Tales from the Dark Side

Wild, wacky world of recruiting

*Some Illini recruiting losses that I can recall….and likely still ‘sting’ many in the fanbase below ‘Tales from the Dark Side’

*Illinois basketball recruiting class of 2007....Robbie Hummel wing Valparaiso (Ind.) High School- Hummel's grandfather had been a letterman in tennis at Illinois...young man and family very excited when they visited Illini campus junior year of high school but.....Illinois slow played Hummel at the time cause they told him, 'well we have Billy Cole already committed and we think you both play the same position'.....which may have been true except....Illinois had a commitment from five star Indianapolis North Central High School guard Eric Gordon at the time....Gordon 'entourage' didn't like Hummel from their days playing AAU/high school hoops in Indiana....Gordon's crew thought Hummel nothing but a ‘hustling hacker’ and didn't think he fit with Gordon's talent.....Hummel ended up at Purdue while Gordon stiffed Illinois, signing instead with Kelvin Sampson's Indiana program class of 2007.

Recruiting all about sales, instincts and information...instinct to know who you can get/having solid information from those involved with the recruit you are after and knowing when you are being told the truth or lied to....in the Gordon recruitment Illinois/Weber's staff failed miserably at instincts/information.....remember someone who covered Purdue hoops had a good relationship at the time Weber/his staff knew them from their days at Purdue....this person told Weber/staff members summer of 2006 that they were 'getting ‘bullshitted' by the Gordon's (who were telling Illinois Gordon still committed to the Illini)...just hired Sampson had 'already made a deal' to get Gordon....leading to one of the Illini coaches to tell this person, 'that's fuckin' wrong, we are not only getting Gordon, we are getting Evan Turner too'.....Turner the 2007 four star wing out of Westchester (Ill.) St. Joe's who a few days later picked Ohio State over Wisconsin...course we know Gordon's story.....2007 Illini basketball recruiting class was forward Mike Davis, junior college wing Rodney Alexander, guard Demetri McCamey, post Mike Tisdale and Cole....Hummel four-year starter, three time All-Big Ten pick, 2nd team All-American at Purdue....Gordon stayed one year at Indiana....Sampson let go midway thru Gordon's freshman year in Bloomington.

*Illinois football recruiting class of 1983....Alvin Miller tight end Kirkwood (Missouri) High School, Eric Kumerow quarterback Oak Park-River Forest (Ill.) High School, Rod Woodson running back Fort Wayne (Ind.) Snider High School....all three were 1982 Parade Magazine All Americans, all three their state's player of the year.....Miller a 6-foot-4, 220-pound tight end/wide receiver out of the St. Louis area was named national player of the year.....summer before his senior year in high school on a visit to Illinois with his team, Miller told then Illinois head coach Mike White to 'save a spot' in the 1983 recruiting class for him cause he was 'committed'.....Miller and his parents visited Illinois early fall 1982 indeed confirmed the dreaded 'silent' verbal to the Fighting Illini...well negative recruiting kicked in, other schools told Miller/his parents Illinois was going on probation, White was going to the NFL, or getting fired cause of the NCAA probe....in the end, Miller decided to go play for Gerry Faust and Notre Dame....negative recruiting won out....got hurt early on South Bend never was fully healthy…didn’t live up the recruiting 'hype’.

The 'legend' of Kumerow started early in his high school career...supposedly Kumerow kept breaking blocking sleds in high school (hitting them so hard) so his coaches just had him stop going thru sled drills....his father Ernie Kumerow a former Fighting Illini varsity pitcher/I-Fund donor/huge White 'fan'....father told White supposedly 'Eric is coming (to Illinois) don't worry about it' till.....Background: Kumerow's grandfather was reputed Chicago mafia boss Tony 'The Big Tuna' Accardo....wasn't being kept secret who the grandfather was/relationship with Kumerow....Accardo and his bodyguards would show up at Kumerow's games and watch with the rest of the family.

Chicago Sun Times prep columnist/Illini antagonist Taylor Bell threw a monkey wrench into the Kumerow recruitment....Bell knowing the Kumerow family wasn't big on publicity so he wrote a Sunday column about Kumerow and his grandfather....Bell knew that kind of publicity wasn't what the family/Illini football was looking for...Bell made it clear that Kumerow 'likely' was headed to Illinois....family decided it was best Kumerow played his college football out of state....Signed with Ohio State where they moved him to defensive end…..Buckeye All American/first round pick of the Miami Dolphins....2010 Kumerow's son Jake walked on at Illinois as a wide receiver....Tim Beckman's staff hired late 2011....end of spring ball 2012 Beckman told Jake Kumerow 'we don't have room for you, don't think you will ever get a scholarship here'.....Kumerow transferred to D-3 UW-Whitewater....wide receiver now in his sixth year in the NFL (Buffalo Bills)....Eric Kumerow's nephews the Bosa brothers....both played at Ohio State before becoming first round picks.

Woodson loved White, loved that White sold Woodson on playing both ways at Illinois...again summer before his senior season Woodson visited Illinois, told White/staff Illinois is 'where I want to go'....old timer who was on White's support staff said years later, 'we lost Rod (Woodson) cause Purdue made a better offer' laughed it off...Woodson went to Purdue…...NFL hall of famer.

*Illinois football recruiting class of 1995....Chris Redman quarterback Louisville Male High School....Lou Tepper's Fighting Illini signed the 1994 Parade Magazine player of the year Redman out of Kentucky....Redman committed to then offensive coordinator Greg Landry who ran a pro style offense in Champaign....only problem was Tepper had fired Landry the week of the Illini Liberty Bowl game in Memphis vs. East Carolina....and in true Tepper fashion, he kept Landry on to keep recruiting Redman till he signed and announced the offensive coordinator had been let go a day after the quarterback had inked his letter of intent.

Landry a personality clash with Tepper for sure....go look at Illinois vs. Penn State, Illinois vs. Wisconsin 1994 games and the OC's play calling/game management was not good...one of the all time boneheaded recruiting moves ever by Tepper....Landry firing announced, Redman asked for/was released from the Illini letter of intent after meeting with Tepper (Redman/his family assured a top offensive coordinator would be hired to replace Landry).....Redman signed with hometown Louisville instead becoming an all time great Cardinal/NFL career.....Tepper hired Paul 'He sings in the Church Choir' Schudel to replace Landry's pro style attack with a 'three yards and a turf burn' run first scheme....Tepper/Schudel fired after the 1996 season.

*Illinois basketball recruiting class of 2014- Five star post Cliff Alexander Chicago Curie/four star point guard Quentin Snider Louisville Ballard....worst 24 hours of Illini basketball recruiting ever? Snider 'committed' to Illinois in 2013....Alexander’s recruitment well many Illini fans were led to believe was picking John Groce's program and....within 24 hours, Snider de-commits from Illinois and picked Louisville on a Friday. afternoon.......next day Alexander does the 'hat trick' and picks Kansas....Illini fans up in arms wanting any 'Fed Ex packages from Lawrence, Kansas to Alexander's high school coach traced,….'get to the bottom of this'.....Alexander lasted a year at Kansas before declaring for the NBA draft, bouncing around the world playing hoops...Snider good player for UofL and like Alexander, now bouncing around the world playing basketball for a living.

*A few other Illini recruiting stories......

*Class of 1988 LaPhonso Ellis post East St. Louis (Ill.) Lincoln High School/class of 1991 Juwon Howard forward Chicago Vocational High School....Ellis' high school 'mentor' had a Notre Dame/then Irish head coach Digger Phelps connection and 'protected' Ellis from recruiters from other schools....reportedly once Illini head coach Lou Henson and top assistant Jimmy Collins went to East St. Louis for an in home visit with Ellis, his mom and the mentor met them outside, forbid the pair going into the Ellis house...Phelps told Ellis he was hiring John Shumate to work with his 'bigs' to make them into NBA players....after his freshman season, Shumate left to become head coach at SMU and Ellis wanted to transfer to Illinois....Phelps put the kabosh on that telling the NCAA that much like the allegations surrounding the Deon Thomas recruitment, Illini had offered Ellis a car and money to go to Champaign.....Ellis stayed at Notre Dame....supposedly Ellis won't go back to Champaign to cover a hoops game cause all the shit he gets from Illinois fans over the past.

*Howard like many in-state recruits fell in love with the Flyin' Illini and was all set to commit to Henson's program when the Thomas NCAA investigation hit....Michigan swooped in, hired Howard's 'big brother'/Vocational assistant coach Donnie Kirksey as a 'summer camp counselor' in Ann Arbor, pushed the 'Illinois hoops getting the death penalty' from the NCAA....Howard first commit to Michigan in the class that led to the 'Fab Five'.

Always remember the Thomas NCAA probe handled by Rich Hilliard (director of enforcement) who just happened to be Bruce Pearl's buddy at Boston College...as BC undergrads the pair worked as managers for Dr. Snake Tom Davis back in the late 70's/early 80's..

*Class of 1998 Bobby Simmons forward Chicago Simeon/Lance Williams post Chicago Julian-'package deal' to Illinois...till....Williams some felt had 'off the court' issues that made Lon Kruger's staff at Illinois back off of him leading to DePaul sliding in to land the pair....Simmons, Williams and five star Chicago Whitney Young wing Quentin Richardson all signed with 'Phat' Pat Kennedy's DePaul class of 1998...trio ended up with one NCAA/NIT appearance with the Blue Demons.

*Class of 2001 Damien Nash running back East St. Louis (Ill.) High School- ...high school teammates at St. Louis Riverview Gardens with future Illini Christian Morton and Jamaal Clark...five star back followed then Riverview Gardens head coach Darren Sunkett to East St Louis (Ill.) High School for his senior season 2000....was a 'silent' verbal to Illinois supposedly.....2000 Michigan game, running back acting up in the recruits section turning off a lot of parents/recruits on Illinois cause of Nash's behavior.......Turner’s staff felt they could get academic questionable Nash into UIUC as a learning disabled student (as they had done for a few other recruits that era).

Gary Pinkel hired as head coach at Mizzou late fall 2000...new Tigers staff make Nash a priority....Turner's staff still had not gotten Nash admitted to UIUC while Pinkel's assistants tell the running back they can get him into school 'easy'/rumored other 'benefits' to get the young man's attention.....Nash in the end signs with Mizzou, doesn't get into school...Tigers place him at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College for two years....re-signs with Pinkel's program......two year starter, 5th round draft pick by the Tennessee Titans 2005...bounced around the NFL for a couple of years...passed away after a charity basketball game February of 2007...coroner's report Nash’s death was of 'cardiac origin' his heart just gave out.