There’s not a lot of history in men’s basketball between IU and Illinois, not in comparison to, say, IU and Purdue or IU and Kentucky. Hoosier grandfathers don’t gather the kids around the peach basket to talk about epic IU-UI contests. In past decades, the Illini weren’t any more significant than any other Big Ten opponent. That was before the bad blood. That was before the recruitment of Eric Gordon.\nThe aftereffects of Gordon’s de-commitment from Bruce Weber’s program and alignment with the Hoosiers placed a thorn in the backsides of both fan bases last year that continues to irritate. Insults have been lobbed and counter-lobbed. Lines have been drawn. The primary reason for this: a mild-mannered, 19-year-old wunderkind.\nSunday, when Gordon faces a struggling Illini team, he’ll also be facing the coaches and teammates that were nearly his. Which begs the question: What if? What if Eric Gordon had ignored his heart and stuck with his original college choice? How would the story of these two teams – and the reactions of their fan bases – have been altered?\nWe travel to the IDS sports pages of an alternate universe to find out...\n(cue mysterious “Twilight Zone” music)
IU braces itself for \nGordon, Fighting Illini
The Indiana Hoosiers enter Sunday’s contest against No. 2 Illinois with a question the size of the Assembly Hall scoreboard: Who will stop freshman phenom Eric Gordon?\nThe reigning Indiana Mr. Basketball has carried the Illini on the offensive end all season, adding an accurate shooting touch to a squad that prides itself on team defense. The Illini currently sit at 2-0 in the conference and a perfect 14-0 record overall.\nIllinois coach Bruce Weber had nothing but praise for Gordon and his teammates after their 87-68 win against Penn State last Sunday.\n“We really Punk’d them today, and I can say that because I’m a huge Ashton Kutcher fan,” Weber said of the win. “And what more can I say about EJ? While the rest of the team is out drinking, driving under the influence and carrying on, he’s in the gym working on his jumper. That’s just the type of kid Eric is. He makes middling coaches like me look like John Wooden.”\nIU interim head coach Dan Dakich had no such words of endearment for his team after they squeaked by Michigan 49-47 last Tuesday.\nThe Hoosiers nearly squandered another monster effort by senior forward D.J. White, who recorded 34 points and a school-record 36 rebounds in 38 minutes of action. White has been one of the few constants for the 9-5 Hoosiers who dropped their first Big Ten game of the season to Iowa on a half-court buzzer beater by Justin Johnson.\n“Some guys are going to have to step up,” White said of his teammates. “We need to suck it up and get back to playing Indiana basketball.”\nSince the mysterious resignation of former IU coach Kelvin Sampson in October, two weeks after the announcement that Sampson’s staff had violated their NCAA probation, the Hoosiers have learned to expect the unexpected this season.\nLast November, fans booed Lance Stemler mercilessly after he knocked over a cheerleader while diving for a loose ball. A.J. Ratliff, who was academically ineligible during the fall semester, has decided to take a medical redshirt after rupturing his medulla oblongata while studying for a final exam.\n“We’ve had some bad breaks, but we’re not going to lay down and die,” Dakich said. “If the coach tells you you’re guarding Michael Jordan in the most critical game of the season, you’re not gonna mope around going ‘Woe is me,’ are you? No, you’re gonna shut him down and fight tooth-and-nail – even if you are wearing really short shorts.”\n(cue mysterious “Twilight Zone” music)\nCreepy, huh?
