He’s always been a giant, but Illinois basketball senior Mike Tisdale continues to get bigger with the weight he’s put on this summer.

The 7-foot-1 center needed every ounce of his now 253-pound frame when he went up against some of the NBA’s best big men.

Tisdale and 19 of the nation’s top collegiate players teamed up on the USA Men’s Basketball Select Team to help prepare the national team for its upcoming slate of matches in August at the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey.

“It’s so far the best basketball experience I’ve had,” Tisdale said. “Playing the best in the world and playing with some of the best college guys was an amazing experience.”

Tisdale said knowing he could hold his own against the top players also gave him a big boost of confidence. The biggest change to go through was adjusting to the speed of the other players and the different style of FIBA international basketball.

One of Tisdale’s biggest assets was his added strength, as it allowed him to make an impact on the floor noticed by others.

“Everybody, even some of the NBA guys, said, ‘Wow, this guy has put on quite a bit of weight since the end of the season,’” Tisdale said. “Rebounding against Kevin Love is not easy. He’s one of the best, so the extra weight helped me use it to my advantage.”

Tisdale held his own, though, shooting the ball well and adding a few dunks and blocks. He said his favorite one of those was swatting away a shot into the backboard from the Boston Celtics’ Rajon Rondo.

“We were talking a little bit and just messing around,” Tisdale said. “He drove to the basket, got past somebody and tried to flip up that shot. I just happened to get a hand on it.”

A typical day for Tisdale in Las Vegas consisted of scrimmaging with the Select Team for about an hour, doing some drills and then taking on the national squad, which meant going up against star forwards and centers like Brook Lopez, Lamar Odom and Love.

Away from the court, some of the players would go to the casinos, though the 20-year-old Tisdale said he didn’t do any gambling.

Big crowds formed around the NBA players that did gamble, and Tisdale said he ran into some Illini fans from Chicago that recognized him.

Before the national team departs for Turkey, Tisdale will go to New York with nine other players to help prepare the now 15-person squad once more.