The injury situation at Illinois has come to this: Coach John Groce has added team manager Ryan Schmidt to the roster. After almost four full seasons of working with towels, water bottles and the stools players sit on during timeouts, the 6-foot senior guard will wear No. 14 on Saturday when Illinois travels to Minnesota (12-8, 1-6 Big Ten). “I never really expected to suit up for the orange and blue,” said Schmidt, who played high school ball at Bloomington (Ill.) Central Catholic and considers himself a lifelong fan. Groce said he added Schmidt to make sure Illinois (13-7, 3-4) had enough players to practice and – just in case – enough players for game day. Schmidt said some Division II and III schools showed interest in him but he chose Illinois for academic reasons. –AP