Illinois basketball head coach Bruce Weber announced the signings of three in-state players to national letters of intent on Wednesday – the first day of the fall signing period. Although Weber lost Derrick Rose to Memphis and Eric Gordon to Indiana, Weber said he was very excited to sign Demetri McCamey, Bill Cole and Mike Tisdale. The three will make good additions to the program and are players who want to be at Illinois, he said.

McCamey, a six-foot-three, 215-pound point guard from Westchester, Ill., is the first signee from St. Joseph’s High School. While playing for legendary coach Gene Pingatore last season, McCamey averaged 14 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals a game, while leading St. Joseph to the IHSA Class AA Sectional Finals.

“Demetri is a big body point guard and you talk about Deron Williams mainly,” Weber said. “He has deceptive athletic ability, you wouldn’t think he would go up and dunk on somebody.

“Demetri is one of the top guards in the country. His body allows him to play the combo guard or 3 position like Deron (Williams) did.”

McCamey is also a consensus national Top-100 recruit, along with a four-star recruit by rivals.com (No. 57) and scout.com (No. 79). Cole is a six-foot-nine, 200-pound power forward from Peoria, Ill., who attends Richwoods High School, where he averaged 15.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game as a junior. Richwoods finished second to Simeon at the 2006 IHSA Class AA state tournament. Cole is the reigning Class AA Peoria Journal Star Player of the Year and a first team All-State selection by the IBCA. “Bill is a six-foot-nine skilled kid who can run off screens and jump out and hit three’s,” Weber said. “Billy’s thing is going to be strength.”

During Tisdale’s junior season at Riverton High School, he averaged 21.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.9 blocks. Tisdale, a seven-foot, 215-pound center, was the Springfield State Journal-Register’s Class A Player of the Year last season, along with earning first-team All-State honors by the IBCA.

“He has unbelievable skills for someone that size, along with good footwork,” Weber said.

Tisdale, who is just 17-years-old and still developing his body, has good upside, Weber said.

“He has put 20 pounds on since last spring and will be a nice complement to (freshman) Brian Carlwell,” Weber said. “Mike gives us a different look.”

In the next few weeks, when high schools begin playing in Thanksgiving tournaments, Weber said he hopes to sign a player to fill the 4 spot. In Illinois’ search for such a player, Weber and the coaching staff have scrambled over the last three weeks and have traveled as far as California and Texas looking for the best high school or junior college recruit available. While Weber would like to put the recruiting situations of Rose and Gordon behind the Illini, he said it’s always going to be questioned.

“It’s been a difficult four months; it’s not been fun,” Weber said. “You question a lot, and you’re not sure of a lot of things that happen in this business.”