A Night of Legends.

Recently, I pretty much lucked into an event at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was at the Assembly Hall and was titled "A Night of Legends". The basketball program had deemed it time to hang some famous jersey numbers, and they wanted to invite everyone to watch, with an all-star UofI basketball game thrown in for fun.




Not only did we get to see a game played by such UofI stars as - [from the News-Gazette] "There could be some no-shows, and some unexpecteds, but the rosters (or confirmed attendees) for A Night of Legends at the Assembly Hall are taking shape. Players who have said they'll be there Saturday include four of the five starters from '04-05: Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Luther Head, Roger Powell." [...And] members of the 1989 Final Four squad who have said they'll be there: Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson, Stephen Bardo, Kenny Battle, Marcus Liberty and Larry Smith. Then some others, spanning the Kruger-Self-Weber years: Kiwane Garris, Brian Cook, Frank Williams, Jerry Hester, Jarrod Gee, Kevin Turner, Lucas Johnson, Cory Bradford, Sergio McClain, Sean Harrington, Jerrance Howard and Victor Chukwudebe."

But we also got to see (from afar) Deron Williams' Men's Olympic Basketball Gold Medal and a very nice ceremony for the unveiling of the jerseys, done by each player or one of their living family members (some of the jerseys were from players in the 30s and 40s). All in all, a pretty cool, historical night to be a part of.

[I know, crap pic]

We also found a new place to hit before events at the Assembly Hall - Houlihan's. I know, I know, you're thinking "Houlihan's?" - but the food was good and better yet, you can arrive early for dinner, park in their lot, then literally walk across the street to Assembly Hall. The restaurant is part of a new conference center and hotel, just south of Assembly Hall.