Crandall Head leaving Illini: 'I'm just looking for a fresh start"
CHAMPAIGN - Crandall Head said he has no ill feelings toward the Illinois basketball program.
He simply felt there is a better place for him.
Head said today he will transfer from Illinois and finish his career elsewhere. The 6-foot-5 sophomore said playing time was a factor in his decision - but not the only factor.
"I'm just looking for a fresh start. I mean, I wanted to stay. But I just can’t do it anymore. I didn't feel like it was the right place for me," Head said by phone from Chicago. "I still love the players and the coaches. It’s just not the right place for me."
A formal announcement from the DIA is expected later today.
Head did not return to the UI campus after the team's Christmas break. He was averaging 9.2 minutes as a sophomore and 6.1 minutes as a freshman. Head underwent knee surgery prior to his senior season at Rich South.
"I love the school. I love the atmosphere," Head said of Illinois. "I love everything about it. But when you get there, things start to change."
A highly regarded prospect out of Rich South and the Mac Irvin Fire club program, Head figures to have his choice of schools. He said the offensive system and style of play will be contributing factors in where he lands.
“A good system that plays my type of offense, up-tempo (is what he's looking for)," Head said. "Somewhere I can feel comfortable playing, get out there and shoot the shots that I like.”
Crandall is the younger brother of former Illini guard Luther Head. Crandall said he spoke to his older brother about the decision.
“He just told me he’s behind me wherever I go," Crandall said.
That leaves Meyers Leonard, the 7-foot-1 center and a blossoming star, as the only remaining member of the Illini's celebrated 2010 recruiting class. Jereme Richmond entered the NBA draft after his freshman year and went undrafted.
This really sucks! I had high hopes for Crandall. Maybe his outside shot wasn't very good but Crandall had a wealth of talent to contribute in other areas: driving to hoop, great passing skills, one of our best defenders, ball handling in open court, speed, athletic and jumping abilty. Crandall had a high ceiling but never fit in to the slow-down Weber offense at Illinois. Crandall said "A good system that plays my type of offense, up-tempo (is what he's looking for)," Head said. "Somewhere I can feel comfortable playing, get out there and shoot the shots that I like.” Uptempo offense is what Illinois should be running with the large number of athletic thoroughbreds on this team. Really Maniscalco and maybe Griffey are the only slowpokes and yet WEber insists on playing a style of offense that befits a bunch of awkward slow players and doesn't fit the speedy, athletic kind of players he actually and mostly has on this team. I feel bad for Crandall as he has wasted 2 years of eligibility under Weber and to transfer now has to sit out still another year now. Weber just doesn't know how to adapt to his players and get the most out of to their abilities. Undoubtedly Chicago recruits are watching.
You got that right. Crandall will excel somewhere else where they run an uptempo offense like they do in the pros. I won't be surprised to see Crandall make the headlines excelling for some other school. Shame it couldn't be at Illinois because of Bruce Weber's stubbornness and it may be ironic if next season Illinois has a new coach and he runs an uptempo style more suited to players like Head, also players like Paul, Richardson, Bertrand, Langford, Henry, Abrams, Eqwu, Shaw and Leonard. Maniscalco and Griffey are the only players on the team that aren't suited to run an uptempo offense but fit the slow motion offense that Weber loves. Next coach will hopefully better utilize the type of athletes and talent on this team and not squander that talent, not develop players well and alienate or run off good players like Weber does.
Yeah, because we sure know that guards cant go play in the NBA after being coached by Weber. Except for Deron. Oh yeah, and Luther. Wait, never mind, looks to me like the motion offense can get players in the NBA just fine.
Crandall had lots of athletic talent, but last time I checked, the NBA wants a wing player who can actually SHOOT THE BALL AND HAVE IT GO IN. If Crandall can learn to do that, yes, he may play in the NBA. If he cant, well, he wont play much in college much less the NBA, he will be a role player at best. And its unlikely he will do that at this stage of playing organized ball.
I wish Crandall the very best. I hope he can improve his jump shot and find playing time somewhere and be happy. Either way I hope he gets his degree from whereever he chooses to transfer.
you are quite the expert. Jerrance recruits athletes and Weber does zero to make them better players. One NCAA win in five years? Zero players he recruited on NBA rosters? Do not address self or krugers guys.Weber slows the tempo, runs a lame motion offense and plays his bigs 40 feet from basket. It's laughable and I don't blame any athlete like Head who runs as far away as possible.
So Leonard hasnt gotten better? Were people talking about Luther playing pro ball until Bruce showed up? Besides, I dont need to be an expert - look up what Luther and Deron said about playing under Weber and how it helped them get to the NBA. Hey but I am sure you know more than they do, LOL. And what makes you think Bruce *wants* Leonard to play on the perimeter? The first clue might be listening to Bruce telling him not to, during games?? Anyway, its clear from your post this isnt about Crandall its just another sad excuse to try to pile on Bruce. Pathetic. The biggest thing standing between Crandall and the NBA wasnt Bruce, it was the lack of anything resembling a jump shot.
Hilarious genius. If Meyers played at KU, Kentucky,UNC and even Indiana- he'd be a lottery pick. If fact if he played at Augustana, Carthage or Ripon he'd be a lottery pick. Where are your guards who improved under Weber and went to the league? Still waiting. Keep dreaming of 2005.
you said 'Jerrance recruits players and Weber does 0 to make them better'. Well Leonard alone disproves that, we dont even need to look at other players on previous teams. He IS better, a LOT better, than last year. And again, go ask Deron and Luther if Weber helped them get them ready for the NBA. Go look up the quotes if you dont believe me. Next time try making a statement that remotely makes sense.
Sammy Huston,,,if Weborn is so good at helping kids get to the next level, then where are they.
Where. Are you talking Russia, France, Germany, that pro level. ha ha And regarding the pile on Bruce, you cannot ignore the FACT THAT HE IS GONE and that is a reflection on who,,,the coach. period.
Duh, WEBER hasn't had players like Deron and Luther on this team since 2005. It's not that the motion offense when run correctly is bad (although that 2005 team struggled on occasion & should have gone all the way and also never should have lost to OSU). It's more that Weber's tried and true offense is better suited to jump shooters (Deron, Dee, Luther, Roger, Jack) and more driven smarter players who can handle the ball and pass. Weber hasn't been able to adapt his stagnant offense too well yet for the type of athletic players he has on the team NOW. It doesn't suit them. They are thoughbreds meant to run like MIzzou and UNLV.
Bummer. A great athlete, good attitude, lots of potential. Just didn't fit the current system. That happens at many other programs as well. Best wishes to Crandell, hope he finds a "home" more suited to his skills, enjoys a productive college career AND gets his degree.
Not that I’m a big Weber supporter, but I wouldn’t pin this on him…I suspect with the way Bertrand is coming along and the freshmen bellow him, Crandall figured his playing time here was doomed.. and he’s probably right…You know what … guy’s that bounce around because the system doesn’t fit, rarely if ever do anything anywhere else.. whether it’s a guy who commits then decommits to Michigan, then leaves Kentucky for Illinois then leaves Illinois for who knows where.. or guys who think they’re ready for the NBA after a bad freshmen year then spend the next year on house arrest.. or the son of an NBA hall of famer…if they feel they’re better off.. so be it, good luck and have a nice life. As far as Weber, I’d give him this year, unless he does a Ron Zook the second half of the season, then he’s gone now… but if we don’t contend for the big ten title next year and get a respectable seed in the tournament and make it deep, his time is up.. these are all his guys.. no Bill Self/Eric Gordon/Jamar Smith accident distractions.. these players will well be seasoned next year.. there will be no more excuses..
It is on the coach. Who else, is it on you...who..look, he is not doing this because of Bertrand last game. That is stupid to think. He has seen for himself the 12 team lineup. He has seen that WEborn brings in Sam and Sam is ahead of Head. Not really..He has seen it is useless to stay.
Good move Head.
It's not the system, if Crandell could shoot, dribble or pass with any efficiency he'd be getting quality minutes. Since 2005, I haven't seen one player who left Weber's program go on to fame and fortune in the NBA. The only one remotely close would be Jamar Smith but he was dismissed due to off th court issues. Where's Alex Legion these days? or Rodney Alexander? or Brian Carlwell? Oh yeah, he was coming off the bench in San Diego somewhere averaging 5 points a game. You get my point. There is plenty of opportunity in this system to get out on the fast break or take the ball to the basket, just look at what Joe Bertrand did against Missouri. I think he thought when he got here his natural ability would take over, he wouldn't have to work hard on or off the court and it became a real reality check for him. When he says things like it was much different when he got here, it means he wasn't ready for the hard work. And now, I don't think we'll ever hear from him again just like the others.
Good move for him. See Weborn, this is what you get when you screw with the team. Thinking freshman should play ahead of Sophomores. Thinking Sam can give you more over the next three years than Head. I hope he does well. I think he will. I think even though grades are a part of this, hey. why try if you discover your coach does not know what he is doing and you see it.\
He will do fine elswhere. It shows that if you keep a player limited, you can frustrate him, get him to leave. Weborn, you did it.
Players transfer all the time. Illinois doesn't have a corner on that market. You earn your minutes in practice and Head got caught in a logjam on the wing. Illinois has an abundance of athletic wings with decent passing skills and mostly with better shooting and ball handling skills.
Wow i seen this coming and I won't put it all on Weber. Its no secret to those who know me that I hate Webers style and its a fact he hasn't done anything since 2005. I think he has to win atleast a couple games in the tournament or MT will get rid of him too.
On Head leaving, I'm not all that sad. The kid just isnt as good as his brother was. Just like Alex Legion, he couldnt make shots and his defense was just ok at times. I wouldn't be surprised to see more kids leaving because of playing time. Oh and I dont think Weber is developing ML, I think he is just learning his spot, slowly but surely. He still spends way too much time up setting screens and loren tate talked about this, this week and Hate to tell ya loren, but your wrong. He does spend WAY too much time at the top of the key! I hope you do time it like you said you was going to. Its one thing to set a pick, but then you have to get your 7 foot behind back under the basket and move around down there and the guards need to get him the ball. Many times he comes open and they don't see him or just decide not to feed him. Dee and Deron had a pass first, shoot second mentality. We need our current guards to do the same!
Agree with most of what you said, but not the part that he could not make shots and poor D.
How do you know.. Has he ever played 10 straight min. in row. How about 8, or 7, or 6. You will have to look hard to see that. Heck, Sam started tonight and he had to sit before 5 min. was up.
Whats up with this in and out garbage. Hey, most kids have the skills to shoot off the dribble, to shoot when they want too. Do you know that if you shoot when you want too, release when you feel like it and not when the D makes you rush or you have gone too deep, your shooting percentage goes up 35%. That is all Bertrand did, saw himself shooting at a certain spot on his terms. Head and others can do the same if not for the goofy motion running offense of Weborn.
Let's see, he switched high schools a couple of times and his step father said they were still looking at other programs (after Crandall verbally committed to Illinois and older brother Luther agreed).
And how many studs has that Mac Irvin program sent to Illinois anyway?
Somehow I see this guy ending up at Loyola or DePaul long before he gets a ride to Kansas or Louisville. And then somewhere else after that.........
Crandell Head was a disappointment, but I wish him luck. As far as the Illini roster, that's a position, 2 or 3, where they have all kinds of depth - if anything, it clears up a log jam in the rotation. And I have to disappoint all you Weber haters, just was on the BT broadcast that he's got the 6th highest Big Ten winning percetnage for coaches with at least 8 years...that was ALL-TIME, not active BT coaches - ALL-TIME. No way you can say the 2004-05 season as the only reason. You might not like him, you might not like "his style", but the guy can coach. Looking for good things this year ..meaning a good record, and then you haters can let us know that we don't like the style of the wins - whatever that means. Just remember that there is always a certain percentage of the population that finds something wrong in everything - Bruce Weber as Illinois coach is no different.
Best of luck Crandall Head "Case". Reality check - starting positions and playing time is earned, not given. As a U of I alum, I want to see players on the athletics teams that I support understand that there is no I in the word TEAM. They are receiving the opportunity to attend one of the most prestigious schools in the country and it is basic English. Crandall's quotes above say it all - I, I, I.
I am so tired of the U of I fans who only know how to say negative things about the school/coaches/systems they run/etc - fickle fans is what I call you. Only supporters when we are winning, and the first game we lose attendance drops and the negativity begins because it was too good to be true. For those of you who are like that, I am asking that you find a different team to cheer for and shine your light on them. Go Illini!
AiumHun..first of all, just where does Weborn and the team get all that money to run their program....From grant in aid and fans...So,,,,what , we should just shut up and sit back and like what we see. I say, we have some say in it. I do not do $20,000 PER YEAr like some, but I do my share, and guess what, when you make what Weborn makes,,you have to step up to the line. You cross the line when you accept it, and you earn your respect.
DaisyJ, Grant in Aid - I would have to assume that you are referring to the current I Fund and not state funding? If you donate to the I Fund or as a fan, I am asking that you have respect for the University and of the student-athletes that have made the choice to dedicate themselves to the programs of the University. They are "family" where we as fans and the I Fund need to welcome them and be supportive, not disrespectful. If we disrespect the coach or the program, what are we showing the young men and women who we are funding through the I Fund? I want these young adults to appreciate what is being provided and to be loyal as I was when I was there. Which brings me to my next point, his name is Coach Weber - not Weborn.
Here is something to think about - do you ever hear anyone speaking harshly against the Coach for Duke, Kentucky, Kansas? The Illini who is coached by Bruce Weber is 12-2. Ranked in Top 25 this year already. One player wants to leave who doesn't know what the word TEAM means because he thinks it is all about HIM which does have an I in it and the Illini nation is falling apart. Give the TEAM a chance - GO ILLINI!
For those of you who do not know what the I Fund is: Illinois student-athletes leave Champaign-Urbana with their degrees armed with knowledge derived from a collection of the nation’s preeminent academic programs and confidence/leadership borne of the pressure/achievement from competing on the nation’s premier collegiate stage, the Big Ten Conference.The I FUND’s expectation is nothing less than we expect of our teams: to be the very best. This is only possible through the continued generosity of those private individuals, families and businesses involved in the program. We receive no financial support for scholarships from taxpayers. In order to provide quality, state-of-the-art training and competition facilities for student-athletes, medical and rehabilitation facilities, coaches' offices and meetings rooms, proper recognition for student-athletes of past generations, and administrative office space on campus...private funding is required to make these projects possible.
UOFIFlamingo...hey, like I said, they accept the free ride from where ever it comes from and Weborn accepts the salary,,,win or lose,,,cashes each check, and when they accept that they have to also accpet the good and bad, cheers and boos. That is just how life is sometimes.
As for Weborn, it is his nickname that I gave him because he is stubborn and if you do not believe it then think about this. Still never plays Zone. Still uses Leonard out front. Still uses only one offense primarily Motion.......Still substitutes in and out regardless of how well you do......Need any more Stubborn reasons.......Last night, he started Sam, and he never made it 5 min. and was on the bench. ...What is that all about. If you are good enough to start, win your position in practice,,and you get benched because your time limit is up...welll,,,that is not my cup of tea.
If we all didn't know about Crandall's brother, then we wouldn't even be discussing his sudden departure. BTW, I really believe that it wasn't all Crandall's p.t. dissapointments, but had to do w/ classrooms issues that came to roost at semester's end. I wish him the best of course, but do not see him transfering to another program and excelling. Just too tough to do.
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