October 13, 2006.  Three years ago today, was possibly the darkest moment in recent Illini basketball history.  The decommitment of Eric Gordon from us to Indiana after months of denying rumors that he was headed to IU.  He finally announced it just weeks before signing day and on the week of our Midnight Madness (if I remember correctly).  At that point the Weber haters came out in full force.  We lost Gordon.  Derrick Rose just left us out of his top 5.  Weber had still not landed the top in-state recruit to silence his critics.  Many people were ready to jump ship and fire Weber. It was hard to see any light in the situation.

But I'm glad all that happened.  I can't say I wasn't thrilled when we had EJ committed and DRose had us listed as a favorite.  But seeing what those two have brought to their respective programs, I'm glad Weber took the high road.  What's happened to IU since then?  A season of disappointment with EJ only to have him choke in the final stretch, a fired coach, disgraced reputation, and a team that's so bad they promoted an equipment manager to the team.  Weber has addressed his recruiting issues, we are nabbing top in-state talent, and this program is definitely on its way back to where Bill Self had it.  Optimism hasn't been this high since the 2005 season for the Illini program.  Not only do we have top talent coming in, but our core players are only juniors this upcoming season.  Whatever the starting 5 is this year, expect them to be back for next year.

 

So three years later, I'd just like to say: "Eric Gordon: thank you for f*cking us.  It was exactly what we needed."