CHAMPAIGN — Four days before the Illinois football season opener, Lenny Willis is chatting up nearly everybody in the vicinity of Memorial Stadium. The University of Illinois' associate athletic director, charged with overseeing the bulk of the school's athletic facilities, talks shop with those who work directly for him at Memorial Stadium.
He's greeting the caterers riding up the elevator on the south end of the stadium and is asking questions of the guys moving chairs and tables in one of the stadium's premium seating areas.
"I've got such a great staff, we couldn't get ready for anything if it wasn't for the work all these people are doing," Willis said.