Oct. 23, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
With Illinois State basketball's first exhibition game just 19 days away, the preseason hype surrounding the college basketball season is in full swing. Junior guard Osiris Eldridge was the benefactor of some of the preseason prognostication by being selected as the top player in the state of Illinois by HoopsIL.com and by being tabbed as honorable mention high-major All-American by CollegeHoops.net.
Eldridge earned first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors last season, and finished runner-up in the Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year voting. He averaged 15.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
The Chicago native posted 30 double-digit scoring outputs during the 2007-08 season, including nine games with 20 or more points. He scored a career-high 34 points at Indiana State last season, and posted his first-career double-doubles at Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green.
According to HoopsIL.com, as the state's preseason player of the year, Eldridge was also named to the All-Illinois Team. He was also joined by Northwestern's Kevin Coble, Chicago State's David Holston, UIC's Josh Mayo and DePaul's Dar Tucker.
Senior guard Champ Oguchi was named to the state of Illinois' all-newcomer team by HoopsIL.com.
Eldridge was one of five Missouri Valley Conference players named to the CollegeHoops.net Preseason High-Major All-America Team. Creighton's P'Allen Stinnett and Drake's Josh Young each received third-team honors, while Drake's Jonathan Cox and Southern Illinois' Bryan Mullins joined Eldridge on the honorable mention team.¬
Eldridge and the Redbirds will host Illinois-Springfield Nov. 11, on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena for the only exhibition of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
