Illinois
After prolific game at Penn State, Buckeye John Mobley has learning experience at Illinois
Video: Ohio State coach Jake Diebler after loss at Illinois
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler’s press conference after an 87-79 loss at Illinois on Feb. 2, 2025.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Life can come at you fast as a freshman in the Big Ten.
On Thursday night, Ohio State coach Jake Diebler put his arm around first-year guard John Mobley Jr. and pulled him in for a joyous embrace as the Buckeyes salted away an 83-64 win inside Penn State’s Rec Hall. It was an outing without peer for Mobley this year: He’s the only freshman in the nation to finish with at least 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds against a Division I opponent.
Four days later inside a much more raucous State Farm Center, Diebler again pulled the freshman near and put his right arm around his shoulders and tried to break down what had just happened. With 12:29 to play and the Buckeyes clinging to a 54-51 lead, Diebler called timeout and went right to his freshman guard to go over the previous two possessions.
First, Mobley’s quick running floater in the paint missed everything, eliciting the requisite chants of “Airball!” from the full-throated Orange Krush student section. But after the Ohio State defense stiffened, forcing a late, contested 3-point miss from Ben Humrichous, it was Illinois guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn who knifed in from the right corner, nabbed the ball off the rim and laid it in for an uncontested layup.
It was Mobley who had been responsible for boxing out Gibbs-Lawhorn, one play in a prolific but inefficient and challenging night for the Ohio State freshman. He finished with 18 points and was 4 of 8 from 3-point range but overall was 6 for 21 from the floor in Ohio State’s 87-79 loss to No. 18 Illinois on Sunday afternoon.
“At times, I told him, you can’t put your head down and let it affect the other side,” Diebler told The Dispatch after the Illinois game. “I thought it did maybe a couple possessions. He’s been really good defensively. Tonight, he wasn’t quite as good as he’s been and I’ve been proud of the growth he’s shown on that side of the ball.”
It wasn’t the only time Diebler talked with Mobley one-on-one, but it was a notable moment.
Leading into the game, Illinois coach Brad Underwood described Mobley as “an elite defender” while previewing the Buckeyes. After the win, Underwood said the Illini wanted to try and force Mobley and his backcourt mate, Bruce Thornton, to take uncomfortable two-point shots instead of 3s or layups.
That approach worked: Thornton (3 for 11) and Mobley (2 for 13) were a combined 5 for 23 (21.7%) from inside the 3-point line. The freshman is now shooting 40.3% from 3-point range but only 38.8% from two while making the midseason adjustment into a more significant role in the ongoing absence of Meechie Johnson Jr., a fifth-year transfer who started the first 10 games but has now missed the last 12 while on a leave from the team for undisclosed personal reasons.
He’s had to learn on the fly, and that’s come with expected ups and downs.
“He’s taking a major role right now and he’s just learning,” Thornton said. “He’s going to get better from it and he’s not going to make the same mistake twice. I have the upmost confidence in what he does. He’ll learn from it, improve and show up big against Maryland (on Thursday).”
Likewise, Diebler expressed his belief that Mobley will continue to impact the Buckeyes with his all-around game while continuing to go through the typical freshman progression. While playing the fourth-most minutes on the roster, Mobley is third on the team in scoring (12.9 points per game), second in assists (51) and only has five more turnovers (28) than Johnson had (23) in 10 games while playing just more than half as many minutes as the freshman.
Although the shot selection wasn’t what Diebler wanted at times, and the efficiency was not there, the coach said Mobley handled Illinois’ physicality “really well” and cited it as a sign of “significant growth” for the freshman guard.
“They bump you, nudge you, and they often times have limited guys’ catches and he was able to get the ball in his hands,” he said. “Now, after that at times he was a little sped up. This will be a great learning experience for him. He missed some he certainly could have made, took some he probably should’ve fought for something better (on).”
ajardy@dispatch.com
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Gov. JB Pritzker signed a new law Friday making Illinois the newest state allowing medically assisted dying in terminally ill residents.
Known as “Deb’s Law,” it allows eligible terminally ill adults with a prognosis to live six months or less to request a prescription from their doctor that would allow them to die on their own terms.
The legislation was narrowly approved by the Illinois Senate in October after the Illinois House passed it in May.
People on both sides of the debate over the controversial legislation lobbied the governor up until the last minute. Medical aid in dying, also called assisted suicide or dying with dignity, is already legal in 12 states. Eight more are considering similar legislation.
“I have been deeply impacted by the stories of Illinoisans or their loved ones that have suffered from a devastating terminal illness, and I have been moved by their dedication to standing up for freedom and choice at the end of life in the midst of personal heartbreak,” Pritzker said in a news release after signing the bill.
Pritzker’s signature makes Illinois the first state in the Midwest to allow medically assisted death.
Advocates for the law say it allows adults to die on their own terms when survival is already not an option. Opponents say the bill legalizes “state-sanctioned suicide.”
The law requires two doctors to determine a patient has a terminal disease and will die within six months. The medication provided would need to be requested both orally and in written documentation, and will have to be self-administered. The law also requires all patients opting into medical assistance in dying to have been full informed about all end-of-life care options, including comfort care, hospice, palliative care and pain control.
The law is named for Deb Robertson, a former social worker from Lombard who had an aggressive case of neuroendocrine carcinoma. She began advocating for medical aid in dying in 2022 and has been a central figure in the movement.
Please note: The above video is from a previous report
Illinois
Advocates, opponents seek to sway Gov. JB Pritzker on medical aid in dying legislation passed by Illinois General Assembly
Illinois could soon join a growing list of states where terminally ill patients would be allowed to take life-ending medication prescribed by a doctor.
The Illinois Senate narrowly approved the “medical aid in dying” legislation in October, after the Illinois House passed it in May, and the legislation is now sitting on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.
Pritzker has not said if he’ll sign it, and the controversial legislation has people on both sides trying to bend the governor’s ear.
Medical aid in dying, also called assisted suicide or dying with dignity, is legal in 12 states, with eight others considering similar legislation.
If Pritzker allows the “End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act” passed by the Illinois General Assembly to become law, Illinois could be the first state in the Midwest to allow medical aid in dying.
Suzy Flack, whose son Andrew died of cancer, is among the advocates urging the governor to sign the bill.
Diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2017 in his home state of Illinois, three years later Andrew moved to California, where medical aid in dying is legal, and chose to end his life in 2022.
“He died on his own terms, peacefully. We were all there to see it and embrace him at that moment, and it was really a beautiful thing,” Suzy said. “His last words were, ‘I’m happy. Please sign this. Allow people in Illinois this option.’”
Illinois is on the brink of joining a growing number of states that allow doctors to prescribe a mixture of lethal medication for terminally ill patients.
Outside the governor’s Chicago office on Thursday, many disability advocates, religious leaders, lawmakers, and doctors have called on Pritzker to veto the bill that would legalize what they call state-sanctioned suicide
“The question becomes where do you draw the line in the medical ethics dilemmas?” one physician who identified himself as Dr. Pete said. “We don’t need to go to this crossing of a red line of actually providing a means to directly end life.”
Republican Illinois state Sen. Chris Balkema said he “would really appreciate it if the governor would veto this bill.”
“My plea is that we veto this; come back with language that is constructive on both sides,” he said.
Pritzker has he is reviewing the legislation and is listening to advocates on both sides before deciding whether to sign it.
“It’s a hard issue, and I don’t want anybody to think making up your mind about this is very easy. It’s not. There’s a lot to consider, but most of all it’s about compassion,” he said. “There’s evidence and information on both sides that leads me to think seriously about what direction to go.”
The Illinois legislation would require two doctors to determine that a patient has a terminal disease and will die within six months. The medication provided to terminally ill patients would need to be requested both orally and in written form, and would have to be self-administered.
The bill was sent to Pritzker on Nov. 25, and he has 60 days from then to either sign it, amend it and send it back to lawmakers, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.
Snow is making a comeback in Central Illinois.
IPM meteorologist Andrew Pritchard said A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Champaign County and surrounding portions of east-central Illinois beginning Thursday at 3:00 p.m. to Friday at 6:00 a.m.
Snow will spread into Champaign-Urbana between 3-6 PM late this afternoon into the evening with periods of moderate to heavy snowfall continuing overnight. Snow should taper off around sunrise on Friday morning, with around 2-4″ of new snow accumulation expected across Champaign County.
Winds will blow out of the east around 5-10 mph, with minimal impacts from blowing & drifting snow. Still, snow accumulation on roadways could lead to hazardous travel conditions overnight into the Friday morning commute.
On Saturday, the National Weather Service in Central Illinois forecasted for snow to return on Saturday afternoon. The chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible. Temperatures will drop below zero across much of central Illinois both Saturday night and Sunday night with resulting wind chill values as cold as 15 to 30 below zero.
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