It's hard to believe it's been 19 years since the Illini made it this far.
Yes, 19 years. Years now only of consisting of... yesterdays. And in the immortal words of Chad & Jeremy... Yesterday’s Gone.
Those 19 years for the Illini are in the record books. Locked away and immutable. Memories within the collective mind and minds of Illini Nation. Memories and images of games and players and times shared that will become more distant and dim a bit as time marches on.
The lesson? The Illini did not have the success that we around-these-here parts wanted them to have. For reasons well documented and opined upon within these hallowed pages.
The other lesson? We have another 19 years just ahead. Fresh and untouched. Futures and legacies to be lived and determined. Some players even that have yet to be born.
It is conceivable that the Illini will struggle in the next 19 years as they did at times in the last 19. A welcome transfusion of fresh Blue Blood has been injected into the veins of the Illini roundball program that should provide ongoing and sustainable success as we have enjoyed in the past season.
Players will change. Coaches will change. There will be years of great success and years that are more challenged.
But our faith in this program and the joy we feel right now has been restored and reignited. Orange shines brighter from the prairies of Illini and illuminating out to all corners of our World.
There will be countless practices. There will the constant drumbeat of ball against floor. Of shots tickling the twine and clanging off the rim. In other words... the soundtrack of any roundballer’s life. Lots of smiles and hugging. Lots of frustration and arms waving. But a great sense of purpose and direction.
And we will be here -- Illini Nation. We in all our generations and places of life. In big cities and small towns and on hard-working farmland. All united in our love for all things Illini Basketball.
Let’s all enjoy the next 19 years with the great joy and success we feel today. And with so many shiny things to put in trophy cases that they’ll have to build a new wing to house them all.