Looks like 'March Sadness' again for Illinois schools - Chicago Sun-Times

Are you all jacked up for the tourney? Can’t wait for Selection Sunday? Got your March Madness mojo going?

Probably not if your favorite team is from our fine state.

When the bracket for the Big Dance is announced on Sunday, there's a chance the state of Illinois will be without a single entry for the NCAA Tournament. (UPDATED: With their win over Wisconsin today, U of I likely will keep the state from getting shutout.) I guess it’s not earth-shattering news when you consider if this happens it would be the second time in three years the tourney is not Ill.-equipped.

Whether it’s an aberration or growing trend, the dearth of home teams in the NCAA points to a sad state--ours--of affairs in hoopdom.

Since the tournament went to a 64-team field in 1985, Illinois has had a representative every year except 1999 and 2008. Before that, you have to go back to 1975â€"when the field was 32 teamsâ€"to find an Illinois-less tourney.

So, how can it be that a state so rich in basketball tradition can’t place one of its 13 Division I teams in the 64-team field? I could understand this happening in Delaware. But Illinois? Home to Chicago, Peoria, East St. Louis, Rockford, Aurora, Joliet and several other hoop hotbeds?

I guess you could say some of the best players in the country come out of Illinois.

Illinois grows and nurtures many blue-chip players who--for whatever reason--ply their trade elsewhere in college. Check out this out-of-state lineup, all who could go deep into the NCAA Tournament: Jon Scheyer, Duke (Glenbrook North); Sherron Collins, Kansas (Crane); Evan Turner, Ohio State (St. Joseph); Jerome Randle, California (Hales Franciscan) and Jacob Pullen, Kansas State (Proviso East).

This exodus of home-grown talent is nothing new for Illinois, but it does seem to be worsening in recent years. Several local players have had success in the NCAAs with out-of-state teams--Isiah Thomas (Indiana), Juwan Howard (Michigan) and Antoine Walker (Kentucky) to name a few. But there always seemed to be enough talent to go around to fill their voids. Lately, that’s not the case.

Let’s face it, the state of Illinois has not exactly been a juggernaut in the NCAAs, anyway. The state has one championship (Loyola 1963) and just three Final Four appearances in the last 46 years (Illinois 2005 and 1989, DePaul 1979). Four schools--Northwestern, Chicago State, Western Illinois, SIU-Edwardsville--have never made it. Illinois (28), DePaul (18), SIU (10) and Bradley (8) account for 64 of the state’s 82 appearances.

The few local teams that did have success in the NCAA were built around home-grown playersâ€"Mark Aguirre (Westinghouse) carried DePaul’s 1979 team to the Final Four; all of the main contributors--Kenny Battle (West Aurora), Nick Anderson (Simeon), Kendall Gill (Rich Central), Marcus Liberty (King), Stephen Bardo (Carbondale) and Lowell Hamilton (Providence St. Mel)--for the 1989 “Flying Illini” were from Illinois; and, four of the starters--James Augustine (Lincoln-Way Central), Dee Brown (Proviso East), Luther Head (Manley) and Roger Powell Jr. (Joliet Central)-- on Illinois’ 2005 second-place team were from Illinois.

The fact is, Illinois schools need to recruit and retain their natives if they ever hope to become a prominent player in the NCAA.

It’s really disappointing the state that coined the term “March Madness” will likely be on the sideline again for the Big Dance wallowing in “March Sadness.”

Here’s a look at the TOP 10 NCAA MOMENTS for Illinois schools.

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