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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
Joey Wright
Centennial spring sports athletes at The News-Gazette’s Faces of Spring event in 2024. The annual media day in Champaign will take place again this Sunday for area high school spring sport athletes.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. The News-Gazette’s annual Faces of the Spring event recognizing hundreds of high school athletes takes place this Sunday at our Champaign office. Coaches and athletic directors, please let me know if you have any questions.
➜ 2. You still have until noon on Thursday to vote right here for our latest high school Athletes of the Week, which will be two wrestlers this week.
➜ 3. The boys’ finalists are wrestlers Marco Casillas (Mahomet-Seymour), Abram Davidson (Unity), Charlie Flores (Hoopeston Area) and Brady Mouser (LeRoy/Tri-Valley). The girls’ finalists are wrestlers Ava Beldo (Centennial), Chloe Hoselton (Prairie Central), Rickasia Ivy (Urbana) and Anna Vasey (Unity).
Former Illinois baseball coach Itch Jones died on Monday. He was 87 years old.
Numbers game: 9
Hall of Fames the late Itch Jones is a member of. The former Illini baseball coach, who died on Monday at the age of 87, is in the Herrin High School, Jacksonville High School, MacMurray College, Southern Illinois University athletics, Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association, American Baseball Coaches Association, St. Louis Area Sports and Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fames.
UCLA guards Kiki Rice, left, and Avary Cain will host the Illini women’s basketball team on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. No. 25 Illinois at No. 3 UCLA women’s basketball. The Top 25 showdown at 8:30 p.m. Thursday is the third trip for the Illini to Los Angeles to play the Bruins. Illinois is 1-1 in its previous road games against UCLA, winning 64-63 in 1985 and losing 68-56 in 2003.
➜ 2. The IHSA boys’ wrestling state finals. The action begins at noon on Thursday at State Farm Center in Champaign with first-round matches for all three classes before the 1A and 2A quarterfinals begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
➜ 3. Arcola at Tuscola girls’ basketball. Cola Wars for a Class 1A regional title when Tuscola (17-13) hosts Arcola (21-9) at 7 p.m. Thursday. Enjoy.
LeRoy baseball coach Wayne Meyer.
Coach’s corner
Three questions with LeRoy baseball coach Wayne Meyer, who has coached the Panthers since 1996:
➜ 1. My favorite sports team is … the Chicago White Sox.
➜ 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … Bobby Cox, Rick Pitino and Jim Harbaugh.
➜ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … people driving slowly in the left lane of the interstate and not moving back to the right lane despite countless opportunities.