Kind Of A Big Deal

Remember when Dee Brown, Deron Williams, AND James Augustine were invited to the USA Basketball training camp? It was then that we knew that that trio was way better than their recruiting rankings. In the RSCI, Dee was ranked 19th, Deron 48th, and Augie

Diamond Shine

Let me start by apologizing to you, the reader, and to Robert. Baseball words have been lacking this year. In my defense, I've been doing things that no smart human is supposed to have been doing over the last six months. Car prices skyrocketing? Let's

Looks Like University Of Illinois - Matthew Bailey

So here's how this works. I have one of those "don't say it don't say it don't say it" jokes in my head where I'm trying to connect Matthew Bailey with the song "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey?" But "won't you come home Matt Bailey?" isn't really

I Can Keep Going

I've gotten a few "what about basketball recruiting?" comments after my recruiting rant (published Friday evening), so maybe I should just keep going. Those were my thoughts on football recruiting (and player rankings) - how 'bout a Part II talking

Recruiting Rant XVIII

I've done it again. I started a Looks Like University Of Illinois post, the preamble turned into an actual amble, and by the time I'm done ranting, I'm three hours in and haven't even talked about the player yet. So, just like I've done so many time

One Two Three Four Five

I do this thing - it's really annoying, I know - where I still use numbers when referencing basketball players. "He's a true 4" or "he's more of a 2/3 kind of wing." Basketball has changed from the days of every team having a point guard, a shooting

Spring 2022 Mailbag V

I have no idea why I'm such a big Roman numeral guy. Is that even a thing? "Robert? I hear he's a HUGE Roman numeral guy." But I do love using Roman Numerals. Who can forget my epic article "Camp Rantoul 2013 XXXVI - Breaking Down The Holders"? (I

Spring 2022 Mailbag IV

I think this will be the fourth of five mailbag posts and then I can put spring ball to bed and get back to the real nuts and bolts of IlliniBoard: writing LLUOI posts for players who committed five months ago. This set of questions come from Twitter

Again And Again And Again

This was the least-followed Big Ten Golf Championships for me in a decade. After seeing last year's comeback in person, I had planned to attend this year. But plans changed, and we visited friends this weekend, and while out and about enjoying

Spring 2022 Mailbag III

I'm in Louisiana right now. I don't know why I tell you where I am when I'm writing a post from somewhere other than Champaign, but I do. I'm in Lafayette with friends attending the Festival International de Louisiane. I'm pretty sure that's French for