Bailey’s helping hand drives the Flames

(as published in Whoosh! magazine Nov. 4, 2003)

Usually leading the nation in assists as a junior leads to many accolades on a national level.

However, for UIC’s Martell Bailey (pictured), who doled out 8.1 assists per contest, every preseason basketball magazine on the market neglected to put him in the top 20 point guards in America.

“It doesn’t bother him,” UIC coach Jimmy Collins said. “The national media is too busy looking at the Dukes and the North Carolinas. Leading the nation is no joke. He is a vanishing breed—someone who will bring to table the unselfish nature he possesses. He gets such a big thrill out of getting an assist.”

Bailey’s teammates speak highly of him and his willingness to pass them the ball.

“I think he should get more attention,” said Flames center Joe Scott, who is often a recipient of Bailey’s feeds into the post. “To lead the country in assists is a huge accomplishment.”

Locally, Bailey has earned the respect of the Horizon League and most importantly of his teammates. He was named Second-Team All-Horizon last season and to the Preseason First-Team All-Horizon.

The 5-foot-10-inch Bailey is a rugged, fearless player that truly makes his teammates around him better. He helped guide UIC to a 21-9 record and an NIT berth last season.

While wanting the Flames to improve as a team, Bailey has only one personal goal in his college career: to become UIC’s all-time career assists leader.

“I’ve got two more years,” Bailey said last spring in a television interview. “By the time I leave here, I’ll be No. 1.”

He is on track to graduate in four years and is looking to earn a fourth season of eligibility by going to graduate school.

Bailey’s running mate for six seasons of organized basketball, senior guard Cedrick Banks has seen marked improvement in his outside jump shot, partially due to Bailey’s ability to find him with a pass.

“He knows how to get you the ball and when to get it to you,” Banks said. “He beat out a lot of a big-name point guards for that assists title.” Senior forward Armond Williams shot nearly 64 percent from the field and became a force in the Horizon League. Bailey’s adept passing into the post, whether it was bounce passes or lobs over defenders, often led Williams to close-in scoring opportunities.

“Martell has a lot to do with my success,” Williams said. “Sometimes I think he won’t find me, but he always seems to find me. You have to keep an eye on him, because he’s so quick.”

And, when his teammates aren’t open, Bailey isn’t afraid to take a big shot at the end of a close game. He has hit two game-winners in his college career – a running 30-foot three-pointer as a sophomore against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a short lean-in jumper as a junior to beat Southern Illinois. At Westinghouse High School, he nailed a winning basket against national prep powerhouse Oak Hill Academy of Mouth of Wilson (Va.). Bailey averaged 10.0 points per game last season.

“People will be surprised at this, but Martell’s really improved his three-point shot,” Collins said.

Bailey’s wizardry is one of the main reasons that a big target now rests on the heads of each and every UIC basketball player.

This is the season that Collins has been waiting for. A couple of solid recruiting classes are now in place and the team is being hyped to the moon. Many experts have touted UIC as the team to beat in the Horizon League.

After two years of being the hunters, battling Butler, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Detroit for conference supremacy, they are now the hunted.

A big reason for that is the play of Banks. A two-time Horizon League honor winner, Banks averaged 19.0 points per game and expanded his shooting range, hitting 38 percent of his three-pointers. The former Westinghouse All-State player began to garner significant attention during last season. He became a marked man after pouring in 31 points in a Flames’ blowout victory at Northwestern.

He appeared in front-page sports feature in the Chicago Tribune. He received First-Team All-Horizon League honors at the end of the season and was a strong candidate for the conference Player of the Year before Detroit’s Willie Green went on a hot streak to take that honor.

Banks worked even harder over the summer to improve his overall game.

“I worked on everything,” Banks said. “Shooting, lifting, ball-handling drills. Yeah, and free throws, too—can’t leave that out. I shot like 500 free throws per day.”

For the Flames’ sake, they’d better be more accurate than their dismal 59 percent of last season.

Senior swingman Aaron Carr, another one of the great recruits from Collins’ superstar class of 2000, came into his own in his junior season. After getting caught in the numbers’ game as a sophomore, Carr emerged early last season. Carr filled in admirably for Banks, when the Flames’ star missed four games to focus on his academics. Even after Banks returned, Carr (11.3 points per game last year) retained his confidence and shooting touch. His three-pointer at the buzzer of UIC’s 66-65 road victory at Loyola cemented him as a clutch player. Collins will rely heavily on Carr to make up the loss of Jonathan’s Schneiderman’s three-point shooting.

Williams is far from the Flames’ biggest post player, but is the toughest. With a chiseled 6-foot-4, 210-pound frame, Williams is not afraid to battle players several inches taller for rebounds and often out-positions them for close-in baskets. Williams averaged 13.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game last year. His field-goal shooting percentage last season was good for enough for fourth in the nation.

“He’s a hard-worker,” Collins said. “He wants to be good and goes out there works towards his goals.”

Scott returns for a fifth year after missing the 2001-02 season with a torn ACL. He returned last year as a junior and struggled to find consistency in his offensive game (4.8 points per game), even though he showed flashes of brilliance on the defensive end. Scott could be a key for the Flames having a magical season.

If Scott can’t find his offensive game, there are plenty of others waiting to assume that role, including Elliott Poole, an All-State performer at Farragut High School two years ago. Poole was a dominant force with the Admirals and had Connecticut hot on his tail during his recruitment before choosing UIC in the spring of 2002.

Poole filled out his 6-foot-7 frame during his Prop. 48 year and is now a 255-pound machine, and a likely candidate for Horizon League Newcomer of the Year.

Also fighting for playing time in the post is junior Josip Petrusic, who Collins hopes brings toughness to the center position that has been lacking in recent years. A native of Croatia, Petrusic played two years at Treasure Valley Community College in Oregon before sitting out last season as a redshirt.

Veterans will be competing for minutes in the frontcourt, including seniors Jabari Harris and Richard Lesko, and sophomore Josh Williams.

Harris, in his fifth season at UIC, has shown flashes of brilliance, primarily in a reserve role. His offensive game is not too diverse with the exception of a 10-to-12-foot jumper, but his defense and rebounding abilities are solid. At 6-foot-9, Harris can intimidate a shooter just with his size.

Lesko saw limited action as a junior – his first as a Flame after coming from Danville Community College. The 6-foot-8 Lesko is an offensive option around the basket, but also has the ability to stretch defenses with a perimeter jump shot.

Josh Williams is still trying to round into form offensively. He’s still young, so he has time to develop. He scored 10 points in an early-season outing against Indiana last year. His strengths are defense and rebounding.

Transfer Brandon Allen and senior walk-on Kevin Mitchem will be reserve options in the frontcourt. Allen transferred from Maryland-Eastern Shore, where he played as a freshman two years ago, and Mitchem, nephew of assistant coach Lynn Mitchem, usually plays in blowouts.

On the wing, the Flames are a threat with Carr and newcomer Justin Bowen. Bowen, who also transferred from Maryland-Eastern Shore, is one of Collins’ most important newcomers. The 6-foot-6 Marshall High School graduate can score from just about anywhere and adds an athletic element rarely seen at UIC for a player of his size.

Redshirt freshman Jovan Stefanov could get some playing time on the wing. His 6-foot-9 frame gives the Flames some versatility on the floor. The former Florida High School All-State player can post-up smaller defenders or step up and take an intermediate or perimeter shot.

Also, freshman Kevin Bond from Morgan Park, will vie for playing in his first collegiate season.

After Banks and Bailey in the backcourt, the Flames don’t have too much playing time for reserves, so the competition for back-up minutes will be fierce. A top candidate to get many of the minutes is former Farragut star Marcetteaus McGee, who originally signed at Wisconsin.

McGee left Wisconsin after a brush with the law and is now attempting to start anew back in his hometown. The flashy 6-foot-1 guard can play both backcourt positions. His quickness and his leaping ability will likely draw some comparisons with former UIC superstar Mark Miller.

“Marcetteaus is a tremendous talent,” Collins said. “He is a point guard who can give you 20 points a night. He’s very athletic. He goes up for an alley-oop and you’d think it’s Joe Scott.”

Sophomore Mike Smith, from Shepard High School, is a solid player, who also can play a little of both guard spots. If Smith proves he can hit three-pointers on a consistent basis like he did in high school, then he will be an early option off the bench.

Senior Rickey Dominguez, who starred in UIC’s two exhibition games last year, did not see much action in regular season once Collins found his rotation. When Dominguez is on top of his game, he can be a scoring machine from the outside and with intermediate shots.

Sophomore Mike Britton, from Rockford Boylan, sat out last season after transferring from Georgia where played in four games as a walk-on in 2001-02.

The team’s last newcomer is junior Rocky Collum from Kankakee Community College, whose brothers also played two years of Division I ball (Ricky at Southern Illinois and Robby at Western Michigan). Collum will back up at the point.

With all the talent recruited by Collins in recent years, it might all add up to a special season.

“We understand each other’s roles,” Armond Williams said. “I think we can go pretty far. Some magazine said that we’re going to the NCAA for two games and out. I think we can go farther that—to the Sweet 16 or even farther than that, if we put our minds to it and just play together.”