Peoria Swagger

Paul Klee, the Illini basketball beat writer for the Champaign News-Gazette, wrote an article today discussing the competitiveness of recent pickup games on the Illini campus since the arrival of the freshman class, a class that includes Peorian D.J. Richardson.

Klee's article included this revealing line:

"Still, you can tell a player from a pretender, and freshman D.J. Richardson is a player. I'm still thinking he could compete at any program in the country. He's noticeably bigger and plays with a Peoria swagger, but it's the way he values defense that sets him apart."

Peoria swagger.

That shit's real. I can't tell you how many times as I go about my day-to-day business that I overhear people say, "There goes Bevormo, him and his Peoria swagger."

Yep. It happens.

You know, the last time the Illini had some "Peoria swagger" it was brought by the likes of Frank Williams, Marcus Griffin and Sergio McClain.

Those guys comported themselves quite well as Illini.

I'm sure D.J. will do the same.