Hola. I have a question for the James .

Who has been the biggest influence in your life and what advice would you give your classmates that you have learned from that person?

Bobbie Crabtree

Freshman in LAS

Either my dad or my cousin has been my biggest influence. The advice that I would give to my classmates that they have given me is probably spend as much money as you can when you’re alive, because you can’t take it with you. That’s what I always think about if I don’t want to spend money on something. You can’t take it with you.

My cousin, Nick Sorensen, is somewhere around my age and plays sports, so he’s someone I can relate to. I can talk to him about stuff I can’t talk to my dad about. He plays safety for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s easy because he’s always a step ahead of me. He’s been through everything I’ve been through. He gives good advice about stuff like that.

Hey James,

I see you and other Illini ballers around campus all the time and I always want to say “good game last night” or “good luck tonight,” but refrain from doing so just because I think it is a little rude to bother you away from the court. How do you and your teammates feel about simple comments like this between classes? Is it complimentary or annoying?

Troy Kieser

Junior in LAS

I think it’s complimentary as long as it’s just “good game,” and they don’t have to critique you on your game. If we’re just walking down the street and they say “good game” or add a little comment to it, I think it’s very complimentary. It’s very appreciative.

Is James a Cubs fan or a Cardinals fan?

Betsy Dalton

Sophomore at Urbana High School

Sox fan.

My daughter (Miranda, age 9) and I have wondered why it is that you wear dark socks. Seems the rest of the guys wear white … we were wondering if it is for luck or just your style.

Also, how do you handle going to classes, practice and games on game days?

Cindy and Miranda Heck

University administration

They’re ankle braces. I wear white socks under my ankle braces.

Usually we’ll have class, usually everybody has early class because of practice and stuff. We’ll see who has the latest class, and if it goes to like 2:15 or 2:45 we’ll usually have a shoot around 3 p.m. We go there for about an hour, eat pre-game dinner, go home for about an hour, hour and a half, then you have to be back about two hours before the game. You usually just find out who has the latest class and have pre-game right after that, so nobody’s skipping class.

Ask James will appear weekly in the Daily Illini. Please send questions for James Augustine into [email protected].