Illinois Basketball Kicks Off Season

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- It was a sea of orange and blue at Huff Hall on Friday night.

The Illinois basketball team kicked off its 2010-11 season with the annual Illini Madness -- an event used to draw attention and excitement to the upcoming season.

Students and fans packed Huff Hall as players showed off their skills in a dunk content and light scrimmage.

Illinois is looking to move past a disappointing 2009-10 season in which it finished 21-15 and failed to get off the bubble and into the NCAA tournament. Instead, Illinois entered the NIT, where it was eliminated by Dayton in the quarterfinals.

"This is (my) last chance, I'm ready to get going," senior Mike Tisdale said. "It should be a good one."

The Illini -- whose season tips off Nov. 8 against UC Irvine at Assembly Hall -- return all five starters from last year. Although the core is in tact, the Illini did add some new young talent.

The three new freshman faces in orange and blue are 7-foot center Meyers Leonard, guard Crandall Head (brother of former Illini great Luther Head) and forward Jereme Richmond.

Even with the talented freshman core, head coach Bruce Weber is looking to the seniors.

"We're going to be as good as our seniors," Weber said. "They have to have the best years of their careers. They have to guard, they have to play like they know how to play. Then it'll be easier on the freshmen."

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