SPORTS
This is the first in a series of previews about the Big Ten mens basketball teams.
Basketball coaches use various methods to inspire their teams.
Some offer rewards for maximum effort, while others believe in military-style discipline.
New Illinois head coach Bill Self came to practice early this fall wearing army fatigues, with a T-shirt reading War and war paint on his face.
It was the last day of a two-week preseason training session that Self dubbed Boot Camp, a name the former Tulsa coach said was inspired by one of his assistants.
I was trying to loosen them up and show our team that we need to have fun doing whatever were doing, Self said of the suicide drills the Fighting Illini were performing.
Illini players said they couldnt imagine former coach Lon Kruger dressing in army duds.
That was crazy, said Illinois forward and emotional leader Sergio McClain.