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Jake Fischer: Sources: Neel Ganta is departing the Denver Nuggets’ front office to become the new general manager of Illinois men’s basketball. Ganta returns to the Illini program after previously serving as a graduate assistant.
A familiar face made his return to Champaign over the weekend. Chicago Bulls guard and former Illini basketball star Ayo Dosunmu met with fans on Saturday at the Gameday Spirit Store on Neil Street. People lined up for pictures and autographs with the Illini great.
When Brandin Podziemski opted to transfer from Illinois to Santa Clara last summer, there was anything but a buzz in the college men’s basketball community. And that’s understandable. Podziemski had played one season for the Illini, one uneventful season. He averaged a meager 1.4 points a game. Fast forward to today and there is plenty of buzz surrounding Podziemski. He is, in some NBA officials eyes, one of the most intriguing players in this year’s NBA draft “He’s pretty much come out of nowhere,’’ an NBA scout said of Podziemski, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard. “I have him going early in the second round of the draft; Last year, I didn’t even have him on my draft list. “He’s a good player. He’s a very good shooter, one of the better ones in the draft. He has good court vision. He’s not real athletic but I think he’s crafty enough to overcome that. “Like I said, I have him near the top of the second round, but I know some guys (NBA officials) who rank him higher.’’
Illinois star big man Kofi Cockburn, a two-time consensus All-American with the Fighting Illini, announced Wednesday he will forgo his remaining college eligibility and is entering the 2022 NBA Draft. Cockburn, a dominant 7-footer, was one of only four players in college hoops last season to average a double-double in points and rebounds, with 20.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.
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Armando Sanchez: Chicago Bulls guard and former Illini basketball player Ayo Dosunmu attends a retiring ceremony for his jersey during half time between Illinois and the Maryland Terrapins at the State Farm Center Thursday in Champaign. His parents and Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan attended.
Josh Frydman: Former #Illini basketball forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili worked out for the #Bulls last night and today, per source. He has also worked out for the Bucks, Lakers, Grizzlies and Hawks leading up to the draft. @WGNNews
Fighting Illini senior Trent Frazier is now the third player on the team to declare for the 2021 NBA Draft. Frazier joins Ayo Dosunmu and Giorgi Bezhanishvili as 2021 draft entrants. He is the second to confirm he plans to hire an agent, joining Dosunmu in that regard.
Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu announced Friday he is withdrawing his name from the NBA draft and returning to the Fighting Illini for his junior season. "Since a kid, I've been working, my dream is to play in the NBA. But first, I need that national championship," Dosunmu said in a video posted to Twitter. "Year 3."
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Illinois Fighting Illini sophomore center Meyers Leonard has declared for the NBA draft and will forego his final two collegiate seasons, the school announced on Monday.
Amy Williams didn't exactly choose this life. She didn't know her boyfriend - they've been friends since grade school - was going to be an NBA star, or even a college star. Nobody knew. When they first began dating, Williams was a just a top-100 recruit, an overlooked guard on a stacked high school team in a suburb of Dallas. He was more crapshoot than sure thing. Amy was just 17 and pregnant with their first child. But if instincts and odds were directing her elsewhere, Amy held the burgeoning family together. When their daughter, Denae, was born in 2003, Deron became a teenaged dad with no money. Amy would drive over 800 miles from Dallas to Illinois, where Deron was playing for the Fighting Illini, on the weekends. There, she would share a dorm room with her baby, Williams and his teammates. It was the foundation of a relationship, Amy says, even if the timeline was imperfect. Commitment and marriage came later.
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