Richardson focuses on schoolwork, basketball

Illinois' D.J. Richardson (1) controls the ball during the game against Vanderbilt at Assembly Hall on Tuesday, December 8. The Illini Defeated the Commodores 79-68.
Trevor Greene The Daily Illini

For most college freshmen, taking their first set of final exams is stressful enough. Add the pressure of starting in a home basketball game against Western Michigan on Sunday, and you have the situation Illinois guard D.J. Richardson finds himself in entering the weekend.

But with an A in rhetoric already in the books, this freshman isn’t stressing out about finals.

“I’m finishing up pretty strong, kind of like how I did in prep school,” Richardson said.

A product of Findlay College Prep in Henderson, Nev., Richardson is used to tough academics and athletics.

“I think with me being a good student inside the classroom is also helping me on the basketball court,” Richardson said.
For Richardson, the same skill applies in both cases.

“Just focus,” he said. “Focus on my work and just keeping me focused out here on the basketball court.”

Come Sunday, that focus will be centered on Western Michigan (3-3), which invades the Assembly Hall on the heels of a 69-58 victory at Eastern Illinois on Wednesday.

Illinois' Mike Tisdale (54) rebounds the ball during the game against Vanderbilt at Assembly Hall on Tuesday, December 8. The Illini Defeated the Commodores 79-68.
Trevor Greene The Daily Illini

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Against EIU, Broncos senior guard David Kool drilled a career-high eight 3-pointers en route to a 34-point performance.
Kool is averaging 23.2 points a game on the season to lead a group of three Broncos averaging double figures. Senior guard/forward Martelle McClemore joins Kool in averaging double-digit scoring with 13.3 points to go along with 7.2 rebounds.

Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins characterized Kool as a “scorer” more than a “shooter.” And Hawkins added that it is Kool’s style of play that keeps the rest of the Broncos offense involved.

“He’s a very unselfish player,” Hawkins said. “We play off of David, David attracts a lot of attention. But at the same time, he’s able to get others involved and we are able to get others involved, a lot of times because of the attention that David draws.”

Following Tuesday’s victory against Vanderbilt, Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said the Broncos would provide a good barometer for his squad’s progress.

“One of the keys will be to play well on Sunday,” Weber said. “We’ll see how much, how far we’ve come and matured. Because Western Michigan will make us play, there’s no doubt about it.”

If the Fighting Illini learned one thing in their close victory over Boise State last Saturday, it was that they can’t afford to take a night off.

“Sometimes you get so hyped for some games and then the next game it seems like we should beat this team, it doesn’t matter,” junior center Mike Tisdale said. “But we’re starting to get better at it I think.

“Hopefully somewhere in here we’ll find a way to come out and get ready for all the games,” Tisdale added.

Weber has his own reasons for wanting to see the Illini come out with increased energy and grab the early lead this Sunday, as several key members of the Illini bench never saw the court on Tuesday.

Freshman forward Tyler Griffey and junior guard Alex Legion didn’t play against Vanderbilt, but Weber wants to get both back in the rotation against Western Michigan.

“I got to get Alex back involved, I got to get Tyler back involved,” Weber said.

“And that’s where Sunday’s so key for everybody to play good — to get those guys some minutes.”

Richardson agreed that the starters need to set the pace out of the gates.

“We got to set the tone at the beginning of the game, start the tone so they see we’re ready to play and ready to win,” Richardson said. “Never know, they might shut down early.”