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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at large:
Illinois announced longtime broadcaster (and former coach) Bill Raftery and current Oakland coach Greg Kampe as the featured guests for this year's Kickin' Cancer event early in the week. Turns out they'll be joined by one more ... every Illini fan's favorite official Bo Boroski.
I always tweet out the officials ahead of every Illinois game. The reaction when Boroski was on the crew was fairly standard. Think epic meltdown. The kind Courtney Green now receives with Boroski having hung up his whistle a couple seasons ago.
Here's the deal, though. A secret that might not be so well received. *Whispers* Boroski was actually a good official. Not only that, coaches liked him. Including Brad Underwood. The photo running with this morning's hoops missive might not give off that vibe — heat of the moment, you know — but Boroski had coaches' respect because he was a good communicator. He'd talk about calls made (or missed).
So the stories should be good Tuesday at Gordyville USA for Illinois' annual Coaches vs. Cancer event. Limited tickets are still available if you want to be there to hear them.
