Illinois had just lost to Washington in the second round of the NCAA tournament, a game that still haunts anyone connected to Illini nation, and before the fans in the crowd could lick their wounds, I heard the same name rain down onto the courtside. Eric Gordon.

It’s humorous that he is a junior in high school and after two of the most storied athletes in Illinois history finished their careers it was his name that comforted the orange clad fans in San Diego. If you have ever witnessed Gordon play, you realize why the thought of him in an Illinois uniform is like freshly tucked in sheets, the kid is the truth.

Gordon, as a junior, would have started on this Illinois team that remained in the nation’s top 10 for most of the year. As a junior he headlined a game against the nation’s top senior, Greg Oden, on ESPN. The sports monopoly franchise saw lightning in a bottle and made sure to book at least one more Gordon appearance and have already set up a nationally televised game featuring him for next season.

I remind you, Gordon just went to his junior prom. But as an athletic freak in a 6-foot-4 inch frame, with a skill set that would make polished college seniors jealous, Gordon deserves the hype. He is rated as the top shooting guard in his class and is all Champaign. He is an incredibly bright kid and a great interview, so great, in fact, that I don’t want to pick and choose what to include, so here it is in its entirety.

Q: At the beginning of your recruitment, what was going through your head about your favorite schools?

A: It was tough, I grew up watching a lot of different college basketball teams. As I got older and started really thinking about it, I made a big change about the schools I was looking at. Going to Illinois, I think that is a great choice, I have watched them since elementary school.

Q: What was the moment that you realized Illinois was the place you wanted to be?

A: I would say when I really just thought about it, after Illinois’ Midnight Madness, I pretty much made up my mind. That was awesome and I knew that was the place for me.

Q: Illinois has been one of the most successful programs over the past few years, but they still don’t have a national championship. How appealing is it that you could be part of Illinois’ first national championship?

A: Every recruit plans on winning a national championship when they get to school. History is one thing, but every player wants their own, which would be their first. (Illinois’) gone to the championship game, done a lot of good things. Hopefully our guys could get there and finally win one; that’s a great thing and I would like to. It would take a lot of hard work and dedication.

Q: Do you still keep in touch with Derrick Rose? How is that going?

A: Yeah, I have still been text messaging him lately. I try to at least talk to him about once a week. Hopefully I am trying to get him there – one of the best guards I’ve ever played against. I would like for him to be one of my teammates. I still keep track of what he’s doing, he’ll let me know.

Q: Do you talk to any other Illini targets?

A: I know E’twan Moore pretty good, we play him during the year. I’ve known him for a while, I hear he has a lot of interest in Illinois. I just talk to E’twaun and Derrick though.

Q: What camp do you plan on going to and would you pull a Dee Brown and recruit other players?

A: I am pretty sure I am going to the Adidas camp, right now it’s between Adidas and Nike. It depends, if they are really good players I would talk to them, I’d do the same thing. I don’t want to get too into it.

Q: Do you have any guys in mind who you would like to come in with you in your class of ’07?

A: As of things going on that could make it happen, Derrick would be a great fit for me to play with. I would say Greg Oden, and he will play at Ohio State – he makes things a lot easier. It’s a different type of game with him on the floor. When we played him I was pretty used to it, I never got the chance to play against him that many times. Seven foot, athletic and can jump out the gym; it was very difficult to score.

Q: Now that your season is over, what will you be working on with your own game?

A: I would like to improve on getting stronger and being more of a point guard. I grew up playing point guard but I got better as a shooting guard. I want to be become more of a point guard. I am more of a combo guard, (Illinois) did a lot of that last year. They all played a little of point and shooting, that’s the kind of style I like, either way in the NBA they can catch, shoot and dribble just as good as the other players.

Q: When you were looking at colleges did their history of getting players in the NBA matter?

A: I would say that I look at that a little, I look at how (the head coach) develops players first. You have to develop them before they can do anything. When I first saw (Dee, Deron and Luther) under Self they were good but not as good as when coach Weber was there. He made those guys complete players, they played as a team. The fact that Weber can get elite talent to play as a team is what makes him special.

Q: Do you plan on making it to Illinois in the summer to work out with the guys?

A: Oh yeah, in the summer I’ll be around there a couple times. I’ll be in Champaign at least one or two times before school’s over. So I can get a good feel for the school and hanging out with the guys.

Q: Is there more or less pressure after committing?

A: There is a lot less, you don’t have to worry about anything. It seems that you’re just free, nobody is begging you to go to their college anymore. It was a disaster, now it’s fun just worrying about your team.

Q: To the people who were saying coach Weber couldn’t recruit, how would you answer?

A: It was tough; he has been there only a couple years, down the line he will get better, everyone is seeing that he is getting everyone to play together. He can coach talent a lot better than the coaches I see now. That’s the best thing I would say, every now and then he will get big time players like North Carolina and Duke.

Q: Did Illinois’ semi-early exit affect the way a potential recruit would look at Illinois?

A: As you look at it, you have to look at it as a normal fan or somebody else watching, a fan would have thought Illinois was a real good and superior team. But a recruit, me, to tell you the truth I didn’t think they would make the tournament, they lost way too many weapons. I thought they would be good but not that good. One of the best seasons I’ve seen for what was originally possible.

Q: Illinois lacks dribble penetration, is that a skill or a mindset?

A: In the Big Ten it’s hard to tell, I hardly ever see that many guards getting to the basket. It’s a mindset, it’s hard playing against those big strong centers, you have to have more a mindset than just skill. You have to make up your mind to put in the work for yourself, instead of skill. It’s tough but for me to do that in that system, I think it would help me out in that system.

Q: What do you say to Derrick and E’twaun as far as Illinois is concerned?

A: I would say watch how their style of guard play is, look how strong it is. Their guard play controls the game, they score at least half the points and look how complete they are. They can shoot, they can dribble, they play defense. All three. They basically just got it all, for a team that really wasn’t as good as last year, you can just watch the guards progress.

I told you, the truth.

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