S-S-S-Siiiigning Day!

Quite a day.

A few late additions - Darrius Caldwell from Atlanta and Jon Davis from Louisville - to an already strong nucleus of quality players, including the above-pictured Reilly O'Toole, give Ron Zook a promising 2011 recruiting class.

The consensus among the recruiting sites, mainstream media, and bloggers is that Zook's class, while not one of the top rated in the country, fills a lot of the Illini needs and adds depth at every position.

The Illini have a great opportunity to win in 2011 with 8 home games, including their first five games of the season. They no longer play Mizzou and could be 5-0 before their first real challenge. Hopefully some of these freshmen will contribute to the cause.

Everything's Coming Up Zooker!

Or at least I hope it is.

Tomorrow is signing day in the world of college football. Based on the list of players who have committed to play for the Illini, the Zooker's class ranks in the middle-to-lower half of the Big Ten. About 30th to 40th nationally depending on what recruiting site put together the rankings.

But why would anyone, let alone the Zooker, care about rankings? What's more important is getting coachable atheletes into the program that Petrino and Koenning and the boys can mold into stellar beasts.

A few recruits I'll be excited about when they send in their LOI's tomorrow include:

- Tony Durkin, a 6'3" 270 pound C from Tinley Park Andrew outside Chicago;

- Ralph Cooper, a mean-looking middle linebacker prospect from the great state of South Carolina;

- Reilly O'Toole, the QB who led Wheaton Warrenville South to two state championships; and

- Donovonn Young, an underrated running back prospect out of Katy, Texas.

I'm also real excited for Jordan Frysinger, an unheralded prospect out of Corning, New York who spent most of his high school career playing lacrosse and was not many (any?) recruiters' radar. I like him because I think Corning Incorporated, based in Corning, New York, is a solid company worth your investing dollars. But I also like him because you know who else was an unheralded prospect from upstate New York?

Jimmer Fredette.

I'm just saying.

Jorge Cantu Is Choice

Anytime you can bring in a guy who once hit 28 bombs when he was just 23 years old, you have to do it.

True story: before I gave up Fantasy Baseball because I was bad at it and didn't want to hand cash over to my friends anymore, one of my best moves ever was drafting Jorge Cantu before the 2005 season. As a 23-year old he hit 28 bombs and knocked in 117 ribeyes. Of course my stupid fantasy league also counted statistics such as "walks," "triples," and "errors," so Cantu's value was marginal. Still, 28 bombs for a guy eligible at second base. Not bad.

I'm not often one to make predictions, but my prediction this season is Cantu reverts to form and gets some big hits as a Drino.

I Temporarily Recant My Negative Words About The Illini

Heading into last night's game against Michigan St., I was very down on the Illini. They have talent but they are inconsistent in applying it. They seem to lack focus and effort at times. They drop their shoulders when faced with adversity, and can't close out when they have big leads.

Last night against Michigan St., particularly in performances by Brandon Paul and Jereme Richmond, the Illini set aside those issues and pulled out a clutch home win. They now sit in second place in the conference heading into Saturday afternoon's showdown with Ohio St.

True, had the Spartans shot better I might be in a very different mood this morning. But the Illini defense played at least a part in forcing the Spartans to settle for so many jump shots. And strong rebounding in the second half prevented at least a few Spartan put backs.

Bring on Sullinger, Lighty, Diebler and the rest.

Illinois Just Might Be Not Very Good

What is the deal with the Illini basketball program?

Here's a quick list of things that annoy me about the team:

- the three seniors - Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis, and Mike Tisdale - are inconsistent and don't appear to have a winner's mentality;

- Tisdale can't stay on the court because of foul trouble;

- Davis, despite having innate rebounding talent, manages to have games where he only gets 1 rebound;

- Tyler Griffey doesn't get much playing time and then whines about it;

- Meyers Leonard looks like a goofy doofus, is often out of position, and looks like he's focused on dunking every play rather than improving his post presence on the offensive and defensive ends;

- D.J. Richardson hasn't made a basket in two games;

- Brandon Paul always seems to be knicked up or fighting a cold and isn't all that good on defense;

- Bill Cole should play for a mid-major;

- Jereme Richmond mysteriously missed practice last week and was benched for the Wisconsin game;

- the team in general relies too much on the three-point shot; and

- Bruce Weber yells all the time, calls out his players all the time in the press, and generally seems like a guy the players don't have a ton of respect for.

I say Bruce has two months to get this together. If Illinois isn't in the Sweet Sixteen in March I say we hand the program over to Jerrance Howard or Wayne McClain and start anew.

Adios to Mr. Liuget

Corey Liuget is joining Martez Wilson and Mikel LeShoure and tossing his hat into the NFL Draft ring. It's a shame because the guy is a monster run-stuffer and dominant play-disrupter on the defensive line, but it is not a surprise. He looked like an NFL lineman in the Texas Bowl win over Baylor.

I've seen two early mock drafts that have him going in the first round (22nd to Indy or 25th to Seattle). Obviously that's very speculative - Seattle might not even pick in that spot - but Liuget likely will be a mid-to-late first rounder.

The Chargers draft in the middle of the first round. They need a defensive lineman with a mean streak.

Make it happen A.J.!

Martez and Mikel To The NFL

Today Martez Wilson declared for the NFL Draft. Tomorrow Mikel Leshoure will follow suit.

Martez is an athletic freak who could have used another year of seasoning. Mikel is a dominant back who could have a similar career to former Illini Rashard Mendenhall.

I'll miss them both very much. I'd throw them a going away party if I knew them.