Like Charlie slowly peeling open the wrapper to reveal a glimmer of gold, Illini nation got a tease of the promised land. Illinois started from scratch, without losing its incredibly high expectations and is constantly searching for their own “golden ticket.”

The Minnesota Golden Gophers are a better team than its 0-6 conference record would say. They have some players that can make a difference and like Illinois, to be the team they are looking to be, they need every one of them. Every one of them didn’t show up in the 77-53 loss Wednesday night, but as Dee Brown said, “At this point it’s about yourself.”

Following Illinois’ first road win of the season, Bruce Weber challenged his team. He said that for the rest of the season, it would be up to the players, would Illinois be a good team or become special? The “golden ticket” for the Illini is the latter, and if the pieces continue coming together it’s reachable. Against Minnesota, first half, good; second half, special.

If the same Illinois team, playing the same Gophers, looked like two different squads, what could be the difference? The ingredient that the Illini were missing was a pinch of Freak. Brian Randle played all of two minutes in the first half after being overly aggressive on a pass to Vincent Grier. Randle’s comment on the play, “Can’t really say anything about being stupid.”

Even though the coaching staff found their answer to Grier in the combination of athletic guards Calvin Brock and Jamar Smith, the team didn’t look the same. Defensively, the guard combo was able to hold a future NBA player in Grier scoreless over a span of 8:33 in the first half; and offensively, they combined for 11 points, but still not special. In the second half, Randle was a breath of fresh air as he used his bench-supplied energy and athleticism to open up the game. The Illini were leading by eight at halftime, and ended up winning by 24. With Randle they were able to triple the lead. That’s the difference.

In Randle, the Illini have not only a defensive stopper, but somebody who will beat opponents to loose balls and clean the boards on either end. Illinois was even able to test its lineups and go small, putting the 6’8” freak at the four spot. In that time, Randle had a highlight reel alley-oop and almost posterized a helpless Gopher defender. When Randle is in the game, and playing the way Weber would direct him to, Illinois becomes a team that can make a run at the league championship and do damage in the tournament.

“When he (Randle) comes out and plays aggressive like that it opens up stuff for other players,” Brown said. “When he plays like that, sky’s the limit.”

Dee might have been referring to Randle’s overall ability, but he might as well have been talking about the team. When Randle goes, so does Illinois. The typically shy sophomore might not look to himself to star on a team with two NBA seniors, but Weber named him captain for a reason.

Weber said that as of the game against Northwestern, this team was good.

They were good enough to beat teams at home, and beat the bad teams on the road – but certainly not good enough to beat the conferences elite on the road. And if the Illini are going to continue to chant Big Ten Champs coming out of the huddle, they are going to have to slay some giants on their own turf. Wisconsin at the Kohl Center? Michigan State at the Breslin? Illinois got a taste of what being special could be; there was certainly a feeling of superiority during a 12-0 run Wednesday night.

With Randle as “The Freak” it’s all possible.

Ian Gold is a senior in Communications. He can be reached at [email protected].