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Talking hoops with ... Bonnie and John Hummel

She's an Illinois grad. He was a longtime Illinois prof. They've had season tickets for Illinois football and basketball games forever. Their son, Glenn, was a Big Ten Medal of Honor winner and star tennis player at Illinois. Yet when Bruce Weber's Illini visit Purdue today, the Champaign couple will be in the stands at Mackey Arena rooting like crazy for the Boilermakers. That's because their grandson, Robbie Hummel, wears No. 4 in black and gold. Sports editor JIM ROSSOW visited the Hummels at their William Street house this week to discuss Rob's college choice, their game-day wardrobe and today's outcome.

You have season tickets for Illinois and Purdue. That can't be good on the family budget.

John: This will be our 16th Purdue game. What it does is it wipes out our trip south in the wintertime. We used to go to the Gulf Coast for  seven to 10 days.

What do you wear to Illinois games?

Bonnie: On Sunday, I wore a Purdue turtleneck and an orange sweater over the top of it. But I was careful not to cover up the Purdue emblem. Purdue is closest to my heart these days. The people in our section know that I'm Rob's grandmother. They know not to give me a hard time about it any more.

How did you let your grandson get away from Illinois?

John: It's not like he doesn't like his grandma's cooking. She brings him rolls and cookies every time we visit.

Bonnie: He grew up a huge Illinois fan. For gifts, we'd send him all kinds of Illinois T-shirts. He spent a lot of time in this house.

Turns out he never received an offer from Illinois.

John: We were in State College the weekend he took his unofficial visit here. He gave us a good report, said he played pickup games with Dee Brown and that Dee was very nice and very encouraging. After that, he had a session with Bruce and was told to keep working on his game and get stronger. That's what happened.

Just not at Illinois.

John: I think that they had bigger fish to fry. That was the same class as Bill Cole and Mike Tisdale and Eric Gordon and Derrick Rose. There was interest in Robbie – I know Jay Price was in Valparaiso many times – but he was in a fallback position. He was in a holding pattern.

Didn't you tell Coach Weber about Robbie?

John: I saw him at an AAU tournament that summer. At that point, coaches are very careful about not speaking to anyone connected to a recruit. So, no, I never did.

Do you think Rob would have come if Illinois had made an offer?

Bonnie: 50-50 at best. Rob was on the same AAU team as E'Twaun Moore and Scott Martin, and it was a very successful team. All three wound up going to Purdue. I know E'Twaun Moore's parents said they wouldn't let him commit to Purdue until they were sure Rob was going to commit.

Are you upset Illinois didn't make a stronger push?

Bonnie: Absolutely not. It turned out wonderful for everyone.

John: Bill Cole, now that he's worked past his injuries, has turned out pretty good. Cole and Tisdale were at the same Nike camp in Indianapolis as Rob that summer. Rob knows all those guys. He didn't have a problem with that at all. No hurt feelings, no hard feelings, nothing like that.

Should The News-Gazette start covering more Purdue games?

Bonnie: Of course you should.

John: Except the games they lose. We don't want to read about that.

You said Rob's dad, Glenn, starred in tennis – not basketball – at Central?

John: Glenn will tell you he would have been a great basketball player but he couldn't compete with the great Clyde Turner. So he turned to tennis, which turned out all right.

Any other 6-foot-8 grandkids who can shoot lights out?

John: No, but we do have a grandson in Las Vegas who was a national champion in chess four years running. He went to grad school at Stanford. His father was an Illinois graduate, too. How about that for two extremes: a basketball player and a chess player, both on the national scene.

Did you think Robbie would turn out as good as he has?

John: That was not in our projections.

Bonnie: I thought if Robbie could be the first one off the bench as a freshman, I'd be thrilled. Imagine how wonderfully surprised I was that he was in the starting five right off the bat. He works very hard, so I shouldn't have been surprised.

Who wins Saturday's game?

Bonnie: Purdue by two or three points. I don't understand why Illinois hasn't been more consistent. They've got the material and kids who can play.