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Senior Day, round two

Posted by: Paul Klee

Saturday, February 28, 2009 5:36 PM

An interesting note about each of the seniors that will be the focal point of Sunday's Senior Day festivities: for one reason or another, you can find an example of how each of them almost wasn't a part of this Senior Day. That includes Chester Frazier, who, you might remember, told me he considered moving back to the Baltimore area after the 2006-07 season.

A few items from UI coach Bruce Weber on seniors Trent Meacham, C.J. Jackson and Calvin Brock...

- After the 2004-05 season, Weber heard through (his family's) grapevine that Trent Meacham was considering transferring out of Dayton.

"My daughter (Hannah) kind of tipped me off," Weber said Friday. "She went to school with him their senior year (at Centennial) and she said, ‘Trent's thinking about transferring.' I said, ‘Why would he transfer? He played as a transfer. He had good coaches. The whole bit.'

"We actually called (Dayton coach) Brian Gregory and told him."

Meacham had played in all 29 games as a true freshman at Dayton, and there remains some lingering bad blood from the Dayton side. Weber said he discouraged the guard's decision to return home to C-U, because it knew of the impact it would have on the Dayton program.

"I've known Brian a long time, (so Illinois) tipped him off," Weber said. "We encouraged him (Meacham) to go back there. Brian encouraged him to go back there. I think he had made up his mind for a variety of reasons."

- Calvin Brock's senior season was in doubt, as you can read here. Weber told me last summer he left it up to Brock whether he would return for a fifth season.

"I didn't know if he'd ever make it, to be honest. I didn't think he'd make it (to) the fifth year," Weber said Friday. "He's got one degree. I don't know if he can finish the second one, but he can get close (and) finish up maybe later on. ... He's accepted his role and comes to practice every day and gives it his all."

- C.J. Jackson spent the 2008 football season with the football Illini, and there was some doubt as to whether he would return to the basketball side. Jackson said yesterday he hopes to enter the business world in advertising or marketing, though Weber joked he should go into politics.

"C.J.'s kind of the bubbly teddy bear that everybody likes," Weber said. "I always tell him he should go back and be mayor of his community because he's always shaking hands and hugging people."

I asked C.J. which coach - Weber or Ron Zook - is more frightening when he gets mad.

"That's a tough one. Coach Zook, he's really animated. When you look at Coach Zook, he's built like an ox. He comes in and lifts weights with us every now and then," Jackson said. "He's a fun guy to be around. But when he gets mad...

"Coach Weber has his moments. He can get mad, too. If I had to choose one, as far as when he gets mad, I would go with Coach Zook. He's a man-child. He's an animal, a freak of nature. I'd go with him."

- TV legend Dick Enberg, a Central Michigan and Indiana alum, is here at Ubben, observing the Illini's practice and taking notes. He'll call the game tomorrow for CBS.

- We'll have more on the Illinois seniors - they wrote an open letter to the fans that will be published in The News-Gazette - coming tonight and tomorrow.

pklee@news-gazette.com