Good Early Morning, Illini Country: What I read this week
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Invite to “Good Early Morning, Illini Country,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 citizen Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at big:
Illinois basketball might be my main focus, but I’ve always kept a well-read, educated writer is the best author. So I read– a lot. In some cases for satisfaction (with what I think is a remarkable home library full of offerings from my favorite authors) and typically just to keep up on all things college basketball.So here’s a sampling of what I read this week … As college basketball enters its most uncertain age yet, couple of think the new guidelines will stop the circulation of money (Matt Norlander, CBS Sports) I check out basically whatever Norlander writes on college basketball. This one was intriguing provided the sentiment shared, anonymously, by college coaches that even with brand-new rules for NIL via your home settlement that nothing was going to alter. Turns out they’re probably right. This story released before the College Sports Commission accepted let up on collectives. Dubious NIL deals will relatively still be a thing.2025 NBA draft: Execs argument Rookie of the Year, who to watch(Jeremy Woo, ESPN )While I follow the draft every year, this one was notable provided two now previous Illinois guards wound up as first-round choices. There was just a
quick mention of Kasparas Jakucionis in this piece as the third-most likely rookie that might be the 2025 draft’s biggest steal.Why Sammy Jackson, a top-70 hire, refused offers from every power conference to devote to VCU(Gary Parrish, CBS Sports) Parrish is most likely known more now for podcasting
and his radio program, however he’s always worth a read when he harkens back to his days primarily as a college basketball author. High school recruiting has
changed, and this story helps paint a picture regarding why.A basketball murder, surprise parole, and a whistleblower’s life upended (Dan Wetzel, ESPN)Another offering from CBS Sports (on the leading 25 stories of the last 25 years )led me to Wetzel’s piece from June I hadn’t read
, which originated from the premise that so few individuals understood former Baylor guard Carlton Dotson had been paroled after
serving simply over half of his 35-year sentence for killing his colleague Patrick Dennehy in 2003. An interesting read.