Mike Thomas has gone where few Illini athletic directors have gone before.

Space!

No, that’s not right.

The private sector!

More like it.

On Monday, Thomas agreed to a $60 million deal with State Farm in exchange for the naming rights to Assembly Hall for the next 30 years.

Goodbye, Assembly Hall, and welcome the State Farm Center, the (new?) home of your Illini basketball team.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the long-awaited return of … competence.

Listen, I know you’re still mourning the retirement of Chief Illiniwek. And now, the thought of a corporation snatching the naming rights to your beloved flying saucer probably makes you want to hurl.

But how has sharing Assembly Hall’s name with Indiana for 40 years not made you queasy?

For once, it seems like the Illini athletic department is more concerned with the big picture. No more VHS reruns of the Flyin’ Illini tapes while listening to “Endless Love” in the dark. What? Friends listen to “Endless Love” in the dark.

Productive basketball programs don’t.

“To do things you haven’t done, you have to do things you haven’t done before,” Illini head coach John Groce said after Thomas unveiled the arena’s new name. “In college athletics, you’re either moving on an upward trend or you’re staying the same. I tell our players, ‘If you’re staying the same, you’re really getting worse because the people on an upward trend are passing you by.’”

Basically, Illinois had to give to get. If it wanted to raise the funds for the Assembly Hall … or rather, the State Farm Center renovation, then it needed to make a bold move. The state can’t afford to pay for the costs of updating the arena.

The state can’t afford to pay for teachers.

But State Farm — the nation’s 43rd most valuable company, as rated by CNN Money — surely has the resources.

Assembly Hall needed to be updated. It was mandatory to lure a top coaching candidate to Champaign. Groce was promised an effort would be made in his first meeting with Thomas, and it’s been a shared dream of theirs from the moment the former Ohio coach was hired. 

Try selling top-of-the-line Chicago recruits like Anthony Davis, Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor on summer practice in a building with no air conditioning.

In order to secure the elite-level recruits Illini fans so desire, Groce has to show them a reason to come. Now, he can show them “The Farm.” 

Geographically, we’re surrounded by crop land and we grow NBA talent. Sounds like a good pitch, if both of those things were true.

Monday’s announcement was a huge step toward accomplishing the renovation plans. For that reason, it was a huge win for the athletic department.

But for those worried about tradition, I commend you. In a 2009 assessment by ESPN and USA Today sports statistician Jeff Sagarin, the Illini were ranked the sixth-best program in college basketball history. I know the Bruce Weber era seemed like it lasted a lifetime, but 2009 was four years ago. There is tradition at Illinois. The athletic department just needs to find other ways to show it off. 

As far away from the football field as possible.

Never fear, I have an idea. 

When senior guard Brandon Paul was a middle schooler in Gurnee, Ill., he watched Deron Williams, Dee Brown and the 2005 Illini basketball team battle their way to the National Championship. That’s how he fell in love with Illinois basketball and why he committed as soon as he received an offer from Weber. The glory days weren’t THAT long ago. With Williams still tearing up the association and the Elite Eight comeback against Arizona very much alive in the YouTube Hall of Fame, current recruits still know about that team.

Now, I believe jerseys are overrated. 

Notre Dame’s new adidas jerseys are flat out offensive. 

The best team is usually going to win a basketball game, regardless of who’s wearing the finest threads. 

But if used correctly, they can be meaningful. This season, Groce rewarded the leading rebounder from each game with ’05 Illini forward James Augustine’s practice jersey. Augustine is the leading rebounder in the program’s history, and Groce wanted to use his old warm-up to make a point. Practice like a champ, play like one.

So here it goes.

Not that the two are necessarily connected, but Illinois lost every game it played in its alternate orange jerseys this season. 

So bring back the classic orange ’05 jerseys as alternates. Use them once or twice a year so they mean something. Make it special. Ignite a tradition.

Not to mention Chancellor Phyllis Wise is on the board of Nike. Reviving the classic orange couldn’t be terribly difficult. Gameday Spirit would sell a boatload of ’05 Illini jerseys if they were made available and relevant again. 

Of course, restock with No. 11 jerseys. They would fly off the rack.

The Illini athletic department has already scheduled a meeting with Nike officials to pursue a new design for jerseys and apparel. With all the new changes surrounding the basketball program, it’s time to bring back some tradition.

And pop that jersey.

Ethan can be reached at [email protected] and @AsOfTheSky.