Illinois men's basketball team will travel to Italy for a series of games in August, the school announced on Wednesday.

The Illini will hold 10 practices before departing for Italy on Aug. 10. They are expected to play four to five Italian professional teams and visit Como, Florence, Rome and Venice before returning on Aug. 20.

"We are excited about taking our team to Italy in August," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said in a statement. "It's a great opportunity for us to come together as a team and learn more about each other. With six new players joining the roster, we feel it's extremely important for us to take advantage of this trip heading into next season."

The NCAA allows teams to travel internationally once every four years.

The Illini graduated four starters and lost freshman Jereme Richmond to the NBA draft from last year's NCAA tournament team. They will return sophomore guards Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson, the team's fourth and fifth leading scorers, and welcome six newcomers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/ncb/n ... id=6437609

Belleville East junior guard Malcolm Hill committed to Illinois on Monday. Hill, a 6-foot-5 guard, chose the Illini over Kansas State, Missouri and Xavier. He is ranked No. 58 in the Class of 2013 ESPNU Super 60 and the No. 13 shooting guard in the class.

Reason to worry for Illinois?

Illinois enters the 2011-12 season with heightened expectations on the heels of a run to the Round of 32 in last year's NCAA Tournament. They may already have a potential obstacle to deal with though.

Shannon Ryan of the Chicago Tribune points out on twitter today that PG Sam Maniscalco is expected to see limited minutes in the team's matchup with Loyola on Friday. The transfer from Bradley is recovering from an ankle injury and still working his way back to full strength.

Maniscalco has only one year of eligibility remaining but is seen by many as the man who will step in and handle a good amount of the point guard duties with the departure of Demetri McCamey. Tracy Abrams is in the mix as well, but he's an unproven freshman. This could simply be the next step in Maniscalco's recovery. But if the injury lingers, it could cause the Illini some problems.

Another potential option for Bruce Weber to consider is 6-foot-5 sophomore Joseph Bertrand, who has played very well in exhibition games. Bertrand is an athlete with great size for the position, and may be used to help out at the point if necessary.

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/features/rumors

The Stache wrote:Yeah, did you watch the game cubbie? Leonard was fantastic. He looked dominant. Of course it didn't hurt that Richmond didn't have a guy taller than 6-9.

Fun team to watch. I still think there will be growing pains, but I really like what I see.

cubbiefan009 wrote:Stache, if you read this before tonight's game will this one be televised?