At about lunchtime Tuesday, most of the conversation related to Illinois basketball centered around the departure of sophomore Crandall Head.

Head announced he was leaving the Illinois program in an effort to continue his career elsewhere.

"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 told The News-Gazette by phone early Tuesday. "I still love the players and the coaches. It's just not the right place for me."

Head, the younger brother of former Illinois star Luther Head, didn't return to campus following the Christmas break. He was averaging 9.2 minutes and one point per game.

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Crandall Head's departure means the heralded 2010 recruiting class that also featured Jereme Richmond and Meyers Leonard is down to just Leonard.

Richmond, a McDonald's All-American from Waukegan, declared for the NBA draft after a tumultuous freshman season that included two suspensions. He went undrafted and has been marred by legal issues since leaving Illinois.

Leonard is enjoying a breakout sophomore season that has scouts at the professional level raving about his future.

"I was pretty close with both those guys; obviously Jereme had an unfortunate situation," Leonard said. "I talked to Crandall on the phone. He told me to keep playing hard and do my thing. We both have unbelievable potential; we talk about that all the time. I told him to keep working hard and keep his head on straight. I told him if he ever needs anything he can call my phone.

"I've always been a little closer with Crandall. I'm not really upset that he left, but in a sense I am because I am close with him. I would always do whatever he needed, so it's going to be difficult with him gone."

Head has been around Illinois basketball for the last decade. His brother Luther played for Bill Self and Bruce Weber and was part of the vaunted guard trio alongside Dee Brown and Deron Williams that led Illinois to the national title game in 2005.

"Obviously, Crandall was frustrated, but he got himself behind with some things and you feel bad for him. It's a young man we've known probably since he was 10 years old. He's been hanging around here," Weber said. "You just wish him the best. There's no doubt we can use his quickness, his athleticism, but he's got to make good decisions in life, in the classroom and on the court if he's ever going to get productive."

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Senior guard Sam Maniscalco, who underwent offseason ankle surgery, appeared to be laboring during Tuesday's game. But Weber shot down any notion the ankle was affecting Maniscalco's play.

"Sam's fine. He got tired, had to play a lot of minutes," Weber said. "We tried to rest him any timeouts. Tracy (Abrams) turns it over a couple of times; you've got to grind it out with Sam down the stretch."

What Weber and Maniscalco are looking toward is the conclusion of the Ohio State game Jan. 10 so the senior can get some time to rest. After that, Illinois doesn't play again until Jan. 19.

"We have an extra day and we just talked about fighting it for the next five games and we have that nice eight-day break and we can all take two or three days off and maybe he can take more than that," Weber said.

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If you're picking a lineup of Illinois players to compete in a dunk contest, Abrams is probably the next-to-last guy you'd choose after Maniscalco. The 6-foot-1 freshman isn't known for his hops, but he showed them off Tuesday with a thunderous breakaway dunk on Minnesota's Rodney Williams during the first half.

Joseph Bertrand, one of the team's top dunkers, regularly gives Abrams a hard time for his dunking ability.

"After every practice I tell him to go dunk. Yesterday he got it real good, and today he couldn't get it at all," Bertrand said. "I told him, 'If you ever dunk it in a game, I won't ever ask you to do it again.' He came down and got that little breakaway dunk, so I can't talk about it anymore."

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Illinois commit Jalen James, a 2013 guard, attended his first Illini game this season. James was in town earlier this month participating in the Shootout at the Hall at Parkland College for Chicago Hope Academy.

"It was fun. I had a good time playing in front of Bruce Weber," James said. "I had a couple of turnovers, but it was a good experience."

James still has about a year and a half before he puts on the Illinois jersey, but he's been watching the current group on television and likes what he sees in the backcourt.

"The guard play has been perfect; we just need to slash a little more and get to the basket to help out Meyers Leonard," James said.

Marcus Jackson