CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In a brief appearance in court Thursday afternoon, Illini senior guard Rich McBride pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.

The 22-year-old – dressed in a maroon dress shirt, black pants and a tie – entered the plea at the Champaign County Courthouse before Judge Richard Klaus. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 1.

McBride’s court appearance consisted primarily of a series of rapid questions from Klaus.

The judge moved quickly from questioning whether McBride understood that with a guilty he would give up his right to a trial to asking him about the bottom line:

“Sir, do you plead guilty?”

“Yes sir,” McBride answered from behind the table where he sat with attorney Mark Lipton.

McBride was accompanied by Illini assistant coach Wayne McLain. Both declined comment.

The 6-foot-3 senior was arrested on Sept. 29 and charged with DUI and improper traffic lane usage in Savoy, a small town just south of Champaign. He lives in a nearby apartment complex.

Assistant State’s Attorney Stephanie Weber said McBride, who was 21 at the time, was arrested after a Champaign County sheriff’s deputy noticed his car drift across the center line.

McBride’s blood-alcohol level was .18 percent, Weber said, more than twice the legal limit.

Klaus said Thursday that the traffic lane charge would be dropped at McBride’s sentencing.

A university spokesman said McBride, who was suspended for two exhibitions and four regular-season games after his Sept. 29 arrest, isn’t expected to face further in-team discipline.

“No, not at this time,” sports information director Kent Brown said.

Neither the university nor Illini coach Bruce Weber were expected to make any further statements about McBride’s plea, Brown said.

The Illini, who are 21-9 this season and 9-6 in the Big Ten, have only one regular-season game left, Saturday at Iowa. But the Big Ten tournament remains and the possibility of a bid to the NCAA tournament.

McBride, who attended Lanphier High School in Springfield, has started 22 of the Illini’s 30 games this season and has averaged 10.1 points per game.

Coach Weber said in a recent interview that McBride this season has become a team leader.

“He’s made huge strides as a player and a person, and a leader, which _ I’ll be honest _ I didn’t think he ever could do,” Weber said in an interview earlier this week.

As a freshman in 2003, McBride missed the first four games of the season. The Illinois athletic department never officially specified a reason for that suspension, but said McBride and former teammates Aaron Spears and Luther Head had violated team rules. That incident came after a burglary case in which the three basketball players were implicated but never charged.

McBride is not the only Illini player who has gotten into legal trouble this season.

On Feb. 20, Jamar Smith was charged with drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident after a crash that left teammate Brian Carlwell hospitalized for four days with a severe concussion.

Smith, a sophomore guard, apparently believed Carlwell had died in the Feb. 12 collision with a tree, State’s Attorney Julia Rietz has said.