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Most of us were raised on basketball. We understand the rules. We follow, to varying degrees, the prep, college and professional levels. It has a built-in audience.

This being the case, it is mystifying to view the UI campus where the women's volleyball program has consistently been more attractive than women's basketball as a spectator sport.

Most of us don't even know volleyball strategies, much less the rules. That's why second-year coach Kevin Hambly has scheduled a Volleyball 101 clinic Aug. 16 at Huff Hall. For 10 bucks, a modest contribution to the program, he'll explain some of the mysteries.

The answer to the big-picture riddle is obvious. Check the records. Since Mike Hebert got rolling with consecutive 39-3, 36-3, 31-7 and 30-4 teams in the mid-late 1980s, volleyball has been vastly more successful. The 25-year record is 560-256 (69 percent) as compared to 379-368 (51 percent) for basketball.

Volleyball has produced more nationally recognized stars beginning with Mary Eggers and Kirsten Gleis, and leading up to senior Laura DeBruler on what could be one of the nation's top-10 teams. Clearly, the smooth transition from Don Hardin to Hambly has set the table for the UI's best female program. Even as he tackles such extraordinary rivals as Nebraska and national champion Penn State, Hambly has comparable talent and more on the way. The volleyball picture can only be described as exciting.

Basketball is another story. For one thing, the non-dunking women's game pales alongside the men's game. For another, Theresa Grentz's last seven teams were 50-62 in the Big Ten. And this past week we saw coach Jolette Law receive a two-year contract extension (carrying through 2014) after finishing 8-10, 5-13 and 7-11 in the conference. That's a 10-year Big Ten audit of 70 wins and 96 losses. Nor are the arrows pointing up as Law has seen graduation take her all-star center Jenna Smith and second-best player Lacey Simpson. Furthermore, crack recruit Destiny Williams decided to transfer almost before she enrolled.

So we return once again to the often-asked question. Why do the cagers persist in playing games in the Assembly Hall's graveyard atmosphere while the volleyballers turn Huff into an exciting and uplifting site for crowds in virtually the same 2,000 category? For the record, and this is based on tickets sold, volleyball averaged 2,014 fans last year while the women cagers drew 1,819 (note: volleyball got credit for 7,632 as part of Midnight Madness with the men's basketball team, and those who watched were presented with an impressive 3-0 defeat of Hebert's Minnesota team).

To answer the question, the women feel they deserve "equality" of basketball playing sites. Other women's quintets play on the same Big Ten courts as the men, and some top teams wouldn't agree to come to the UI if they couldn't play in the Assembly Hall.

But, first, the team must be upgraded to a point where people want to watch. And that leads to today's message: Loyalty is a wonderful quality but, in some recent cases, loyalty has been overused as a reason for extending contracts for struggling UI coaches. That's not to say Law won't be successful. At this point, we don't know. No one can say with certainty which direction the women's basketball program is headed. It would make more sense to wait and see, rather than risk thousands of dollars on a 2013-14 season that is anyone's guess.

Hoop dreams

Rick Reilly I'm not. I seldom try to touch your funny bone, and some readers unfortunately took me seriously Thursday when I facetiously tried to turn over everything, from the football program to the airport, to Stan Ikenberry (he could handle it).

But one response impressed me with its thoughtfulness on a sticky subject, that of filling empty A Section seats when the holders don't show up for UI men's basketball games. Bill Friend wrote:

"They need to put scannable bar codes on the back of season tickets and set up a website that season ticket holders can log in to. If a season ticket isn't scanned within 10-15 minutes of game time, those tickets go back up for sale in the ticket office outside the Assembly Hall. If the season ticket holder is going to be late, they just log on to the website and indicate the ticket should be withheld from sale (if they don't show up by halftime, too bad). With smart phones, etc., it would be easy to have your seats held if you ran into trouble on the road.

"If season ticket holders know they can't make it to a particular game, they log on to the website and notify the Assembly Hall. The Assembly Hall then accepts those tickets as a tax deductible donation from the season ticket holder and puts those tickets back up for sale prior to game time. This would fill up those empty A section seats (or B and C seats), especially during the pre-Big Ten games, and give students and other fans an opportunity to see a game from some really great seats. Most folks can't swing the donation amount needed to get A section seats, so this would be a wonderful opportunity. I think it would get more vocal fans closer to the action. It would also create a little more basketball revenue."

Farewell, Monica

Terri Sullivan's UI softball team narrowly missed the honor of hosting the NCAA Regional this past spring – the Illini lost twice to the Tigers at Missouri – and will find it even harder next year with ace pitcher Monica Perry transferring to Mississippi State (she has been released). Perry was a workhorse, going 25-7 and hurling most of the big games as Illinois went 16-2 in the Big Ten and 45-8 overall.

That said, Sullivan is not without backups. Freshman Pepper Gay was 16-1 and should easily slide into the No. 1 role. And Jackie Guy, who doubles as a hitter, has the potential to step up as No. 2. But due to the lateness of Perry's decision, the Illini have no third pitcher, which could be a problem for doubleheaders if Gay or Guy is injured.

Perry, a Georgian who apparently wants to be closer to her ill father, will be missed.

State haul

UI basketball recruiting is upbeat with Tracy Abrams, Mycheal Henry and Nnanna Egwu heading next year's class, and with Bruce Weber entering the final stages with two in-state seniors, Rock Island's Chasson Randle and powerhouse rebounder Mike Shaw of De La Salle.

But it must be noted that the UI lost out to Florida on super-guard Bradley Beal – the Illini have missed on something like 19 of 20 in St. Louis since Billy Morris – and still haven't cracked through the Indiana barrier. And it must be noted that this state's top two upcoming seniors, 6-10 Anthony Davis of Perspectives Charter School and 6-5 Wayne Blackshear of Morgan Park, will attend elsewhere. Davis has skyrocketed to a point where he has the look of a one-and-done candidate for, well ... the likes of Kentucky.

"It blows your mind the way Davis has come on," said City-Surburban scout Joe Henricksen. "He could wind up as high as top three in the nation. He is a shot blocker with great skills and a soft tough, and he has grown six or seven inches in a year and a half. This class could be the state's best since the 1998 group with Quentin Richardson, Corey Maggette and Frank Williams."

Henricksen said Abrams is "learning the nuances of point guard," the position he'll play at Illinois, while Randle "is a polished combo guard who can play either position."

The wild July period, which finds preps in big AAU tournaments in Orlando, Las Vegas and Kansas City, will wind up in Merrillville, Ind., Thursday through Saturday ... by which time the players will be so weary that judgments may be flawed.

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