Illinois ended a string of games in Springfield on Monday evening with a narrow 82-79 victory over Chicago State. The game was mostly led by the Cougars, but won on a last-second three from freshman Jalen Coleman-Lands. Playing from behind was not an unfamiliar position for the Illini (2-2), however, as they have yet to hold lead at halftime.
The Capitol Games, as the university took to calling them, did not go as planned for the Illini. The opener against North Florida ended in a 93-81 upset; the second game went slightly better, with the Illini holding off North Dakota State 80-74, but Chattanooga also ended in disappointment, 81-77, and Illinois just barely escaped starting 1-4 for the first time since 1906 with the squeaker against CSU.
Many observers have noted injuries as a major factor in Illinois’s struggles, but astute fans were quick to pick up on the real reason for the poor start: The Curse of Joseph Smith.
The curse was first pointed out in the postgame call-in show on WDWS by Skip from Pesotum, who reminded listeners that the grounds of the Prairie Capitol Convention Center was a Mormon burial site during the group’s brief stay in the Land of Lincoln.
When Joseph Smith led his followers away from persecution, to Illinois in 1839, they first stopped in Springfield, a city on the rise. The citizens of Springfield, in the midst of convincing lawmakers to approve their town as the new state capitol, did not take kindly to the Mormons and rioted. A rock thrown by a member of the mob struck Smith’s third wife, Josephina Louise May Pendleton Calder, in the head, killing her instantly. In the wake of her death, Smith agreed to move along to Nauvoo, but first laid Calder to rest on the ground that now houses PCCC. As his band retreated following the burial, Smith uttered a curse on any basketball team that ever decided to play on those grounds.
The curse is no secret among hardcore Illinois basketball fans. In a little-circulated interview after committing to Villanova over the Illini, Jalen Brunson said the curse was a big factor in his decision. “You know, if Mike Thomas hadn’t moved games there for the first month next year I think I would have picked Illinois. I really love Groce and what he does, but I’m not messing with that curse,” the point guard said last September.
In the Capitol Games, the Illini felt the curse acutely. Players complained of the downhill slant of the floor that seemed to move from half-to-half. “Every time I got to the free throw line, I had to lean backwards to stay upright,” junior Alex Austin said. Illinois shot just 75-115, including 29-41 on Monday, from the charity stripe this season, good for 291 out of 351 teams in the country.
On the contrary, Illinois’s opponents magically hit a hot streak once they stepped on Springfield soil. Threes were a particularly special shooting area for opponents; Chicago State was 11-25 and all opponents were 57-138 (41.3%) shooting the long ball against Illinois.
After the win on Monday, coach John Groce and players were just relieved to have games in Champaign again soon.
“Well, it’s been a real tough start, I can’t lie,” Groce said. “But we’ve really done the best we could given the circumstances. I mean, we’re out there playing against six guys: the other team’s five and the curse. Honestly, I couldn’t ask for more out of them in these circumstances. We had toughness, togetherness, and now we’re gonna get the hell out of here.”
Newcomers Mike Thorne Jr. and Khalid Lewis were stumped by the curse, admitting they had never had to deal with such an issue at their previous schools. Lewis, who transferred from La Salle, said he had been in contact with priests from the Catholic university to get advice to help the Illini.
Illinois is not quite ready to hop back into the State Farm Center, however. The Illini have two games in Niceville, Florida, as part of the Emerald Coast Classic before coming home to Champaign on December 2nd for the first time in eight months.
“We’ll take anything outside Springfield,” junior Malcolm Hill said. “If I never see that town again it will be too soon.”
Note: The curse is not real and the quotes in this story are fake and if you have a problem with that you clearly didn’t watch Illinois play Chicago State. This is the only proper way to deal with Illinois beating a team that hasn’t had a winning record since 1986 by just 3 points on a buzzer-beater.