Sports of All Sorts

Where's Jolette Law? Everywhere

Posted by: Tony Bleill

Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:46 PM

Can't turn on the TV these days without getting a glimpse of UI women's coach Jolette Law. Watched the UConn-Rutgers game from Greensboro, N.C., and there's a shot of Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer ... with Jolette Law in the background, sitting on press row behind the Rutgers bench.

Watched the WNBA draft on Wednesday, and there's a shot of Rutgers guard Matee Ajavon, selected third by Minnesota, hugging Stringer, friends and family, and ... Law.

Must be good exposure for the UI program to have its coach on TV so much. The next step, of course, is getting on TV for something related to Illinois.

--Speaking of the draft ... it was held at a swanky place named Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, near Tampa. And it happens to be owned by Sheila Johnson, a UI alum and the ex-wife of Bob Johnson, who also attended Illinois. Sheila Johnson is the primary owner of the Washington Mystics.

If you're an Illinois fan, aren't you hoping that Law and Johnson struck up a conversation in that room at some point, perhaps with the coach trying to entice Johnson to write a nice check to benefit her old school's women's hoops program? Just a thought.

--My pick for the sleeper of the draft: North Carolina's lanky, athletic LaToya Pringle. And keep an eye on Tasha Humphrey, who could be a dominant star in the WNBA if she puts her mind to it.

One final note: West Virginia's Olayinka Sanni, the sister of incoming UI football recruit Supo Sanni, was drafted 18th overall by Detroit.

--Congrats to Tennessee on its eighth national championship, but the last two NCAA tournaments have reinforced the notion that being lucky -- and getting the right matchup at the right time -- is just as important as being good.

Tennessee won it last year, too, when the Vols weren't the best team. That distinction belonged to Duke, which clubbed the Vols in Knoxville during the regular season but lost a heartbreaker to Rutgers in the regional final. I'll give credit to Candace Parker for acknowledging after the season that her team wasn't, in fact, the best team last year. But the Vols were in the right place at the right time to benefit from North Carolina's collapse in the national semifinals, then they did just enough to get past Rutgers in the final.

Fast forward to this season, and the Vols win it again without having the best team. That was Connecticut, which managed most of the season to withstand the loss of two starters to season-ending injuries ... until Stanford pulled the plug. Meanwhile, Tennessee lost a regular season game at Stanford, was demolished on its home court by LSU, received a gift victory at home against Rutgers and looked much of the season like it was uninspired.

But when the tournament arrived, the Vols kicked it up a notch, and it helped that they had the best draw in the entire bracket. The credit goes to Parker, who overcame a painful shoulder injury to lead her gritty team to a title. They weren't the best, but they got it done when it counted, and that's what matters most.

--Speaking of the SEC ... don't look now, but next season will be the league's weakest in recent memory. Tennessee loses five starters, including four players who were selected in the top 16 of Wednesday's draft. LSU, the other league heavyweight, is hit just as hard by graduation. Both schools have big-time recruiting classes coming in, and that talent will sustain them, but not at a championship level next season. If either is in the Final Four next April, it will be a significant upset.

Yes, the SEC has taken a step back. But not to the level of the Big Ten, of course ...

--You might have noticed recently that Ball State coach Tracy Roller resigned under strange circumstances, citing an undisclosed illness that she would only say was "mental" in nature.

Lisa McDonald has been named interim coach, which has repercussions for some UI connections. Former Theresa Grentz assistant Marsha Frese is a member of Roller's staff, although Frese has been reported as having applied for head coaching jobs at North Dakota State, Toledo and Youngstown State.

In addition, former Illini Danielle Gratton -- who followed Frese to Ball State after Grentz's departure last spring -- will become eligible in the fall after sitting out this season due to transfer rules.

--The annual UI banquet is Sunday at the Champaign Country Club.

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