It took Mike Thorne Jr., one full period to start filling up the stat sheet, but once he got going in a recent Illini basketball scrimmage, there was no stopping him.
Thorne is Illinois’ new center, a 6-foot-11, 270-pound Type 1 diabetic who relies on insulin six to eight times a day. That alone doesn’t sound encouraging. But it’s become routine for the fifth-year transfer from Charlotte who was diagnosed with diabetes at age five and who has learned to control his blood sugar as a matter of his daily routine.
