Good Morning, Illini Nation: Huh?

Nov. 24—I’ll be honest. I didn’t have Illinois catching a stray from — checks notes — Ed Cooley on Saturday. But that’s exactly what happened after Georgetown beat Saint Francis (Pa.) yesterday afternoon.

Cue the tape …

You’ll be unsurprised to hear that Cooley almost immediately sent out an apology on Twitter. Or was almost certainly told to do so.

“My comment today was said in jest with one of my players, but I admit it was a poor choice of words,” the Georgetown coach tweeted. “I have the utmost respect for the University of Illinois, its men’s basketball program, coaches and players.”

That definitely reads like it was generated by Georgetown’s media relations.

The real question is why Cooley went down that path. Maybe he’s still a little salty that Illinois flipped Jayden Epps from Providence when Cooley was still coaching the Friars. Maybe he’s got buyer’s remorse after leaving Providence — his hometown school — to take the Georgetown job.

Because the Hoyas went 9-23 in Cooley’s first season last year. They only won two Big East games, and both of those were against DePaul.

Anyway, let’s add some context to the Epps of it all. The former Illinois guard started 11 of 31 games in 2022-23 and averaged 9.5 points. Then he hit the transfer portal looking for a different role he wasn’t going to have in Champaign. Especially once Terrence Shannon Jr. decided to return.

Epps got that role with Georgetown last season, averaging 18.5 points on nearly 16 shots per game for one of the worst power conference teams in the country. And Illinois went to the Elite Eight behind Shannon and Marcus Domask.

Everybody won.

Meanwhile, Illinois coach Brad Underwood was unbothered by Cooley’s opinion on his “bull— program.” At least publicly.

“That’s not even worth wasting my time on,” told reporters after the Illini beat Maryland-Eastern Shore later Saturday. “I don’t know what he was referencing that about. Jayden had a productive freshman year here. I’m not getting into all that. I’ll…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/good-morning-illini-nation-huh-154700650.html

Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Publish date : 2024-11-24 15:47:00

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