Illinois-ChicagoUpdated: October 17, 2007
COACH AND PROGRAM
There may never again be a basketball coach and a program who have to endure a season like Jimmie Collins and Illinois-Chicago did last winter.
The good news is that Collins and the Flames are both back. Collins, 59, decided not to walk away from coaching after a horrible ordeal that forced him to take a medical leave of absence and do some serious soul-searching. And the Flames just might be pretty good despite the defection of two of their best returning players, including All-Horizon League forward Othyus Jeffers.
If William Shakespeare had ever penned a play about a basketball season, he couldn't top the 2006-07 season at UIC -- and we're talking about a tragedy, not a comedy.
''It was a perfect storm of negativity,'' Collins said.
Here's a wrap-up:
Early in the season Collins noticed he was losing weight and not feeling so hot. Then the bottom fell out on a road trip in December. The Flames visited Ole Miss on Dec. 19 and Collins was feeling poorly by tip-off. He blacked out briefly on the bench during a 77-64 loss, but that was only the beginning.
The team continued on to Penn to play two days later. Again Collins had a blackout on the bench during a 90-78 setback and wondered what the heck was going on. Worse, after the game he got into a heated argument with several players in the locker room. A few of the Flames had missed curfew the night before.
That bad scene would be the last contact Collins had with his team for the season. A physical exam revealed Collins had developed an aortic aneurysm in his abdomen. He underwent a repair procedure in early January but was not physically or emotionally ready to return to his strife-torn team. Three players quit, one after accusing assistant coach Lynn Mitchem of inappropriate touching and sexual overtures. Mitchem remains on administrative leave pending litigation.
Associate head coach Mark Coomes took over the team. Collins released a statement on Feb. 13 that he would take a leave of absence the rest of the year. He spent those three months basi-cally homebound, physically weak and battling depression. Just as he was feeling some better, his younger brother, Maurice, died of a heart attack in St. Louis.
The depleted Flames, who had played one game with only five scholarship players and two walk-ons in uniform, finished up the season, closing with a rally to win five of their final seven games.
''I can't applaud coach Coomes' efforts enough,'' Collins said.
But Collins wasn't sure he would return to the bench, despite a steady stream of encouragement from former players at UIC and Illinois and the ''150 percent" support of UIC athletic director James Schmidt.
In April, Collins decided to come back.
''I thought about not coming back,'' he said, ''but 14-17, I just couldn't see dropping the ball with those numbers. And I really feel good about these kids.''
But there was more turmoil over the summer. Jeffers, his star player, was shot while defending his family during a domestic incident. By mid-summer it was apparent Jeffers (15.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg) wasn't coming back to the team and has reportedly transferred to Robert Morris, a Chicago-area NAIA school.
''A relationship between a coach and player can sometimes be strained,'' Collins said. ''Him leaving was the best thing for both of us, regardless of what kind of year he has at Robert Morris and of how our team fares.''
Also, starting guard T.J. Gray (11.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg) decided to pass up his final season of eligibility.
PLAYERS
So who is back?
Two starters, two other part-time starters, a senior who has regained his eligibility and a couple of possible impact transfers.
Josh Mayo (12.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg) is the leading returning scorer. The 5-10 junior guard will carry a heavy load on a small set of shoulders. Mayo shoots it well, hitting 41.2 percent from three-point range, and has a good handle. He had 86 assists last winter, nearly double his 47 turnovers. Don't foul him -- Mayo hit 88.6 percent at the free throw line last season.
Mayo can play the point, obviously, but is more effective popping off screens to launch his shots.
''He's been a leader by example so far,'' Collins said. ''We need him to be more vocal now.''
The other returning starter is at the other end of the physical spectrum from Mayo. Scott VanderMeer (5.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg), a 6-11, 250-pound junior, brought an immediate impact on the defen-sive end when he became eligible last year after transferring from Bowling Green.
VanderMeer blocked 111 shots, a school and league single-season record. That total ranked fourth nationally.
VanderMeer isn't a polished offensive player, but he showed up well in some big games -- a double/double against Butler and 14 boards, nine points against Wright State. While it's hard to improve on VanderMeer's shot block totals, his scoring and rebounding numbers should rise. He played on a bad ankle much of last year and was at times forced by a lack of depth to play extensive minutes.
A third starter figures to be Robert Bush (6.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg), a 6-4 senior guard who started the final nine games of the year. During that stretch he boosted his scoring to 9.8 points per game, an encouraging omen for this season. Bush has been somewhat under the radar, but this should be his breakout season. He shoots it well enough (39.8 percent) from three-point range.
''By all accounts, he should be the best player on the team,'' Collins said. ''He can do everything. The problem we've had in the past is getting him to do everything on the same night. But he can be the man.''
With Jeffers to beef up the frontcourt, the Flames would be more difficult to defend. Without him, questions remain about who can score inside. The hope is that Jeremy Buttell, a 6-7 sopho-more transfer, will provide some punch. He played as a freshman at Texas Tech, averaging a modest 1.3 points per game, but the Flames don't think that's indicative of the kind of offense he can bring to the lineup this year. He has improved his mid-range jumper and can also play with his back to the basket.
''He's my tall Texan,'' Collins said. ''He's very mature and very focused on what it means to be part of a team. He's an A and B student and he works his tail off. He's either in the gym or the weight room. He's not an overwhelming athlete, but he's smart enough to know position.''
The fifth starter's spot depends on how the Flames want to play. They could go with another guard, like Spencer Stewart (4.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg). Stewart is a 6-4 sophomore who started 12 games, and that total might have been higher had he not missed a couple of weeks in February with leg and ankle injuries. The interesting stat on Stewart is that he shoots better from three-range (35.5 percent) than from inside the arc (28.1 percent). He's almost a lock at the free throw line, hitting 94.1 percent.
Or, UIC could go for more muscle with junior-college transfer Billy Baptist, a 6-5 wing from Kankakee who distinguished himself at Illinois Central Community College. Baptist averaged 12.0 points and 7.3 boards last year, both stats the Flames could use in the frontcourt.
''Billy is an athlete whose play reminds me of [former UIC star] Armand Williams,'' Collins said. ''He can play the two-, three- or four-spot for us.''
And, he can shoot a little better than Williams.
Providing depth in the backcourt is 6-2 senior Karl White (4.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg), who has regained his academic eligibility after being banished the second half of the season. White has never quite fulfilled the promise he arrived on campus with but still could earn some minutes by playing hard-nosed defense.
The Flames are excited about Robert Kreps, a 6-0 freshman from Maroa-Forsyth High School who was runner-up for Mr. Basketball honors in Illinois.
''A super athlete,'' said Collins, ''who understands two positions, is an aggressive scorer and an aggressive team player.''
In the frontcourt, Jermaine Dailey (1.8 ppg, 1.9 rpg) is a 6-7 senior who averaged 11 minutes a game last year but hasn't shown much in the way of stats to this point. As a JUCO transfer he took a while to get comfortable and should be more productive as a senior.
Jovan Ignjatovic (1.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg) is a 6-9 sophomore who keeps UIC's Serbian connection alive, but it remains to be seen if he can ever be as productive as departed countrymen Jovan Ste-fanov (9.9 ppg) or Daniel Zoric (4.3 ppg). Ignjatovic was and still is a project, but he should provide some relief in the post for VanderMeer.
Tori Boyd is a 6-5 freshman wing from Rockford Boylan Catholic.
''He flat-out shoots the basketball,'' Collins said, ''and he will bring tremendous smarts to our ball club. He's reminiscent of [past UIC star] Cedrick Banks, but 6-5.''
At any rate, Collins begins a new season with a clean bill of health -- for himself and his team.
''As we speak,'' he said, ''our chemistry has been great. They've responded great, in spite of the adversity. We're probably closer, top to bottom, than any team I've ever had.''
BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
BACKCOURT: B
BENCH/DEPTH: B
FRONTCOURT: B-
INTANGIBLES: C
This program has some healing to do after a tormented 2006-07 season.
The defection of Jeffers, a prospective Horizon League MVP candidate, is an ominous start to the process.
Collins is back in the saddle, renewed after a brutal winter and ready to tackle the task of getting the Flames back in championship contention. In guard Mayo and shot-blocking post Vander-Meer, UIC has a couple of pieces of the puzzle solved. The perimeter rotation should be solid, leaving the question of who can score around the basket.
If newcomers Buttell and Baptist can answer that question, the Flames might be more competitive than people think.
If not, the offense will be too dependent on the perimeter game.
Bush is due a breakout year.
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