June 1999
Last prep dance for future Illini
PEORIA – Earlier this week, they were just your average incoming freshmen at the Illinois orientation, getting their first taste of dorm food and learning how to navigate the vast campus.
But on Friday night, Illini recruits Brian Cook of Lincoln, Sean Harrington of Elgin and Jerrance Howard of Peoria Central will take the floor at Carver Arena to put the finishing touches on their outstanding Illinois prep careers in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's 25th anniversary Class AA All-Star game.
A Dutch treat - Ex-Illini Howard upgrades NFL skills in Europe
ST. LOUIS Dana Howard never truly thought he was out of pro football, but he was close. After being waived by the Chicago Bears during the 1997 season, Howard was without a team last fall.
For the first time since he was "a little boy," football games were being played and Illinois'' all-time leading tackler was sitting in an office.
Ex-Illini Buford-Bailey attempting a rebirth
DALLAS – Tonja Buford-Bailey once viewed hurdler Sandra Farmer-Patrick as a rival.
Now the two-time Olympian from Illinois sees Farmer-Patrick as a role model.
As Farmer-Patrick did earlier this decade, Buford-Bailey interrupted her track career last year to start a family. As the former Illini embarks on the comeback trail, Farmer-Patrick and others offer reassuring proof that world-class careers can be reborn after giving birth.
She got game
The June 3, 1974, story didn''t make The News-Gazette''s front page.
Readers had to wind their way back to Page 13, the front of Sports, for the authorless story. Blunt as could be, the headline read, "Karol Anne Kahrs Named Assistant Athletic Director."
Meet the panelists
Name: Dike Eddleman. Age: 75
Claim to fame: An Illini athletic legend, he earned 11 letters at the school in football, basketball and track.
Illinois rolling sevens
CHAMPAIGN – A year ago, Centennial's Dustin Ward used Illinois' 7-on-7 shootout as his own recruiting pitch.
It worked just fine for the quarterback, who impressed the Illini coaches enough that they offered him a scholarship. Ward officially joins Illinois later in the summer.
UI football keeps coaching pipeline
CHAMPAIGN – The coaches are starting to wear a path between Corvallis, Ore., and the Illinois football offices.
Ron Turner has added a third former Beaver to his Illinois staff, with Jim Zielinski replacing Pat Moorer as strength and conditioning coach. Hired at 5 p.m. Friday, Zielinski started work at "5:01," Turner said.
Marianetti advances to finals
Former Illinois wrestler Steve Marianetti beat Sean Bormet 2-1 in the 1671/2-pound division Friday night at the U.S. World Team Freestyle Wrestling Trials in Seattle in a match that lasted 10 minutes, 50 seconds.
Back to the future
Cory Bradford and Frank Williams aren't the only members of the Illinois basketball team who can tell you what it was like to sit out as freshmen.
Twenty-nine years ago, a wide-eyed kid from the sticks named Lonnie Kruger had to go through the same thing.
Ex-Illini Douthard runs into trouble
Former Illinois and Cincinnati Bengals running back Ty Douthard was indicted Wednesday on a charge of possession of marijuana, according to the Cincinnati Post.
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