Jereme Richmond, a freshman forward at Illinois, has declared for the NBA Draft. Richmond missed the final two games of the Illinois’ season after being suspended for breaking team rules. This is a major blow to coach Bruce Weber because Richmond was supposed to be a player he would build the program around. Instead, Richmond is one-and-done and the fans are calling for Weber’s head.

On March 29, Weber said that he expected Richmond back with the team next season.

“He’s part of the program,” Weber said. “If he makes the progress he’s supposed to, he’ll be there.”

“He’s kind of like our team,” Weber said. “He had some shining moments, really showed well, showed like the kid can be special. He also had to mature, grow up and be more consistent in all areas of his life.”

Richmond will do his growing in the NBA. I was going to say that stats like 7.6 points and 5 rebounds a game don’t scream “I’m ready for the NBA.” Then I remembered Illinois plays in the Big X. You score more than 5 points a game in the Big 10 and you’re in the mix to lead the conference in scoring.

[Fighting Illini.com, Image via Getty]