Will County Gazette

During his first year at the University of Illinois, Aaron Jordan found a new friend: the weight room.

The Plainfield native told the Will County Gazette that “once you start lifting, it's just like, you just get addicted.” That's a good addiction to have, since Jordan went from starring on the basketball court for Plainfield East to battling in the Big Ten Conference in less than a year as a member of the Illini men's basketball team.

“It's not called the Big Ten for no reason,” Jordan said. “These guys are pretty big, and just being out there bouncing off of everybody was kind of getting old after a while. So I know going into this season, that was something I had to change.”

According to FightingIllini.com, Jordan appeared in 31 games, with three starts, in the 2015-16 season, averaging 3.3 points in 11.4 minutes per game. He was fifth on the squad, with 22 3-pointers – making at least one in 16 games – including three in his season-high 14-point effort against North Florida.

Jordan's hard-court journey started with his earliest memories of the game, taking place in the rec-center league in Romeoville, when he played on Saturdays.

“That was the best part of my week,” Jordan said.

Jordan settled on basketball as his sport only after going through a few other possibilities. He also tried flag football; baseball “for a day,” he said; and soccer, which he stuck with for a while. But when he saw his sister, Ariel, playing basketball, he was inspired to try that out.

“I really liked it, and I was good at it, so I just continued it,” Jordan said.

That was the foundation built for his all-state high-school career at Plainfield East and his eventual arrival in Champaign, where he was drawn by the family atmosphere and fan base.

Jordan said his first year at Illinois had its ups and downs, but that was to be expected.

“I did a lot that a lot of freshmen wouldn't be able to do, so I can't really hang my head from that,” he said. “I learned a lot, so I just built off that.”

Illinois has some growth potential this season as well.

The Illini went 15-19 last season, including a 5-13 record in the Big Ten. Illinois finished the season by reaching the quarterfinals of the conference tournament after winning its first two tourney games – a run that included a 68-66 win over No. 20 Iowa. In addition, five of last year's top six scorers by average are back this season.

Jordan said the team's goal this season is to “just prove everybody wrong.”

“We've been through a lot, but we're not going to let that define us,” Jordan said. “It's a new season, new day, so we're going to go out and show people who we are.”

Illinois opens the regular season Friday, Nov. 11, by hosting Southeast Missouri State at 8 p.m.