Flames news: Player status updates, Illinois State preview, the AD speaks

WILLIAMS, McGEE COULD PLAY SATURDAY; STEFANOV STILL OUT

(12/11/03)

UIC coach Jimmy Collins (pictured) and other sources within the athletic department updated Whoosh! on the status of some of the Flames as they come off a 7-2 start and interesting four-game stretch in the next three weeks.

Sophomore forward Josh Williams took his last final examination on Wednesday, and if all goes well, he will be activated for Saturday’s game with Illinois State. Despite sitting out of game action due to academic ineligibilty, Williams has been practicing with the team.

“If Josh comes out and does the things we know he can do, we’ll certainly have plans for him,” Collins said.

Speaking of practice, one Flame who isn’t practicing currently is redshirt freshman swingman Jovan Stefanov. The 6-foot-9 Stefanov has been out of action for over a month with an illness that shed 20 pounds off him. He has been pronounced healthy and taking some time to regain strength before resuming practice. The team hopes to have him back playing in January.

Freshman guard Marcetteaus McGee missed both games at the Gazette Hawkeye Challenge last week with a shoulder injury. Sophomore Mike Smith, who is likely to redshirt, but is still working out with the team, fell on McGee in practice last Thursday, causing the injury.

McGee will be back in the rotation in time for Saturday’s game.

Junior forward Josip Petrusic also sat out both games at the Iowa tournament, because the coaches didn’t believe the matchups favored playing him. Collins has been high on the play of sophomore forward Justin Bowen and senior guard Rickey Dominguez as both have given the Flames some defensive presence off the bench.

“Rickey has done a really job showing us he wants to play,” Collins said. “He’s playing defense; he’s playing heady basketball. Those are the things we need to do. You’re not going to shoot your way into the line-up.”

“Justin has really emerged in my eyes and presents problems for the other teams, as he’s a 6-7 perimeter player who’s very good defensively.”

“Our rotation is really sound, but there’s always room for improvement.”

ILLINOIS STATE PREVIEW: UIC welcomes the Redbirds to the Pavilion Saturday for what will be just the second Flames home game in 10 outings this season.

Illinois State improved to 3-2 under new coach Porter Moser and is coming off an 80-69 victory over Eastern Michigan last Saturday and is led by Trey Guidry, a 6-2 junior guard that transferred from North Carolina State two years ago. Guidry leads the team in scoring at 18.4 points per game and had 27 against EMU. He is also shooting 58 percent from three-point range.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” Collins said. “Those guys are playing pretty good right now. We know that they won’t come out and bow down to us.”

Sophomore Marcus Arnold from Morgan Park High School, averages 17.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. The Redbirds also have Chicago products in forward Chris Burras from Leo and point guard Vince Greene from Brother Rice. Collins admitted that he was recruiting all three players to come to UIC.

“Those kids are warriors,” Collins said.

A wildcard in the game for the Redbirds could be 6-7 forward Najeeb Echols, who was a star at Young High School and played in parts of two seasons at Missouri. Echols could be eligible in time for Saturday’s game as he has sat out the one year due to NCAA transfer rules.

The Flames could win the game on the boards as they out-rebounded foes by an average of five rebounds per game, while Illinois State has been out-rebounded by almost two per contest.

UIC has won the last two meetings, including last year’s 78-65 victory at Redbird Arena in Normal. Martell Bailey led the way with 20 points and nine assists as the Flames played without leading scorer Cedrick Banks.

The Flames won the last meeting at the UIC Pavilion, 61-59, on Dec. 30, 1999 as Theandre Kimbrough nailed a three-pointer with 18 seconds left on an assist from Jon-Pierre Mitchom.

Saturday’s game will be televised on Fox Sports Net at 5 p.m. and the Flames’ radio broadcast will air live on ESPN Radio 1000.

SCHMIDT REAX: UIC athletic director Jim Schmidt scheduled aggressively when he got the Flames into two tournaments this season, and even though the team didn’t reach his desired goal of playing Iowa and Xavier, Schmidt was satisfied with the 7-2 start.

He also said that that the three senior stars Banks, Bailey and Armond Williams are slated to return next year: “Cedrick definitely will be back, and Martell and Armond are on track. That would be a huge boost for us. We’re not actively recruiting a lot of guys, because we’re expecting these guys back.”

Those veterans will not only help during this year’s toughest games, but also with at least five road non-conference games next year. Those games will include Northwestern, Illinois State, Bowling Green (a return game from the 2003 Bracket Buster), the return game for the 2004 Bracket Buster, and a likely road assignment in next year’s Bracket Buster, provided the event returns.

FLAMES AND ILLINI: In the coming days, Whoosh! hopes to post an expanded preview and information about the Dec. 30 clash between UIC and Illinois. Watch the web site for more details.