Hi guys, I just wanted to formally say hello and briefly introduce myself for those who don't know me. I am extremely excited to take over as your Illini hoops recruiting guru and plan to hit the ground running as we get into AAU season and college basketball free agency. Long before I became a freelancer on this site 4.5 years ago, I was a subscriber just like you so I'm intimately familiar with the passion of Illini basketball fans.
As a kid growing up in Chicagoland, I remember being excited for the recruiting coverage of Taylor Bell (Chicago Sun-Times) and Bob Sakamoto (Chicago Tribune) long before the advent of the Internet, let along recruiting websites. One day in middle school (I think), I forgot my lunch bag at home and asked the office to call my parents to see if one of them could bring my lunch to school. When I picked it up later that morning in the school office, my dad had written on the outside of the paper bag, "Jerry Gee to Illinois." I'm sure a fist pump happened, knowing we landed a big fish over Duke. So, yes, I'm one of you.
I've covered basketball recruiting in one fashion or another for 20-ish years now, dating back to long ago Nike Camps featuring Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudemire, Dajuan Wagner, etc. Brad Sturdy leaves some mighty big shoes to fill and he did a great job for a long time. I plan to continue the tradition of stellar recruiting coverage here, and look forward to interacting with you all. Let's have some fun, hopefully enjoy some recruiting wins and see the Illini continue trending upward on the court.
As Doug mentioned yesterday, we'll do a mailbag soon and I'll also have more stories this week from the Swish 'n Dish event from last weekend. I'll be attending more AAU events this spring and summer to try and give you guys the awesome coverage you are accustomed to!
As a kid growing up in Chicagoland, I remember being excited for the recruiting coverage of Taylor Bell (Chicago Sun-Times) and Bob Sakamoto (Chicago Tribune) long before the advent of the Internet, let along recruiting websites. One day in middle school (I think), I forgot my lunch bag at home and asked the office to call my parents to see if one of them could bring my lunch to school. When I picked it up later that morning in the school office, my dad had written on the outside of the paper bag, "Jerry Gee to Illinois." I'm sure a fist pump happened, knowing we landed a big fish over Duke. So, yes, I'm one of you.
I've covered basketball recruiting in one fashion or another for 20-ish years now, dating back to long ago Nike Camps featuring Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudemire, Dajuan Wagner, etc. Brad Sturdy leaves some mighty big shoes to fill and he did a great job for a long time. I plan to continue the tradition of stellar recruiting coverage here, and look forward to interacting with you all. Let's have some fun, hopefully enjoy some recruiting wins and see the Illini continue trending upward on the court.
As Doug mentioned yesterday, we'll do a mailbag soon and I'll also have more stories this week from the Swish 'n Dish event from last weekend. I'll be attending more AAU events this spring and summer to try and give you guys the awesome coverage you are accustomed to!
