Tom Dienhart

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois coach Ron Zook didn't want me to leave, but I had to. It was getting late, and I faced a three-hour drive back to St. Louis.

"Come on, you can spend the night here," Zook offered.

Believe me, I wish I could have stayed longer. Things were just getting heated up at the Zooker's crib. Assistant Jim Pry had broken out an out-of-tune guitar in Zook's basement and was getting ready to lead a band of fellow Illini coaches and select media gathered in song.

It was a fun night. There were good eats and fellowship. There also was a heaping helping of Illini football talk.

This could be the year Zook gets the Illini back on their feet, the thinking goes. Then again, it could be another flop. Regardless, Champaign, Ill., is atwitter with what's going on among the cornfields of the heartland.

There's a multimillion dollar renovation of the Memorial Stadium, one of America's classic venues. But, more than anything, there's the cache of mega talent that just got unloaded this week. Players like wiedout Regis Benn, defensive end/linebacker Martez Wilson and defensive tackle DeAngelo McCray have Illinois looking like a Big Ten program on the rise. Lord knows the Illini need something to get excited about. The school has the worst record in the Big Ten over the past five years: 13-45.

That talent haul didn't go unnoticed across the nation. In fact, many wondered how Zook was able to lure blue chippers to a black and blue program that has won just four games -- one in the Big Ten -- in Zook's two years. The New York Times did its best to unearth dirty deeds, but nothing was found.

"I had that paper call me last winter," a Big Ten assistant at another school told me earlier this summer. "But I told them I didn't know anything. I don't know what they were getting after."

The best the Times could do was get a sour grapes quote from fired Michigan State coach John L. Smith: "If they had a winning program and all of that, it would be a different deal. If they had the greatest facilities in the world, then maybe they could sell them. But what are they selling? ... Where there's smoke, there's probably fire."

Zook has put it all behind him as he begins preparations for 2007. He knows others are watching his Illini. He also knows he's famous for his rabid recruiting style. His personality and enthusiasm are infectious.

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Picture collages on his basement walls show Zook at various stages of his career. In most, Zook is yelling, jumping for joy. I love the one of him as an assistant at Tennessee in the 1980s. He's jumping sky high on the sidelines. His white belt is from an era gone by.

And there are several shots of him as head coach at Florida, pumping his fists and always coaching up his team. They were good days. They were hard days. But remember this: That Gator team that won the national championship last January was almost exclusively compose of players he recruited.

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"I had Chris Leak spend the night here not too long ago on his way to the Chicago Bears," says Zook. "He's a good kid who had a heck of a year.

"But let me tell you, this kid we have now at quarterback (Juice Williams) is more talented. He's coming along. We probably played him too early, but we had to."

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Zook shrugs his shoulders and take swig of his Coca-Cola. He knows it's all part of a building process. His first year featured blowout losses (61-14 to Michigan State; 63-10 to Penn State; 40-2 to Ohio State). His second year featured close losses (30-24 to Wisconsin; 34-32 to Indiana; 17-10 to Ohio State).

This year, the plan is to sneak out some close wins and get to the school's first bowl since 2001.

"We have a hard-working staff, Tom," says Zook. "We're gonna get it done."