College Hoops Countdown, Part Deux

Greetings from Champaign, where Illinois held its media day 72 hours in advance of its first official practice.

Of course, it's a misnomer to say Friday will be the Illini's first practice. They've been able to work two hours per week as a team since Sept. 25...and they were allowed to work four at a time for two hours per week since school began...and they took it upon themselves to have a much more structured summer plan than in years past.

Instead of just showing up at the Ubben Basketball Complex and having an "And-1" run, as soph PG Demetri McCamey described it, the Illini actually broke down into position groups and did some fundamental work before scrimmaging.

And who led these workouts, seeing as how coaches can't be a part of things this summer? That leads us to Illini Surprise No. 1..."Coach Frazier."

Senior guard Chester Frazier stayed in Champaign all summer to lead the team. But when he had a week off before school began in August, he went home to Maryland and had his trademark braids shorn off.

"We didn't even know who he was when he walked into the locker room," McCamey said. "Instead of a grumpy old man, he looks like a little kid. He definitely stepped up and took the role of being the biggest leader...He's the "Young Coach Weber." That's what I called him this summer."

Another surprise? Redshirt sophomore forward/center Richard Semrau. After playing just 19 minutes all of last season, Semrau rededicated himself and looks ready to be a real contributor. The 6-foot-10 Ohio product is 242 solid pounds and also turned himself into an athlete on the level of James Augustine. No, really.

When Semrau ran the lane agility drill this summer, he finished one-200th of a second behind Augustine's times when he was with the Illini. Of course, everyone knows Augustine became the only 1,000-rebound player in Illini history, was a second-round NBA pick and spent two years with the Orlando Magic.

Now, nobody's expecting Semrau to BE James Augustine, but he can help to fill a huge hole in the frontcourt, where somebody has to be the "4" man and somebody needs to play the 15-20 minutes at center that Mike Tisdale doesn't play.

"I want to be the best rebounder on the team," Semrau said. "With gaining more strength and gaining more explosiveness over the summer, I think my rebounding talent has gotten better. I want to be the enforcer, I want to be the stopper, on defense."

Sophomore shooting guard Alex Legion, meanwhile, looks like he can make his debut on Dec. 20 against Detroit as long as he gets all of his first-semester coursework done in a timely manner. That would give Legion, who's sitting out two semesters since transferring from Kentucky last winter, three games before Illinois plays the Big Ten opener on Dec. 30 at Purdue.

You want more Illini stuff? Throw a comment on the bottom of this dealie.

Next up? Some time with DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright...

LW