Brandon Paul doing everything for Illini

Paul credits much of his basketball success to his mother, Lynda, who played at Ball State and coached her son at the AAU level for years. His brother, Darius, is a freshman at Western Michigan and also played for their mother with the HoopStars program.

"She has a tremendous passion for the game," Brandon said. "There's no doubt she's my biggest fan. She told me she knew I could score at a young age but told me to value defense as much as offense and helped me to be a better defender."

Durando