Profile Day It's Sunday on a weekend the Fighting Illini basketball team has off, so that means that it must be time for newspaper profile pieces. There's Deron Williams and James Augustine; both of which must have been written a while ago since the press has been cut off from the Illini players since Thursday night following the win over Iowa.

Coach Bruce Weber likes to say Brown "is the poster child for Illinois basketball.'' And Luther Head has emerged as the Illini's top scorer. But Williams, in his quiet and understated way, remains Illinois' most important player. That comes from Deron doing it all for No. 1 Illini, an article in the Chicago Sun-Times by veteran sports writer Herb Gould. The profile of the pre-season Big Ten player of the year includes everything from Williams' stat line to his upbringing and features interviews with Bill Self, his mother and his girlfriend.

Marlen Garcia of the Chicago Tribune looks at James Augustine here. Garcia discusses the media consensus of Augustine's inconsistent play, a subject that Illini Wonk is growing increasingly tired of. Augustine is averaging 9.8 points and 7.7 rebounds on the #1 team in the nation...a team that doesn't need him to score. In the profile, Augustine has the following quote: "Coach always talks about knowing your role," Augustine said. "I see myself as just playing defense, rebounding and scoring a couple points when we really need it."
  posted by Illiniwonk at 1:33 PM