Illinois athletic director JOSH WHITMAN's whirlwind media tour was interrupted — in a good way — on Wednesday morning.
Toward the end of Whitman's interview with host BRIAN BARNHART on WDWS 1400-AM, SAM BANKS and KEN BUEL of Champaign Rotary stepped quietly into the "Penny For Your Thoughts" studio in downtown Champaign. They showed up unannounced to present one of Rotary International's highest honors to Whitman, the Paul Harris Fellow, "in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.