Assumption star Argo to play baseball at Illinois

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By Jon Gremmels | Saturday, March 08, 2008 |

Davenport Assumption's Willie Argo said Illinois was the "right fit" for him. (John Schultz/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo

Willie Argo said he was looking for the “right fit” in selecting a college. He said he thinks he found it in Champaign, Ill.

Argo, a senior at Davenport Assumption, gave the University of Illinois a commitment to play baseball there next year. He is a two-time all-state player and three-year starter for his father’s Assumption team. One of the reasons Argo chose Illinois was because of a connection his father, Billy, has.

“Their assistant coach, (Eric) Snider, Dad knows him from his playing days at Iowa State, and Dad was in his wedding,” Willie Argo said. “I really trusted him.”

But the reasons for selecting the Illini went far beyond friendship.

“I went on a visit the day before Martin Luther King Day, and I really liked it,” Argo said. “I liked the facilities a lot. I couldn’t find anything I didn’t like about it.”

The Fighting Illini are coming off back-to-back fifth-place finishes in the Big Ten Conference under third-year coach Dan Hartleb. Illinois won the league title in its final year under coach Itch Jones. The Illini also had a run from 1996 to 2000 in which they finished no worse than third.

“They’ve usually been in the top three or four in the Big Ten,” Argo said. “They always are competing with the best of the best. All you can do is ask for a chance to compete.”

Argo is hoping to compete for a starting spot in the outfield as a freshman.

“Kyle Hudson (the starting center fielder) is probably going to get drafted,” Argo said. “If he does, there will be four outfielders my freshman year, so I should be in the mix. That’s all you can ask for. You don’t want anybody to hand you anything.”

Argo also is hoping that concentrating solely on baseball will help him. He is a multisport standout at Assumption. In addition to baseball, he was named captain of the Iowa Class 4A all-state football team last fall and was the Mississippi Athletic Conference player of the year. He also has placed third twice at the wrestling state tournament and participated in the state track meet.

In baseball, he batted .486 with 13 home runs and 57 RBIs in helping Knights to the Class 2A state title as a sophomore and then batted .508 with five homers and 39 RBIs, in addition to stealing 31 bases, for last year’s state runner-up team.

“I’m sure it will be tough; I’m sure I’ll miss the other sports, but a lot of people go through it,” Argo said. “It will be nice to see what I can do going with just one sport. I’m going to miss playing football in front of a ton of people, and there will be a ton more in college.”

Argo, who said he planned to study in a sports-related field in college, said he chose Illinois over Northern Iowa and Northwestern.

“I was just looking for the right fit,” he said. “Initially I was looking for someplace warm. When it didn’t look like that would work out, it was just the right fit. They’ve got a lot of good things going for them.”

Jon Gremmels can be contacted at (563) 383-2294 or at jgremmels@qctimes.com.