Verdell Jones sat in the stands last January as Eric Gordon and the Hoosiers were relentlessly booed and heckled during their infamous trip to Champaign.
People around town had been talking about the rivalry game all week, but Jones said he went to the game without a rooting interest. Despite growing up in the hometown of the University of Illinois, Jones said he didn't feel any loyalty to the home team. He was being recruited by Indiana and knew there was a chance he might be playing basketball in Bloomington next fall.
But did he wear red to the game?
"No, they woulda killed me," Jones said, half-joking half-serious.
With his dad being a well-connected AAU coach, Jones got to know a few Fighting Illini players growing up, including former Illinois and NBA guard Frank Williams. Jones said he grew up aware of the fact that Indiana-Illinois was a big rivalry, but acknowledged that when Eric Gordon came to Champaign last season it "spiced (the rivalry) up a little bit."
"I've come to see that Indiana fans really don't like Illinois fans," Jones said Friday after practice. "And I know for sure Illinois fans hate Indiana fans."
As he sat and watched the Hoosiers eventually beat the Illini, 62-58, last January, Jones said he felt his allegiance shift a bit during the game.
"After awhile, I sort of wanted to see Indiana because of all the crap that Eric Gordon was getting," he said.
On Saturday, with Gordon now playing in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers, Jones will be the IU guard with the giant crimson target on his back.
The point guard said he has a plethora of family and friends who will be in attendance for the game. He said he's receiving text messages and calls every 20 minutes from people asking him for extra tickets who want to be in attendance.
"A lot of my family are Illinois fans," Jones explained. "But most importantly, they are Verdell Jones fans."
Jones said Illinois briefly recruited him during high school, but the Champaign native ultimately decided he wanted to go to school outside of his hometown.
IU coach Tom Crean called Jones a "young man that is a true Champaign resident" and said he hopes the hometown fans show him respect.
"He's going to want to do well, but at the same time, we can't get out of character," Crean said.
More importantly, Crean said that the game isn't about VJ3 vs. Illinois.
"We're not going to any of his favorite restaurants or holding open practices," Crean said. "To my knowledge, (Saturday) is not Verdell Jones III Day."
For the record... Both Crean and Jones said they heard Illinois coach Bruce Weber's comments last year where the coach told a group of Illinois fans that, "I do know one thing though, Indiana will suck"
