BANNER EFFORT:

There are six banners hanging from the Huff Hall rafters celebrating volleyball success at the University of Illinois. Later this month, basketball will get its due. The UI will raise a banner for its 1996-97 Big Ten Conference championship as soon as the Nov. 16 exhibition game against an Australian national team. The UI originally wanted to hold the ceremony during the State Farm Tip-Off Classic on Nov. 23 at the Assembly Hall, but television interfered.

HIGH HONOR:

Tennessee star Chamique Holdsclaw, whom the UI will run into Dec. 12, has been named USA Basketball's Female Athlete of the Year. The 20-year-old Holdsclaw is the youngest woman to win the award since Cheryl Miller was honored in 1984 when she was 20. Holdsclaw has helped lead Tennessee to two straight NCAA championships and was named most outstanding player at this year's Final Four. USA's top coach is Penn State's Renee Portland, a former college teammate of UI coach Theresa Grentz. Portland has led Penn State to a 393-129 record and 14 NCAA berths in 17 seasons.

TICKET UPDATE:

Good seats remain for the Nov. 23 State Farm Tip-Off Classic. Tickets for other UI home games, though, are a bit scarce. Around 3,500 Classic tickets have been sold, with room for more than 16,000. Less than 1,000 tickets are available for each game at Huff Hall.

LOOKING AHEAD:

The two Conference USA teams on the UI's schedule are no slouches. Marquette, which visits Dec. 7, was voted the preseason favorite at the league get-together Monday in Chicago. DePaul, which stops by Dec. 20, was voted third behind Louisville. DePaul's Mfon Udoka was a preseason all-conference pick.

Illini Profile: Nicole Vasey

Year/Age: Senior/22

Hometown/School: Lake Zurich/Lake Zurich

Major: Advertising

Favorite athlete: Gabrielle Reece

Favorite movie: Braveheart

Favorite TV show: Friends

Favorite musical artist: Freddie Jones

Favorite campus hangout: 111 E. White St.

Favorite professor: Barry Williams, communications

Hobbies: Roller blading, shopping, playing with my dogs

Career highlight: Winning a Big Ten title and advancing to the Sweet 16

Best player I've ever faced: Connecticutt's Carla Berube

If I could meet one person, it'd be ... President Clinton

What people don't know about me ... Once someone gets to know me, I talk their ear off