UIC was tabbed to finish ninth in the Horizon League preseason poll.
THEIR KIND OF TOWN
Not only does senior Osiris Eldridge have the opportunity to play in front of his hometown crowd, but junior Tony Lewis, sophomore Kellen Thornton and freshmen Zeke Upshaw and Terry Johnson all hail from the Chicagoland area.
NOT IN THE GIVING MOOD
Even with the holidays approaching, the Illinois State basketball team was more interested in taking away than giving when it came to North Florida. Despite only posting one team steal in the season-opener at SIU Edwardsville, the Redbirds rebounded with 15 team steals against North Florida which led to 23 Osprey turnovers.
IN-SEASON MEDIA CONFERENCES
ISU Athletics Media Relations will host eight in-season media conferences during the 2009-10 season. Each conference will feature head coach Tim Jankovich and a member of the ISU basketball team. The media conferences will start at 1 p.m., and be held in the Redbird Arena Media Room, which is on the east side of the lower concourse. The remaining scheduled dates are: Dec. 3, Jan. 7, Jan. 21, Jan. 29, Feb. 8, Feb. 18 and March 2.
VALLEY TELECONFERENCES
Teleconferences with The Valley head coaches will be conducted each Tuesday throughout the season. The first teleconference is slated for Dec. 15, followed by every Tuesday from Jan. 5 to March 2. The conferences begin at 10 a.m. CT. To participate in the conference calls, call 913.981.4900. Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich will participate at 10:30 a.m.
THE REBOUND 500
With a game-high six rebounds against North Florida, Dinma Odiakosa now has 500 career rebounds and became the 30th player in Illinois State history to achieve the feat. However, Odiakosa isn't the only player on the 2009-10 squad with 500 career caroms. Odiakosa joins Osiris Eldridge in the 500 rebound club, as Eldridge has collected 553 boards in his career.
THE LEADER OF THE PACK
With 24 points scored against North Florida, senior Osiris Eldridge is averaging 21.5 points per game this season which is the highest scoring average in the Missouri Valley Conference. If Eldridge can maintain this kind of output, he would become the first Redbird to lead the conference in scoring since Tarise Bryson in 2001. Bryson averaged 22.8 points per game en route to being named the Valley Player of the Year.
CARRYING THE TEAM
Luckily for the Redbirds, Osiris Eldridge and Lloyd Phillips each suit up for Illinois State. The backcourt duo is shooting a combined 10-for-16 (.625) from three-point range this season. That's a good thing, considering the rest of the team is shooting 2-for-14 (.143) on threes.
THE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR?
For the second-consecutive season, Illinois State has had a newcomer post a double-double in his respective Redbird debut. In Sunday's win at SIU Edwardsville, Tony Lewis, a junior college transfer from Ellsworth JC, collected 10 points and 11 rebounds. Last season, Champ Oguchi posted 14 points and 13 boards in the Redbirds' road win at Wright State. Oguchi went on to be named the Valley's Newcomer of the Year, the first Redbird to win the award since Lorenzo Gordon, who also posted a double-double in his first game at ISU.
A SEASON SUPER START
Junior Tony Lewis took the opening tip and zipped a pass to Osiris Eldridge, who was streaking toward the basket, for a game-opening dunk just five seconds into the game. That was how the 2009-10 season got underway for the Redbirds, on the board in five seconds. It was the quickest score to open a season for Illinois State, since becoming an NCAA Division I program prior to the 1970 season. It topped the old mark of 11 seconds, in which Marcus Arnold opened up the 2003-04 season against Florida A&M.
NON-CON NOTES
Head coach Tim Jankovich owns a 23-6 record (.793) against non-conference opponents during his time with the Redbirds.
BEING THANKFUL FOR THE WINS
In 112 years of Redbird basketball, Illinois State owns a 64-33 (.660) record in the month of November. The Redbirds have posted a 13-2 (.867) mark in the 11th month under head coach Tim Jankovich. Illinois State will play six games this season in the month of November and is 2-0 so far this season.
DEJA VU, ALL OVER AGAIN
Prior to this season, senior Osiris Eldridge was tabbed as the Missouri Valley Conference's Preseason Player of the Year and the Redbirds were predicted to finish third in the league's preseason poll. Before last year, Eldridge was named the league's preseason player of the year and ISU was projected to finish third.
A RETURN TO POSTSEASON
Illinois State, which became an NCAA Division I program prior to the 1970-71 season, enjoyed postseason play for the 16th time last season. The Redbirds have qualified for the NCAA Tournament six times (1983, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1997 and 1998) and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 10 times (1977, 1978, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2008 and 2009).
BACK-TO-BACK TRIPS
After making the NIT each of the last two years, Illinois State posted successive postseason berths for the first time in over a decade. The last time the Redbirds had back-to-back postseason bids was during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons, when ISU went to the NCAA Tournament each season.
THREECOLA!
The Redbirds finished the 2008-09 season with 297 made three-pointers, which set the school standard for treys in a season. The made threes topped the old mark, which was set during the 2007-08 season, as the Redbirds have made 564 three-pointers in head coach Tim Jankovich's tenure at Illinois State, or 7.9 made threes per game.
FIFTY IS NIFTY
The 82-60 win at SIU Edwardsville marked the 50th win for the Redbirds under head coach Tim Jankovich. The third-year ISU head coach became the second-fastest Redbird mentor to win 50 games in Redbird history (70 games). Only Gene Smithson did it quicker, with 50 wins in 64 games (1975-77).
THORNTON FOR THE BLOCK
Two games into the season, sophomore Kellen Thornton has had an affect on opponents' shots. With a team-leading five blocked shots, Thornton has led the Redbirds in blocked shots in each game this season. His blocked shot total has already surpassed his one batted shot from all of last season.
O MY!
The play of Osiris Eldridge at the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament was spectacular and his final 21 minutes of action were nothing short of legendary. As a result, Eldridge became only the second player in league history to win the Valley's Most Outstanding Player Award from the tournament's runner-up team. Eldridge joined Rickey Jackson (1990), Rico Hill (1997) and Dan Muller (1998) as Redbirds to have won the league's MOP award.
THE TRADITION CONTINUES
With a 24-10 overall record last year, ISU secured itself another winning season in men's basketball. In the 38 years of being an NCAA Division I program, the Redbirds have had 31 winning seasons.
302-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A TREY
Illinois State enters the UIC game with at least one made three in 302-straight games. The last time ISU didn't sink a trey was an 82-43 loss at Creighton Dec. 12, 1999.
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Senior Osiris Eldridge became the 39th addition to Illinois State's 1,000-point club, but with a full season to be played now the question is how high will he climb. He now has 1,368 career points, which ranks No. 14. His best single scoring season was his sophomore year when he finished with 554 points. In order to become the second Redbird to score 2,000 career points, Eldridge will need to 675 points this season, or 19.3 points per game.
RARE COMPANY
After being named the Valley's Preseason Player of the Year, junior Osiris Eldridge appears to have an inside track to join a select group. Eldridge won the conference's freshman of the year award in 2007. If he ends his Illinois State career with the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year Award, which he finished runner-up for last season, Eldridge would become only the second player in league history to win both the freshman of the year and player of the year award, joining Southern Illinois' Ashraf Amaya.
STATUE OF ASPIRATIONS
In September 2009, the Redbird Athletics Department unveiled a statue which honors the nation's first African-American NCAA Division I head basketball coach, Will Robinson, and his most famous player, Doug Collins, a three-time All-American at Illinois State. The piece, which was installed at the north entrance of Redbird Arena, was sculpted by Lou Cella, a 1985 graduate of ISU. Robinson was named the Redbirds' head coach Feb. 27, 1970, and posted a 78-51 seasons in five seasons. He passed away at the age of 96, April 28, 2008.
WHAT'S A UTE?
Illinois State will find out first hand this season, when the Redbirds travel to Utah, Dec. 19, for the first-ever meeting between the two schools, as part of the inaugural Missouri Valley-Mountain West Challenge Series. The game between ISU and Utah will be one of nine matchups between the two leagues.
TWO SIGN FOR 2010 CLASS
Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich announced the signing of two incoming players during the early signing period. The Redbirds added Kenyon Smith (guard, 6-0, 190) from Lincoln College and Jordan Threloff (center, 6-10, 240) from DeKalb High School. Smith originally signed with ISU out of Simeon High School, but was declared academically ineligible by the NCAA. If he receives his associate's degree this school year, Smith will have three years of eligibility remaining at Illinois State, while Threloff will enter ISU as a true freshman.
