October 7.
It has been more than a month since Tremaine Mills leapt back through his freshman year in college, after collapsing at the end of a professional basketball championship game.
He can proudly say that he's once again gotten accustomed, and adjusted to the collegiate life and style he's once again living.
Living in a dorm, avoiding college frat parties, eating instant food, wondering why you'd gone to college, studying to reach the minimum GPA requirements, sleeping late to cram, and cutting classes…
He never thought he'd be able to live like this again.
Of course, not to be forgotten were the training drills of every single morning.
Circuit training, core workouts, lifting, and the daily jog. And all the other personalized training regimen the fitness coaches put them through every single day.
But now, starting today, the team could now move forward with their real preseason program according to the NCAA rules.
They started today with the two measurements, like height, and weight.
180 centimeters, 73 kilograms.
Tremaine was satisfied with his preliminary numbers, since he's actively building his muscle, he's still growing naturally (he was hoping he'd gain a few more centimeters), and he's just started on his road to better his physique.
Then, Coach Michael arrived shortly after the testing.
Throughout the last month or so, Tremaine was reminded how much of a wasted opportunity getting kicked out of the Illinois basketball program actually was for him. It was no shocker then, that he thought he might've had the chance to reach the NBA had he not done what he did before and stayed.
He's slowly but surely improving every facet of his game. However, most of his time had been focused on the physical aspect of his game. He might not directly improve his lack of height, but attributes like jumping reach, strength, stamina, and agility could be improved on the long term. Oh, he's also been firing away hundreds of three pointers everyday.
But now that the team could practice officially on weekdays, Head Coach Michael Roughan can finally do something stupid to suit his unusual tastes.
"Legend, and Khalil, choose eight people each, one at a time. We'll be having an intra squad scrimmage." The entire six man coaching staff of the men's basketball team was holding their tablet computers to take notes on their initial impressions. "A full two, twenty minute halves scrimmage, enough for all of us to assess what would be the starting point for every single one of you this season."
Legend had returned to full fitness around a week ago, just in time before true practices began. His shoulder had been cleared for full basketball use by the specialists that operated on him, and he's ready to show their detractors that last season's Sweet Sixteen appearance was never a fluke.
One by one, the two scrim captains selected their favored rosters, until there were only freshmen left.
"Hmmm… who among these freshmen do I need?" Legend mulled about it seriously, especially on intra squad scrimmages like these, the Illini always had food at stake. "I take, Tre."
Khalil was crestfallen. He should've chosen Tre one round earlier, but he never realized that even their captain favored him! What a miscalculation on his part!
Dejected, he had no choice but to choose his next best bet, "Deshaun, come on out here!"
After two more rounds of selection, the nine versus nine scrimmage was all set to begin.
"Upperclassmen, play as if your opponents were Duke. Freshmen, play as if it was your first ever collegiate game."
When the upperclassmen heard Duke, it was as if a fire was lit under their bellies. The atmosphere within the team ignited into spitting flames, like a raging inferno of desperation and revenge.
Tremaine was not surprised, given the humiliation last year's team received at the hands of the eventual national champions, it's no wonder why they would react like this at a single mention of their vanquishers.
Tremaine knew he had to give it his all too.
"Onto your benches. We'll start in five minutes."
The coaches retreated to the other side of the floor, and a referee, who was surprisingly one of their two fitness coaches, changed his shirt to a referee's black and white striped uniform.
Five minutes later, the two sides stood at the edge of the center circle of the hardwood floor, with the two captains, both towering at seven feet tall, standing square at the center line.
The two shining stars of the team battled it out from the opening tip, with Khalil managing to gain the upper hand due to the slight skew of the ball thrown.
Miguel Montero, the Mexican Moustache, as the Illinois faithful affectionately called him in games, took possession as the lead guard. He attacked the right side of his opposing number Ryan Brown at will, showcasing his tight handle and breakaway speed.
A neat wrap around pass to the wide open Lamont Harris was a perfect punctuation to a good start. Harris buried the three without any difficulty.
From then onwards, the game progressed at breakneck speed. Both of the two teams seemed unwilling enough to use the entirety of their twenty-five second shot clocks.
Such is the way the game is played in the modern era.
The speed at which plays develop, decided, and done were all faster than ever. Analytics had come a long way from its infancy several decades ago, and the efficiency of the way basketball players create plays had become more clear cut.
Three point shooting was almost an absolute necessity in a prospect's game, with very few exceptions to the rule.
For Tremaine, the three most important attributes for the modern game was, three point marksmanship, accurate decision making, and copious amounts of stamina.
If you have those, you'll thrive.
Six minutes in, and Legend's crew had raced out to a 15-6 lead. It was a lead that could be erased in three possessions, but it was also a lead that could balloon into an insurmountable one in a few.
Ryan, Jaylen, and Legend formed the three headed monster that was suffocating Khalil's roster with their length, and disruptive defensive instincts.
The other two were no slouch, either. Caleb Wilson is an above-average defender… if he puts in the effort—which he's currently doing right now— and Quandre Thornton, a rough and tumble sophomore big man from Chicago's dangerous neighborhoods, could also defend well… if he could avoid foul trouble in the process.
They've already forced four turnovers in the opening minutes, and stifled several fast break opportunities because of their quick twitch defense.
Miguel ran through Khalil's tough screen, but as Khalil rolled to the basket, what awaited him was Jaylen and Legend.
"Shit!" The drop pass was intercepted by Legend, who immediately started the break with a long one handed throw to Ryan, who'd raced out earlier than anyone expected.
He casually laid the ball into the basket as Khalil was forced to call a badly needed timeout.
"We've been forced to run in circles." Khalil was calm, even if his voice was already cracking. "Two threes in six minutes was never enough. Since we also need to shut three monsters down."
Khalil thought for a moment as he caught his breath.
He smiled, "Alright guys, change of plans."