Had Indiana freshman Eric Gordon somehow snuck into Illinois men’s basketball practice Tuesday, he no doubt would have blushed amid compliments from players that were almost his teammates.

Brian Randle, Shaun Pruitt and Demetri McCamey took turns praising the high-scoring guard, the very one that reneged on a verbal commitment to Illinois last year to sign with Indiana instead. None of the three blamed Gordon for making the decision he did, even if it has left Illinois in the bottom three in Big Ten standings and Indiana ranked 14th in the country.

“It’s just one of those things. It’s recruiting,” Randle said. “Whatever a guy feels is most comfortable for him is kind of what you have to roll with. We’ve all been through it.”

“Yeah, he committed to us, but ultimately you have to pick where you’re going to be comfortable,” Pruitt added. “You can’t hate him for that.”

Gordon, set to make his first appearance at Assembly Hall this year when Illinois takes on Indiana at 8 p.m. on Thursday, has become a sort of “enemy of the state” in the minds of Illinois fans since signing with Indiana, even if players don’t necessarily share those feelings.

McCamey said he and Gordon would often exchange text messages during their senior years in high school but that he doesn’t harbor any hostility toward the state’s high school Mr. Basketball.

“It wasn’t disappointing to me because I told him to just make the best decision, and he felt like that was the best decision for him and his family,” McCamey said. “I can’t be mad at him for making a decision that helped him out.”

Freshman Mike Tisdale sounded the most angry when asked about Gordon’s decision.

“It’s somewhat personal,” Tisdale said. “We’re just disappointed really, anybody that would do that. He’s a good player, and we’ll see what we can do Thursday I guess.”

Gordon is averaging 21.8 points per game this season, and along with D.J. White, forms one of the top guard-forward combos in the Big Ten. White is averaging 17.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.

Shaun Pruitt, the Illini’s leading scorer at 12.6 points per game, wondered how things would have been different if Gordon was suiting up on his side Thursday.

“I think E.J. (Gordon) would have helped this team out tremendously,” Pruitt said. “I mean, he’s obviously helping D.J. (White) a lot because he limits the double teams.”

Pruitt’s support, instead, has come from Trent Meacham’s 10.5 points per game, the second highest total on the team. Meacham has scored in double figures six times during the last eight games.

McCamey, who scored 15 points against Purdue on Saturday, may not get the start again Thursday because Chester Frazier’s defense has been solid in back-to-back games against Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel and Purdue.

Illinois dropped its first game against Indiana this season 62-58 after leading much of the game. Gordon scored 17 points and White added 15 points and 10 boards to overcome a four-point halftime deficit. Pruitt scored 14 points and Randle led the Illini with 10 rebounds.

Randle, coming off a career high 21 points against Purdue, said he wasn’t sure what to expect from the Illinois crowd at Thursday’s game.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Randle said. “Hopefully it’s not too out of control with the fans and they keep things in perspective, but you never know.”