Feb 13, 2007 4:15 pm US/Central
2 Illini Basketball Players Hurt In Car Crash
1 Victim, From Maywood, Seriously Injured
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) ―
Authorities on Tuesday were investigating the accident that injured two Illinois basketball players -- one seriously -- when their car went off the road and slammed into a tree.
Brian Carlwell, 19, was at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana Tuesday in serious condition with a severe concussion, Illinois sports information director Kent Brown said. Carlwell previously was listed in critical condition.
His teammate, Jamar Smith, was treated at the hospital for a concussion and released after the accident, Brown said.
Police cited Smith, a 19-year-old from Peoria, for improper lane usage, Brown said, and campus police say further action is possible pending the outcome of the investigation.
Smith, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, was driving the car sometime between 11:30 p.m. and 11:45 p.m. Monday on the fringe of the campus when it crossed the center line and struck a tree, according to Brown and University of Illinois police Sgt. Vanessa Horsman.
"We're trying to determine why he crossed the street and struck a tree," Horsman told The (Champaign) News Gazette.
According to the National Weather Service, it was snowing heavily in the Champaign area Monday night, but it wasn't known what, if any, role weather played in the accident.
Brown wasn't sure what Carlwell and Smith were doing before the crash.
Illinois coach Bruce Weber spent the night in the hospital with Carlwell.
"We just hope and pray Brian is going to be OK," Weber said before Carlwell's condition was upgraded.
Carlwell's parents traveled from their home in Maywood in suburban Chicago to Urbana to see their son on Tuesday, Brown said.
Brown wasn't sure whether the rest of the team had been told of the accident or whether the Illini would hold their scheduled practice later in the day.
Illinois practiced Monday night. The Illini are off until they host Northwestern on Sunday.
It wasn't known whether either player will be available by then, Brown said.
"The main concern here is the health of those guys, and not playing status or any of that has been determined," he said.
Weber canceled his regular news conference, which was scheduled for Wednesday, according to a university news release.
Smith averages 8.1 points per game for the Illini. Carlwell, a 6-foot-11 freshman center, averages 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.
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