McBride Is A Special Player

The Illinois staff was full of smiles this past weekend at the Three Stripes tournament. First of all, the Illinois AAU teams are stacked with great division one talent. And second, they had an opportunity to watch one of their recruits, Richard McBride, excel against some of top competition that was competing on the campus of Hofstra University.

Back in mid-June, McBride gave head coach Bill Self a verbal commitment. McBride, a 6-3, 190 pound shooting guard from Lanphier H.S. in Springfield, Ill., has the total game. And when both parts are in perfect motion, he is unstoppable as he showed against Sam Rines during a 78-75 loss.

McBride did everything he was asked to on the court that night at the Three Stripes event. He hit six three-pointers and attacked the basket aggressively. He finished the game with 34 points.

McBride is a winner for sure. He told us when he committed to Illinois he felt Self's team had a chance to win a National Championship. He repeated those same thoughts this past weekend. "The team they will have when I come in is very good," McBride said. "I wanted to play at a high level but I want to win too. And Illinois is the perfect school for me."

McBride also said a chance to perform in front of friends and family also led to his verbal commitment to the Illinois basketball program.

Other games of note this past weekend for Richard McBride:

Versus Los Angeles Rockfish -- 23 points, three three-pointers...

Versus the Illinois Fire -- 29 points, four three-pointers

Versus the Michigan Mustangs -- 22 points, one three-pointer