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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
Former Illini and Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon made his second Pro Bowl on Thursday in just his second season in the NFL.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. Congrats to Micah Stanford of the Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin boys’ basketball team and Samara McArthur of the Champaign Central girls’ basketball team. The duo is our latest High School Athletes of the Week, powered by Copper Creek Contractors. Read more about the pair in Monday’s News-Gazette.
➜ 2. Former Illini and Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon earned his second straight Pro Bowl honor, the NFL announced on Thursday.
➜ 3. The 24-year-old Witherspoon has 90 tackles, including six for loss, and seven passes defended this season. He is the first Illini since Dick Butkus ended his Illinois career in the mid-1960s to land a spot in the Pro Bowl in his first two NFL seasons.
Illinois coach Bret Bielema takes questions at Monday’s news conference in Orlando, Fla.
Numbers game: .560
winning percentage Bret Bielema has through his first 50 games coaching the Illinois football team. Of the 26 coaches the Illini have had, Bielema is only the 10th to actually coach 50 games at Illinois and his winning percentage after going 28-22 so far ranks third among those coaches, only trailing Robert Zuppke (35-10-5, .750) and Mike White (30-19-1, .610).
Shauna Green and the Illinois women’s basketball team hits the road to play at Minnesota on Sunday.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. Illinois at Minnesota women’s basketball. Shauna Green is 3-0 against Minnesota in her time coaching Illinois, but this year’s group of Gophers (14-1, 2-1 Big Ten) is riding a four-game win streak. Illinois (11-3, 1-2) will try to avoid its first losing streak of the season when the two teams tip at 2 p.m. Sunday in Minneapolis.
➜ 2. CBG Prep at Parkland men’s basketball. The fifth-ranked Cobras (13-1) play their first game in almost two weeks with a 6 p.m. tip Friday in Champaign.
➜ 3. Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers. Former Illini Chase Brown and Ted Karras try to keep Cincinnati’s slim playoff hopes intact when they clash with the Steelers at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Arthur Christian girls’ soccer coach Michael Robey, far right, and his team last spring.
Coach’s corner
Three questions with Arthur Christian girls’ soccer coach Michael Robey:
âžœ 1. My favorite sports team is … the United States women’s national soccer team.
âžœ 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … Emma Hayes, Deion Sanders and Phil Jackson.
âžœ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … being late.