Illinois basketball has been an injury magnet for the past two years, but some welcome news broke for a change on Sunday morning. John Groce recently informed CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein that freshman point guard Te’Jon Lucas (foot) is expected to be fully cleared for the start of practice on October 3.
Illinois freshman PG Te'Jon Lucas (foot) will be fully cleared for the start of practice on October 3rd, John Groce told @CBSSports.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 25, 2016
The 6-foot-1 Milwaukee native has been slowly recovering from a fractured right foot since early February. Lucas will likely be Tracy Abrams’ backup this Winter, so it’s great that he’ll have an entire training camp under his belt prior to the first game.
Illinois Fighting Illini Links
- Illinois’ roster is actually pretty good on paper (Illini Board)
It’s fully understandable to see Illinois listed as finishing somewhere between 9th and 12th in the Big Ten. After consistent finishes down at the bottom and a recruiting class of one single player (ranked #141) coming in this fall, why would anyone expect improvement? Well, this list is why.
- Illinois commit Javon Pickett shows promise (The News-Gazette)
"I’ll be honest, he scores in a lot of different ways," Muniz said. "He’s really good in transition. He gets to the basket really well. The other thing about him is, and I know for us the No. 1 thing we don’t want to do with him is foul because he’s about an 85 to 90 percent free throw shooter. He’s a pure scorer."
- Illinois Football practice gets real during BYE week (Herald & Review)
The sweat was dripping in a steady stream off the bearded face of Joe Spencer this week. Even though practice had ended, he was still breathing heavily. Not a dry patch on his uniform.