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Redshirt dilemma moves forward

Posted by: Paul Klee

Friday, November 9, 2007 3:14 PM

I don't think all of the redshirt questions will be ironed out Sunday when Illinois plays Northeastern. But one thing that appears certain is the emergence of Bill Cole as a regular in the playing rotation. The Peoria product has been the most consistent freshman in practice -- he makes few mistakes and has a better understanding of the motion offense -- and Bruce Weber is pleased with the competitive edge Cole has shown.

"To me the biggest surprise is his toughness," Weber said today.

Here's one item I think has been sort of a misconception. Bill Cole was not in the initial redshirt conversations for this season, meaning the initial plan was to have him play. Coaches wanted him to play this season.

The way he's moved up the playing rotation -- Weber mentioned Cole as a player for the fifth starting slot, along with Rodney Alexander -- has been the surprise. Don't expect Cole to get the start in his first college game on Sunday, but it's a testament to how far he's come in such a short time that he's in the conversation. And I would guess throwing Cole's name out there, next to Alexander's, is a motivational tool from the coach.

"I think Billy right now would have to be in our mix of seven, eight guys," Weber said.

The coach emphasized that earning a starting spot is not all it's made out to be, and said it's more important who's there at the end of a game.

Weber said that he feels good about the top four starters -- Chester Frazier, Trent Meacham, Brian Randle and Shaun Pruitt -- but the 5-9 guys are up in the air. While redshirting Cole wasn't really the plan, the plan back in June was to redshirt Mike Tisdale. That notion has all but been thrown out the window. Weber said if Illinois was playing today and Shaun Pruitt got in foul trouble or otherwise, he would turn to Tisdale as the center. (Again, that's just today. Some of this redshirt talk reminds me of recruiting, the way it's so fluid from practice to practice.)

The bottom line?

"I would anticipate nobody would redshirt. I would anticipate that," Weber said. "We will continue to have conversations with kids."

Those conversations will probably center around playing time and potential redshirt decisions. The Northeastern game will provide more clues as to where the young guys fit into the playing rotation, though it won't be the end all. And Weber indicated he might play it safe over the first few games and hold somebody out, to give him the option of pursuing a redshirt season.

"You wish you had a crystal ball to see where they're at in January," he said.

- For his part, Cole said he hasn't really changed his approach to the issue of playing time and where he fits in to begin his first season at Illinois. Over the first week of practice, he said, all he heard was "coaches yelling at me and telling me where to go." But as the preseason wore on, the game slowed down. His experience in Peoria Richwoods' motion offense helped him adapt.

"I just came in here and worked as hard as I could. I wasn't sure where that would take me," Cole said today. "I knew my role well enough where if I just went out there and played hard and played with intensity and did the little things like play defense, take charges, get deflections...

"I worked myself up to a role where I can play and compete with anyone. I think I played well in that regard, and I'm ready to listen and see where he has me slotted in to play."

- More on the Hawaii game in the next week, but one thing to keep in mind is that Hawaii returns the game to the Assembly Hall next season. Securing the return game is a credit to assistant Jay Price, who handles scheduling. I doubt Illinois would have scheduled a game at Hawaii if they didn't get a return game out of the deal -- too much to lose and too little to gain.

The staff also talked to a handful of coaches who have played at Hawaii in recent years, including Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery. Not an easy place to play. I was there a couple years ago covering SIU, and it's one of the more ruthless and hostile environments a visiting team will experience.

On the other hand, the Hawaii football team has a game the same night, so attendance at the basketball game probably will be smaller than usual.

- Northeastern coach Bill Coen brings a younger roster to C-U on Sunday. He pointed out that nine of the 13 players are freshmen or sophomores, and the CAA squad did not schedule any exhibitions to prepare for their season opener.

"We'll be young and a little bit inexperienced and it will be interesting to see how we react to that type of crowd," Coen said today.

- Also, the News-Gazette's 2007-08 college basketball preview section published today, hopefully you got a copy and enjoyed it. More in Saturday's N-G on the redshirt/playing rotation situation.

Later on.

Paul
pklee@news-gazette.com