potential was obvious. Kids develop at different rates, and he has added muscle and keeps improving, year after year. He still has a long way to go, but the NBA is a reasonable goal."

Ramsey said numerous high-level programs showed early interest, adding: "I'm not sure of the distinction between making contact and formal offers, but Brandon decided on Illinois before a lot of schools realized what was happening. He made a quick, strong decision, and that was it. When he emerged on the scene (2009 Illinois Mr. Basketball as a senior), he was already gone. For us, he wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime player, he was a once-in- several lifetimes. I predicted when he was a sophomore that he'd be right where he is now. For Brandon, the sky is the limit."

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at ltate@news-gazette.com.