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FLAMES NOTEBOOK: Poole's career comes to grinding halt
(as published in Whoosh! magazine Jan. 16, 2006)
The 6-foot-7-inch, 255-pound forward, who sat out his freshman year due to NCAA Initial Eligibility Requirements, has exhausted all of his eligibility, ending his once-promising career at UIC.
“The university is not going to compromise academic integrity, and rightfully so,” Collins said.
Poole (pictured), who struggled much of the season with asthma, was averaging 7.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in 14 games with eight starts. He averaged 7.3 points and 4.9 rebounds for his career.
“Obviously when you lose any important part of your team, it’s going to take awhile to fill that void,” Collins said. “It hurts us, because we lose that muscle inside. It also will clear itself up as we play on. Guys are going to have to step up and believe in themselves.”
With Poole’s departure, Collins is looking for others to step up their games, including Jovan Stefanov and Danijel Zoric.
Stefanov, who has been rebounding well recently, is a prime candidate for extra minutes.
“I’ll definitely have to help,” Stefanov said. “Me, Justin [Bowen], Othyus [Jeffers], Danijel, we all have to pick up what [Poole] was doing. He was a very smart player on the court. Everybody thought he was just a big body, which he is, but he was tough. We’re going to miss that a lot.”
Zoric has taken some time to adjust to Division I play. Collins said that native of Serbia and Montenegro needs to keep his head up.
“Danijel needs to pull himself up by the bootstraps,” Collins said. “He’s harder on himself that the coaches are. When he makes a mistake, he needs to let it go and focus on the next play. He can’t be down about it and can’t be a player that is his worst enemy.”
Jeffers, who is one of the Flames’ best rebounders, will have to work just a little harder without Poole in the post with him.
“We’ll miss his presence defensively,” Jeffers said. “He was always a guy who worked hard to be a presence on the court, and it would open up things for everybody else.”
In his first season with the Flames, Poole made the game-winning layup in the 2004 Horizon League tournament title game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, leading UIC to 12 straight wins and a NCAA tournament berth.
Poole also had a game-winning shot this season, grabbing an offensive rebound and sticking it back into the basket in the final seconds of a 55-54 victory over Northern Illinois on Dec. 10.
His best season was the 2004-05 campaign where he averaged 9.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Poole said last fall that he was shooting to graduate by the end of the summer, so he could earn back a fourth year of eligibility like Cedrick Banks and Armond Williams before him, but now the man they called “Butch” won’t step on the UIC Pavilion court ever again.
Poole was first-team Tribune All-State selection at Farragut in 2002, leading the Admirals at 24 points and 14 rebounds per game as a high school senior. He had elite company on the team: Julian’s Sean Dockery (Duke), Springfield Lanphier’s Richard McBride (Illinois) and Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers), and Proviso East’s Dee Brown (Illinois).
With senior Rocky Collum suffering from various ailments, including a knee injury, and junior D.J. Smedley still adjusting to the Division I level, Mayo has been the starter at the point for most of the season.
Collins believes Mayo (pictured) has handled the pressure well.
“Josh is definitely coming along,” Collins said. “He’s been thrust into a position that’s very difficult for a young player – the most difficult position on the team, point guard. He’s smart kid and he’s focused all the time.”
Collins also noted that Mayo is a quick study in the classroom as well, earning himself a spot on the honor roll during the fall semester.
Mayo had a career-high of seven assists against Youngstown State on Dec. 31. He also had six assists without a turnover against Northern Illinois.
“Sometimes when a freshman has all the weight is on his shoulders, they don’t respond well. Josh is doing the exact opposite.”
Collins would like Mayo to be more of a shooting guard in the future once Collum gets healthy and Smedley improves. Mayo is regarded as the best shooter on the team, although his numbers from the field aren’t impressive. He has shown more confidence in his shot as the season moves on.
Mayo hit the game-tying and go-ahead three-pointers in the Flames’ 87-75 overtime victory over Mississippi on Dec. 10. He also had a breakout game at Georgia Tech – a 73-51 Flames’ victory on Nov. 25 – with 21 points on 5-of-12 shooting and 9-of-10 on free throws.
“Coach [Collins] has been telling all year to be ready to shoot anytime,” Mayo said. “Early on, I had to calm down and head fake a couple of times and not rush my shot.”
Collins envisions Mayo becoming a Jonathan Schneiderman-type shooter in the years to come.
He is also the Horizon League’s top free throw shooter at 88 percent (45-for-51 through Jan. 14).
“We’ve talked about his shooting,” Collins said. “I told him if he didn’t start shooting that I would call his father. … His ball-faking is better. He’s still adjusting to this level of basketball.”
FURY-OUS: Former Flames’ cross-country stalwart and sports information assistant Shawn Sullivan returned to UIC to help the Fury – the student booster group of UIC Flames athletics. Sullivan has also worked in the offices of the Chicago Rush arena football team.
Sullivan announced some perks for Fury members for this Thursday’s game (Jan. 19) against Cleveland State at the Pavilion. The first 200 students get vouchers for free food at Union Park. As usual, students will get free postgame pizza.
Students will also have the opportunity to win a $500 gift certificate to the UIC Bookstore. Members must sit in Section 111 near the Flames’ bench and wear their red Fury T-shirts.
For more information and to join the Fury, contact Sullivan at (312) 355-1330 or e-mail him at ssulli3@uic.edu.
LAYUPS: UIC has been involved in four games decided by one point this season. The Flames are 2-2 in those games with wins over Northern Illinois and Youngstown State and losses to St. Xavier and Chicago State. They also lost by a point to St. Joseph’s (Ind.) in the exhibition season. The four one-point decisions are the most for the Flames since the 1989-90 season when they also had four – tying for the most in a Division I season. …
The Flames have played four overtime games this season, beating Mississippi and Youngstown State and losing to Denver and Wisconsin-Green Bay. UIC played just three overtime games in previous four seasons, including the 76-75 win over Loyola in the 2002 Horizon League championship game.
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UIC coach Jimmy Collins announced on Jan. 6 that senior Elliott Poole had been declared ineligible for the remainder of the season.
MAYO RISING: By being the predominant point guard on the floor, freshman guard Josh Mayo has surpassed some of the expectations that the coaching staff had for him at the beginning of the season.