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Weekend Hangover, 5/12: Illini Go Draftless, A Tennis Comeback to Remember, and Basketball Recruiting Heats Up

Go moms! The NFL Draft was forgettable, men's tennis is pushed to the brink, and basketball recruiting receives some positive vibes

By Matt Zidow

Happy belated Mother's Day! This one goes out to all the moms:

If you made it through that ridiculous Beastie Boys meets Blink 182 but nowhere near that cool tribute to mothers, I salute you.

Let's take a look at the weekend happenings.

The NFL Draft was not kind to Illinois prospects this year. After a decent run of strong showings in recent drafts, no Illini players were drafted. All was not lost, though, as Jonathan Brown (Arizona), Ryan Lankford (Miami), and Evan Wilson (Dallas) will get their shots as signed, undrafted free agents. Our very own, Jack Cassidy, goes in depth with the Jonathan Brown signing.

The Illinois men's tennis team came back to win after being down 3-0 and facing match point. For those of you unfamiliar, that's like being down to your final strike with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. If you don't get that comparison, just know that the men's tennis season would have ended had they lost that point. This victory sends the Illini to the Round of 16 at the National Championships.

Illinois baseball won its seventh straight game after sweeping Iowa in Iowa City this weekend. I feel so bad for the Hawkeyes (NOT!), I'll link the recap from an Iowan's point of view. The Illini will head to Lincoln, NE to face the Cornhuskers in the regular season finale and a battle for the no. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

The season ended for the softball team as they fell to Michigan 8-2 in the Quarterfinals of the B1G Tournament. The Illini finished the season with a record of 24-26.

Basketball recruiting had some positive news this weekend. Groce and the Illini seem to be in very good position with  op 10 forward Carlton Bragg (2015) according to Marcus Jackson. Expect Illinois to be in it until the end with the five-star talent. Also, an Illinois crystal ball prediction was made by an Illini Insider for four-star PG Jawun Evans (2015) at 247Sports.

Deron's Nets climbed back into the series versus the Miami Heat with a 104-90 victory Saturday. Their plan to even the series and pull off the upset? Let Paul Pierce guard Lebron. Good luck with that, but I think Lebron remembers.

Loser-queen-lebron-james

The Blackhawks let the Minnesota Wild back into their playoff series with some uninspired hockey before taking game five and a 3-2 series lead late Sunday night. Second City Hockey is all over the game coverage. Home ice might end up being the deciding factor.

That's all she (well, he) wrote for today. Enjoy your Mondays! Friday happy hour is only 104 hours away!

G - O, ILLINI GO!

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