At Midnight Madness last season, junior point guard Frank Williams stood up and waved good-bye to the Illinois men's basketball faithful

The reigning Big Ten Player of the Year was indicating early that he would be declaring for the NBA Draft at the end of the 2001 season.

Williams kept true on his promise after he missed a 15-footer along the baseline in the closing moments against Kansas in the Midwest Regional Semifinal of the NCAA Tournament, securing a 73-69 Jayhawks victory. Williams entered the draft and was selected 25th overall by Denver, leaving a void to be filled at the point guard position for the Illini.

Entering that void has been true freshman Dee Brown.

With an injury-plagued preseason to returning backcourt players Luther Head and Sean Harrington, Brown seized the starting role and has not looked back. He is averaging 12.8 points and 4.8 assists per game.

Neither Head nor Harrington fits the true point guard mold, but are rather more of "combo-guards." Brown has a true point-guard mentality.

Illinois men's basketball coach Bill Self feels the necessary qualities for his point guard are "leadership, ability to make others around you better and being an extension of the coach."

Brown has established himself as the Illini's floor general and has started all 15 games. He has even surprised himself a little with his performance thus far, as he expected to see limited action as a freshman.

"It's tough for any freshman to step into a program like Illinois," he said. "I just thought that I would come in and play a role this season, and play only like 20 minutes."

He is surpassing everyone's expectations, except maybe those of Self.

"We expected both Dee and Deron [Williams] to get a lot of minutes early," said Self earlier this season.

In one of the Illini's biggest preseason tests against North Carolina, Brown played one of the best games of his young career. Matched up head-to-head with the Tar Heels' outstanding freshman point guard, Raymond Felton, Brown stole the show, recording four steals and helping to force Felton into eight turnovers in an Illini win.

Besides the strong defensive effort, he scored 12 points and handed out six assists. He takes a great deal of pride in his ability to defend and forcing opposing players to go 94 feet.

Despite only having played in 15 collegiate games, Brown has played on teams both internationally and nationally. Last summer, Brown was a member of the USA Basketball Men's Junior World Championship Team that won the bronze in Venezuela. Joining Brown on the team was fellow Illinois freshman Williams.

"The human fast break" (a nickname given to Brown in high school) was a McDonald's All-American. In the game last year, Brown scored two points but, like a true point guard, had eight assists and four steals. The experience for Brown was more than just the game.

"That was one of the best times of my life," he said. "Playing with those guys and going to the Ronald McDonald House was a very good experience for me."

If Brown continues to improve at this pace, maybe at Midnight Madness 2004 he'll be the one waving good-bye to Illinois, and the faithful will watch another star leave early.