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Asmussen | The pro knows what it takes to make it in the NBA

bob asmussen, the news-gazette, champaign-urbana, ill.
·4 min read
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Jul. 11—The Illinois men's basketball media guide dedicates a page to those from the program who made it to the NBA. It is a long list, going from Nick Anderson to Frank Williams. Both were first-round draft picks.

Current players in the NBA with Illini ties are designated by bold type. That list isn't very long. Three for last season: Ayo Dosunmu, Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn, the last of whom finished his college carer at Oakland.

Kendall Gill wants to see more paying for play.

"It makes me feel like we've had a little bit of a drought," Gill told me Monday at the U of I Golf Course in Savoy. "We have Ayo in the league right now who is solid, who is going to have a 10-year NBA career."

Gill was back in the area, hosting his annual golf outing to benefit Cunningham Children's Home.

Two current Illini — Terrence Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins — were originally going to be part of this year's NBA draft before withdrawing to return for another season.

"Honestly, I felt that they really weren't ready at this point to make the leap, but everybody is entitled to their own decision," Gill said. "But I'm glad that they realized they needed another year and they came back. Next year, they possibly could be ready to go."

That Shannon and Hawkins were able to test their NBA value before going all in is a positive, Gill said.

"I didn't have that option," he said.

Successful run

Hard to believe it has been 33 years since Gill finished his stellar college career for the late Lou Henson.

Gill played all four years at Illinois, then started a 15-year career in the NBA that included eight stops.

Gill considered leaving college after his junior year to enter the NBA draft. His dad, Rudy, was against the idea and told Kendall.

"He said, 'You're not ready yet,'" Gill said.

Dad knew best. Instead of being picked late in the first round after the 1989 season, Gill went No. 5 overall in 1900.

Only one Illinois player has ever been picked higher: Deron Williams, who went No. 3 overall in 2005 to Utah.

During his time a Illinois, Gill was surrounded by NBA-caliber players. Off the 1988-89 team alone, Gill, Anderson, Kenny Battle, Stephen Bardo and Marcus Liberty played in the NBA. Gill spent time earlier in his Illinois career with future pro Ken Norman.

That's a lot of guys in the NBA at the same time. Can Illinois get back to those numbers?

"I think that we can if we continue to recruit our region," Gill said. "If we can get those guys out of the state of Illinois to come to the University of Illinois, we can do it."

Different goals

For the top players today, the idea is to stay in college for as little time as possible. Gill doesn't think that is always the right move.

He mentioned UCLA's Jaime Jaquez Jr., who played four years for the Bruins and was still picked No. 18 overall by the Heat.

"That's one of the things that I think would help Illinois, if we could get four-year guys and then go to the pros," Gill said. "Then you'll start seeing four or five guys from Illinois in the league."

And that matters to the program. The more times the coaching staff can point to the NBA and say "that's our guy," the more attractive it becomes to the next wave of great players.

His four years at Illinois set up Gill for the next level.

"It totally made the difference," he said. "I would not have been ready my freshman, sophomore or junior year emotionally, physically.

"You look at Ayo, who stayed three years. That's kind of long in today's era. He's a productive player who had a great rookie (season in the NBA), had a very good sophomore (season). I'm looking forward to his third year."

Gill, who works as a pregame, halftime and postgame analyst for the Chicago Bulls, hopes Dosunmu returns to the team. He's presently a restricted free agent who has yet to re-sign.

One-time Illini Brandin Podziemski was picked in the first round of this year's draft after a transfer and a stellar season at Santa Clara.

"He could have done the same thing here," Gill said. "Just wait your turn. I had to wait my turn. My freshman year, I didn't start, My sophomore year, started sparingly. My junior year, it was my turn. That's what happened."