Big Ten Hoops Preview: Why the Illinois Fighting Illini Will Win the Big Ten

The Illinois Fighting Illini open their 2010-11 season tonight as they welcome UC Irvine to Assembly Hall. 

After a disappointing 2009-10 season, Bruce Weber returns all five starters from a year ago and is ready to show the Big Ten how good of a basketball team they can really be.  Add in the top recruiting class that Weber hauled in and the future of Illinois basketball is brighter than ever.

Senior Demetri McCamey, who has also been selected as Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 candidate, and Senior Mike Davis tested the NBA waters at the end of their junior years.  They ultimately decided to come back to give it one more go.  Their return is pivotal to the success of this year’s team. 

Although Mike Tisdale knew he was coming back for his senior season all along, his experience over the summer will definitely help the Illini in 2010.  Tisdale was selected to practice with Team USA as it prepared for the FIBA World Championships, which they ended up winning.

McCamey, Davis, and Tisdale all have three years of experience at key positions on the floor, which should be very beneficial in unleashing the full potential of their underclassmen.

The return of those seniors has Illini fans excited, but Bruce Weber’s No. 13 ranked recruiting class (according to Rivals.com) has generated the most buzz surrounding this squad.

The class features an impact player at each position: Meyers Leonard – Center, Jereme Richmond – Forward, and Crandall Head – Guard.

Those six players have generated so much buzz about the 2010 Illini that the talented sophomores: Brandon Paul, Tyler Griffey, Joseph Bertrand (redshirted due to injury), and Big Ten Freshmen of the year D.J. Richardson have been virtually forgotten.

To say the least, this year’s team is very deep. 

Richardson, Paul, Bertrand, and Head provide the depth at the shooting guard position, with the shortest of the three being Richardson at 6’3.  The Illini guards will challenge opposing teams physically

Davis, senior Bill Cole, Griffey, and Richmond will all split up time at forward, while Leonard and Tisdale will hold down the center position, continuing the trend of this Illini team: height.

McCamey is the only true point guard on this roster and figures to be the go to guy considering his talent level and experience, but expect some of the younger players like Richmond to bring the ball up the floor as well.

The Illini have a tough non-conference schedule with games against Texas, Pittsburgh or Maryland (depending upon who advances in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic), Gonzaga, Missouri, and North Carolina.

Depending upon which rankings you look at, all of those teams mentioned are ranked, excluding Maryland who still received votes.

Illinois is going to be battle tested after getting through that buzz saw of a nonconference schedule, just in time to play the likes of Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Purdue in Big Ten conference play.

Excluding the 2004-05 team, this is arguably the best Illinois basketball team in years.  Considering that Weber recruited this entire team himself, as opposed to the team full of Bill Self’s recruits that he led to the National Championship game in 2005, this is his first chance to show the basketball crazed fans in Champaign how good of a coach he really is.

Illini fans should also expect their squad to make a deep run in the tournament come March.

Although JaJuan Johnson has been named a Preseason All American, the loss of Robbie Hummel will to be too big of a loss for Purdue to win the Big Ten this year.

That leaves Michigan State and Ohio State, along with Illinois, as the three prime contenders to win the Big Ten this season.

All three teams return experienced upperclassmen, feature top recruiting classes, and are led by well known and veteran Big Ten coaches.

The race between the Fighting Illini, Buckeyes, and Spartans will be hotly contested and fun to watch.

The loss of Evan Turner and Kalin Lucas’ recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon, along with the Illinois' depth, experience, and motivation to forget last season and go dancing this year will give the Illini an edge over Sparty and the Buckeyes to win the Big Ten in 2010.