Jeff Vorva
Times correspondent
Lockport native Bobby Gikas earned an Evans Scholarship for the class of 2017 and parlayed it into some recent fame at the University of Illinois.
He is the Illiniâs menâs basketball manager, a usually obscure position.Â
Because of COVID-19 concerns, the nationally ranked Illini are playing in near empty arenas with no bands or cheerleaders. So, Gikas provides some of the noise. He jumps around yelling encouragement to players and holds up signs. And he is getting noticed.
âHaving Bobby bring that juice, I think thatâs very important,â freshman player Andre Cubelo told the Champaign News-Gazette. âI love Bobby.â