By Chris Hine
CHAMPAIGN - On Sunday, Illinois welcomes one of the most versatile college basketball players in Ohio State’s Evan Turner, the 6-foot-7-inch Chicago native who transitioned to playing point guard full-time this season.
Beginning next season, Illini coach Bruce Weber will have someone like that on his team in Waukegan senior Jereme Richmond, who was recently named to the McDonald’s All-American Team.
“He’s worked hard,” Weber said of Richmond. “He’s done all the things, the camps, the AAU, all the exposure things that he needed to get there. It’s good for our program, great for him and I think he should be proud and I know we’re excited about it.”
Weber also addressed the recovery of another member of his 2010
recruiting class, Rich South's Crandall Head. Head was recently cleared
to resume practicing following surgery to repair a torn ACL in his
right knee.
Weber said he was concerned about Head trying to recover too quickly,
but hoped that he could find some guidance from his older brother and
current Indiana Pacer, Luther.
"Even before he had the surgery, he'd be messing around doing dunks and
he had a totally torn ACL and he's out there doing dunks," Weber said.
"I just know him, how active he is, and hopefully Luther can be a
positive influence and encourage him to do that right thing."
Weber also talked about past off-the-court incidents, such as Richmond's suspension two weeks ago and Head's traffic violations, as reported by the Sun-Times on Thursday.
"You want to make sure kids in your program do the right thing," Weber said. "I have said many times the best thing that can happen to those guys is when they come here we're going to have older guys that have been through it and understand what we want. So they're going to have no choice. This is the way we do it, do you want to be part of it? It will be coming from the staff, but it's also going to be coming from the players."
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First of all santamoniker do not call Waukegan a bad town. And I attend school with Jereme, he is hard working, and will make a great addtion to the team. He has to control his behavior though, other than that he should be fine.(:
John....you really don't have the first clue what you're talking about. I just love people like you that call themselves "fans" and spout off about nonsense that makes no sense at all. Next time get all the facts before you open your mouth or type on your keyboard.
Stay off that kid. Waukegan is a miserable town. His coach doesn't have a handle. JR will be great, and the Flying Illini will be returning with him and CHead. Meyers, start eating massive amounts of food. One birdman is enough.
Hey John, no offense, but is the gloomy prediction really necessary? There's no prize handed out if it turns out you're right, and a negative attitude from fans isn't going to improve Richmond's chances at Illinois. Not that everyone needs to be Pollyanna, but let's pull back from the brink of the abyss a little bit. Just because we've been burned a few times in the past, and therefore can contemplate the worst case scenario in every situation, doesn't mean we need to embrace them. Plenty of bad things we never even contemplated will happen to the Illini along with the good. Let's not let our fears for tomorrow ruin our enjoyment of today.
I really hope that I am wrong on this, but methinks that Jereme Richmond won't be around the Illinois program very long. He has a history of behavior problems and it would seem that he will need some babysitting once on campus. The young man is a huge talent but will have to grow up quickly if he is to avoid many of the problems he has found himself directly/indirectly involved in. Bruce Weber is going to have a player with sky's the limit potential on the floor and childish impudence on and off it. I will be hoping this young man succeeds in all facets of life at Illinois, but I regrettably think he will be off the team and bouncing around the country throughout his college tenure.