UB's recruiting

[kevinfootes]

I wouldn't call it a success, I'd say it's the bare minimum to keep his job.

That said, unfortunately SLU doesn't have the type of history to say that an NIT bid means a coach should get canned. After a few more NCAA appearances you could maybe make that point.

Barring injuries, I do think Brad's status will be in great doubt if SLU doesn't at LEAST make the NIT.

[slu72]

I don't envy UB or any D-1 coaches job. It's tough...damn tough. But these guys know this going in and still they lust after it. It is about W's because W's=$$$$$. UB had a great opportunity this year to follow up the recruitment of KL and TL with some decent supporting talent and ensure his tenure. He's on pretty shaky ground right now. Out of the list of potentials, there is doubt about everyone of them ever coming to SLU, so where does that leave us...the addition of DM. Now, we all hope DM is the second coming of Scott Highmark or Erwin Clagget, but who knows. He's not coming in with a 4 star rating from Rivals. If this is all we're getting for next year, the NIT isn't a lock and the dance most likely a dream. His year six should depend on getting us somewhere next year and a damn good class of recruits.

[billiken_roy]

slu72, you and a lot of others have brought up the fact that because of the success that kevin lisch, tommie liddell and ian vouyoukas showed this past season, that coach soderberg should have struck pay dirt again.

however, i beg to differ. most recruiting success is made the summer before. i.e. summer of 2005 in this instance. in the summer of 2005, both kevin and liddell were relatively unknown outside of st louis. ian vouyoukas was still thought by most outside of this board to be an overweight and somewhat underachieving and soft inside player. thus, it would be hard for coach soderberg to head to an aau tourney and get an up and coming power forward to come to slu because of lisch, liddell and vouyoukas.

that said, it should now be an advantage. lisch and liddell both multiple winners of the a-10 freshman of the week. liddell named freshmen of the year and a national freshmen of the year winner. vouyoukas on the all a-10 team. coach soderberg definitely should be able to utilize the 'come and play with my three stars" angle this year. but i am not holding that against him for this class.

[Hardball]

Expectations. I hope we are not satisfied with the NIT in year 5. Doesn't everyone expect the NCAA Tournament this year.

A couple years ago Bruce Pearl won the National Championship at S. Indiana. If we would have hired him at that time would we be struggling to make the NIT in year 5?

[kshoe]

only one player from that class has played significant minutes for us.

[billiken_roy]

we would probably be on probation.

[slu72]

What's Pearl done wrong? Thought he was pretty clean....shameless self promoter but a clean shameless self promoter. Broy, you can't argue with Pearl's success. He took a UT team that wasn't predicted to do much and got them to a #2 seed. Contrary to what some think about the multi negative UB posts since the A-10 tourney, I would suggest 98% of us still want UB to succeed wildly at SLU. We just want it to start now with this recruiting class and next year with W's. All this isn't the Brad haters against the Brad lovers...it's just when do we see something tangible.

[billiken_roy]

still bitter about his shenanigans in the late 80's and early 90's while he was an assistant cheating for iowa.

you are right, he hasnt been convicted of anything and that was just wrong of me to say. still he seems greasy to me.

[StLouBlue]

Ask any big Illini fan about Pearl and sit back and enjoy as they go off on a tirade about him. They blame him for setting them up when Illinois went on probation during Henson's time. From hearing them tell it, there was more than a little shady about Pearl, but again people I talked to had an obvious bias against Pearl.

[LoveforVouk]

Once again Soderberg is a *****. He has lived off a first 2 years and hasnt done crap since. We haven't had a 4 in 5 years and we still don't have a pg. How's the 5 coming along? Ohh yeah we got Ian forever so that's not a problem....Sodi can't recruit and sucks balls. I wish we would let him go and bring in a coach who really cares about winning instead of finishing 3rd and being so happy.

[slufanskip]

Wasn't Tom in Ian's recruiting year. Not only that. He is one of the best centers in the country, and when his Sr year is over will be considered one of the best Billikens ever. Ian alone makes his recruiting class above average IMO

Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman

[kshoe]

and we all liked what Tom did when he played but he never played. We got less than a full year out of him and even when he did play his numbers were solid but not spectacular.

I repeat...in Brad's 2nd recruiting class we have essentially gotten 1 player for 4 seasons (potentially 3 if Ian doesn't return next year). the first year only Tom played. the 2nd year Tom played a few games and Ian played the 2nd half. The third season only Ian played. For a class to be above average I think it has to involve more than one player on the court at any time. Darren Clarke over Ahearn. Brandon Morris that never showed up.

[kevinfootes]

Pearl has been clean and successful. He may have broken a code of honor among coaches, but he's never been in trouble with the NCAA and has done nothing but win. It was Jimmy Collins who got into trouble and then was never able to make a successful run up in Chicago.

[kevinfootes]

but could you tone down the language a bit?

[Sheltiedave]

http://underscorebleach.net/jotsheet/suppl..._ncaa_memo.html

December 8, 1988

It was during a one hour conversation to Simeon basketball recruit Deon Thomas that I first became aware of any NCAA rules violations being committed by the University of Illinois.

Deon told me that Assistant Basketball Coach, Jimmy Collins, offered him and his grandmother, Bernice McGary, the opportunity to move to a nicer building or apartment. They would finance the move and take care of the additional expense of a more comfortable place.

According to Deon, he told Jimmy Collins that his grandmother did not want to move. Jimmy then offered to have her place at 1837 W. Washburn fixed up so it would be nicer and most importantly, more secure. Deon would then be able to leave his grandmother in Chicago, attend the University of Illinois in Champaign and not worry about her well being. Taking care of his grandmother was very important to Deon. He loves his grandmother very much. She has taken care of him for the last several years when no one else would.

I asked Deon how he felt about the offer and also why he was telling me. He said that at first he was insulted. He prides himself on being honest and religious. However, the idea of helping his grandmother very much appealed to him.

I asked him if he would rather go to the University of Illinois and have his grandmother’s place fixed up by them or come to the University of Iowa and fix it up himself. He asked for some clarification. I told him that if he came to Iowa, we would make sure he had a good summer job, from both the financial, as well as the experience side of things. He would then little by little send her some money to make home improvements. He was talking about food, clothing, house paint and roof shingles. We both decided at the time it would be better if he earned the money himself rater than having it given to him. Deon was dead set against being bought. He indicated to me that he didn’t want to have a reputation like Marcus Liberty. I asked what that meant, and he answered $75,000 and a car.

As far as why Deon confided in me, I think there are a couple of explanations.

1. Deon has been telling me over the phone since his sophomore year he wanted to be a Hawkeye.

2. I think Deon wanted to hear what I was willing to offer in the way of helping his grandmother that was his only financial concern. He seemed satisfied he could get the job done with good summer employment.

3. I had talked to Deon on a couple of occasions about illegal recruiting tactics. I instilled in his mind that he could get in as much trouble as the school who was cheating.

As soon as I hung up the phone with Deon, I called Coach Davis at his home and informed him. He told me to write this down and keep a record of everything. This conversation was the first of a four month dialogue outlining and detailing recruiting violations by the University of Illinois.

February 1, 1989

Without question the most serious of all NCAA violations committed by the University of Illinois took place on the weekend of January 28 in Champaign. To my knowledge, this was Deon’s third visit to the Illinois campus since the fall of his senior year. He attended the Illinois/Washington State football game on Saturday, September 3 and one other I’m not sure on. In both cases he spent the weekend with Illinois players and provided his own transportation through former high school teammates Ervin Small and Nick Anderson. His third weekend visit wa to the Illinois/Indiana basketball game. I believe this was his official visit, but I am not certain. He may have gone down again on his own.

On Wednesday evening, February 1, Deon told me over the phone that a member of the University of Illinois coaching staff offered him $80,000 and a brand new Blazer if he would sign their letter of intent to attend the University of Illinois. He said the offer took place during this weekend visit. The only other details Deon offered was that it was the most Illinois had ever offered to pay for a recruit’s signature.

Marcus Liberty had been offered only $75,000 and a new car when he decided to choose Illinois at the last minute over Syracuse.

I didn’t understand Deon as to exactly where this offer took place but he did indicate it was a one on one conversation. I could tell he was not comfortable telling me exactly who made the offer so I asked him this question -- "You mean Coach Henson took you aside and offered you $80,000 to play for him?" Deon responded, "It wasn’t Lou, it was his boy." I asked who he was referring to and he said Jimmy. I asked Deon if he thought Coach Henson knew about it and he said he would have to know.

Over a period of three months, February through April, many people became aware of the offer. Some of these people include:

Everett and Joanna Johnson -- stepfather and mother

Bernice McNary -- grandmother

Latisha Scott (senior at Julian H.S.) -- girlfriend

Avery Stallings, Antoine Johnson, Jackie Crawford and others -- teammates

Renaldo Kyles -- best friend

Deon told me and all these people about the illegal recruiting tactics of Illinois because up until one week before the signing period, he had no interest in attending Illinois. He was both amazed and turned off by the offer to buy his services. At the time this action by Illinois made him feel even stronger about coming to play for us at Iowa.

With the exception of his girlfriend, Latisha Scott, I have personally had conversations with each and every one of these people regarding the $80,000 and a Blazer.

At the conclusion of this February conversation, I again made Coach Davis aware of the situation.

February 19, 1989

According to Deon, Jimmy Collins shook hands with him after the East St. Louis game and visited for a brief period of time. I was not present.

February 28, 1989

According to Deon’s best friend, Renaldo Kyles, Jimmy Collins visited Deon at his grandmother’s house on February 28 some time after 8:00 p.m. This was during a non-contact period. According to Renaldo, Antoine Johnson, one of Deon’s teammates, was also at the house and should be able to verify this illegal contact.

According to Renaldo, Deon told him that Jimmy gave Deon $300 on this date.

March 9, 1989

After Simeon’s semi-final city championship victory over Dunbar at the UIC Pavilion, I witness Illinois Assistant Basketball Coach, Jimmy Collins, along with two of his players, Nick Anderson and Ervin Small, talking to Deon after the game outside the locker room door. Jimmy was present during the conversation for several minutes before leaving his players and Deon alone.

Current Illinois basketball players, and former Simeon stars Nick Anderson and Ervin Small, were in attendance for at least five Simeon basketball games and made several school visits with the intent of recruiting Deon to Illinois. I realize this is not a violation of NCAA rules, but due to the number of contacts and the reasoning behind the visits, it does prompt one to ask the question "when exactly are these players in class?"

On March 13, 1989, I had a serioes of conversation regarding Jimmy Collins’ illegal contact of March 9. Deon was upset with Jimmy because according to Deon, one March 6th or 7th he told Jimmy in a phone conversation that he was not interested in attending the University of Illinois. Deon said nothing about where he wanted to go, but Coach Collins must have assumed it was Iowa. On Wednesday morning, March 9, the day of the city semi-finals at the UIC Pavilion, Taylor Bell reported that Deon told Jimmy he was going to Iowa.

According to Deon, Jimmy pressed the issue of where he was going hard and asked Deon not to give him the run-around. He asked Deon to tell him straight so he could start recruiting another Big Man. Deon, being a long time friend of Coach Collins, obliged.

When the Sun Times reported the conversation, Deon was very unhappy with Illinois and Jimmy in particular, for violating his confidence.

From that moment forward, however, the University of Iowa’s recruitment of Deon Thomas went down hill so to speak. Our good relationship with Deon’s high school coach, Bob Hambric, went completely sour to the point where Coach Hambric made me and the public immediately aware that he did not want Deon to go to the University of Iowa. He pulled me and Jimmy Collins aside at the UIC Pavilion on Thursday, March 9, and told us he was going to do everything he could to prevent Deon from going to either school because of the Sun Times article and what he perceived to be a complete circumvention of his authority.

April 4, 1989

Despite the difficulties we were experiencing with Bob Hambric and the pressures Deon was receiving to play at Illinois from the people in the State, Deon was still verbally committed to us. On April 4 he arrived home from a two week trip to Amsterdam. His mother, Joanna Johnson, picked him up at the O’Hare Airport and asked what his collegiate plans were. He told her that he was visiting the University of Iowa campus on April 7, 8 and 9 and signing a National Letter of Intent with the University of Iowa on April 12. We made arrangements for Deon and his parents to visit campus that weekend. Deon’s commitment to Iowa at this moment in time could be confirmed by more than 20 people. What took place between April 4 and 7 changed all this.

April 6, 1989

Jimmy Collins made a morning visit with Deon at Simeon High School. Just after noon, Nick Anderson came into school and visited with Deon, one on one, for over an hour. Deon told me, in person on April 7, that the gist of Nick’s conversation was that Illinois could take better care of him and his grandmother than Iowa could.

April 7, 1989

Lou Henson made a morning visit with Deon at Simeon High School and went to lunch at noon with Coach Bob Hambric. This is two school contacts within the same week and a violation of NCAA rules. It was, however, worth the risk of being caught because Deon changed his mind about Illinois and never visited the University of Iowa campus.

April 23, 1989

Deon returned home from the McDonald’s All-American game and notified me that he had signed with the University of Illinois on April 18. He said his grandmother was the reason he chose Illinois over Iowa. He also told me that his girlfriend, Latisha Scott, a senior at Julian High School, was going to be accepted at Illinois after earlier receiving word she was denied admission. This was something Jimmy Collins was going to be able to do, along with getting them an apartment to live in.

April 24, 1989

According to Renaldo Kyles, Deon received $5,000 of the now promised $85,000 from Jimmy Collins either the evening of April 23 or the morning of April 24. Jimmy delivered the money personally.

On April 24, Deon and his girlfriend, Latisha Scott, went to the Evergreen Plaza and went shopping. They made purchases at Carson Prairie[sic] Scott, Footlocker Shoes, with the most extravagant being a $400 gold rope bracelet at Reflections Jewelers. He put the bracelet on lay-away with the balance due on April 26.

April 25, 1989

According to Renaldo, Deon gave him $50. He was also taking teammates out to lunch and sparing no expense with his girlfriend.

May 5, 1989

Latisha Scott’s father rented a Budget car for Deon to take to the University of Illinois for the weekend. Deon paid for the car upon his return on May 8 with cash.

On Friday, May 5, Deon rented a room at the Zanzibar Hotel, 81st and Stoney Island.

On Saturday, May 6, Deon rented a room at the Days Inn in Champaign. It is possible the payment was taken care of by Jimmy Collins, but I am not sure. Deon was accompanied by teammates Antione Johnson and Avery Stallings, along with his girlfriend, Latisha Scott.

May 12, 1989

Deon again rented a room at the Zanzibar Hotel.

Conclusion

Deon Thomas is human. He and his grandmother live on or below the poverty line. He comes from a broken home. He turned down Illinois’ offer of cash and a car on many occasions but could not hold out at the end. I personally do not blame him and a definitely do not hold any animosity toward him.

The University of Illinois basketball program has committed several technical and philosophical violations in the recruitment of Deon Thomas. If found guilty of these charges, in the name of fairness, they must be punished.

Strategy

Notify the NCAA soon, prior to mid June, when Deon arrives at summer school in Champaign. Chances of having the truth come out are better if the investigation takes place in Chicago.

Work with someone in Enforcement that we know personally. For example, I graduated from Boston College with Rich Hilliard and we have stayed in touch.

Can we discuss "conditions" with the NCAA prior to turning over evidence:

The University of Iowa must remain nameless or we’ll lose any chance of Deon coming to Iowa.

Renaldo Kyles, Deon’s best friend who has worked with me, must also not be named in the investigation for exactly the same reason.

Allow us the opportunity to advise them on the best way to get at the truth. That being simply this: There are several people who knew about the offers of cash prior to Deon’s commitment. Many of these same people have been with Don when he’s made some purchases that prior to signing with Illinois he would not have been able to. Those most likely to tell the truth are Deon’s teammates, Jackie Crawford, Antoine Johnson and Avery Stallings. These young men are going to junior college and might tell the truth about what they know if their eligibility at an NCAA school is put in question. Also Deon’s girlfriend, Latisha Scott, whom I’ve never met or talked to, might be willing to tell the truth if she could be convinced we’re not trying to hurt Deon.

The object of this action is to punish the University of Illinois and prevent them from doing it again. We cannot be placed in an uncompetitive situation with anyone in our conference.

Finally and most importantly, if this all can be done without destroying Deon Thomas, I’m in favor. But if the NCAA cannot adequately protect Deon and treat him as a victim also, then I would not feel the same way about this course of action.

ANOTHER>>>>

The Bruce Pearl Story

Last week, when Illinois was announced as the overall #1 seed in the tournament, I jocularly proffered the new motto for Illini Nation: "Kill Cinderella." This motto did not stem from particular animosity against or actual violent proclivities toward a childhood fairy tale, but merely reflected some witty hyperbole to accentuate the impressive accomplishment that, as the #1 seed overall, EVERY team was a Cinderella to us.

But now the plot thickens, and not just because we are getting deeper into the tournament. The motto has new meaning.

Bruce Pearl is the coach of the next team we face, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. By virtue of their victory over Boston College and advancing to the Sweet 16, the University of Milwaukee is this year's "Cinderella." And there is no team we as a school would rather humiliate more: not even Iowa.

As a caveat, I hesitate to add to the furor because many of our less-sophisticated, older Illini across the country have suggested this week that they have been waiting for 15 bitter years to be able to endlessly heckle Pearl with profanities throughout a game. His nickname is "Satan" among many Illini, and their hyperbole would make you think that Pearl raped their daughters and murdered their wives. (Sometimes I wonder if these misguided characters would get this upset over rape and murder, even).

I really hope that does not happen, because they will only humiliate all Illini if our dregs vulgarly heckled an opposing coach on National T.V. when we are the overwhelming favorites: nobody likes a sore winner. Evil wins when it drags us down to its level and makes us hate like evil hates.

So some people really need to gain some perspective. Nonetheless, so that we all know the true story and can spread the word at the water cooler, here is the background.

In the world of sports and games, Bruce Pearl one of the most despicable, childish, rude, and self-centered lowlifes out there. He has a reputation for his wild sideline antics and loudmouth intimidation tactics: yelling at officials to disrupt their explanations to opposing coaches, getting into fights with opposing fans, etc. His supporters call it "enthusiasm;" his critics call it "psychosis." People who have worked with him at other schools have said that he was commonly considered to be unethical, selfish, manipulative, and dirty, and that they were embarrassed to work with him. But his relevant character flaws for which all Illini should revile him came out in their worst form in the early 1990s in the post-Flyin Illini years.

The last time the Illini made it to the Final Four--the year of the Flyin' Illini--our prospects for becoming a powerhouse looked rather sweet. That team gave Illinois the prowess and recognition to recruit some major talent. They were clean, fun, enthusiastic, and portrayed exactly the right image for Illinois: much like this year's team. Lou Henson was widely respected and had successfully cleaned up the program from the slush fund problems of the 1960s when he started at Illinois. Several "Mr. Basketballs" in Illinois committed to Illinois on the strength and character of the Flyin' Illini: Deon Thomas being the most notable, as well as Marcus Liberty, who played a year with the Flyin' Illini. Juwan Howard and Chris Weber were also rumored to be heading to Illinois, as well, as were several other top prospects.

Deon Thomas was one of the most recruited kids out of Chicago in 1989. Jimmy Collins--an Illinois assistant coach at the time with strong ties to Chicago and the Chicago Public League school where Thomas played--convinced Thomas to choose Illinois over Iowa due in part to Illinois' record at turning Chicago kids into college graduates, not just basketball players. Thomas himself had leaned toward Iowa, but his grandmother who raised him trusted Illinois and specifically did not like or trust Bruce Pearl, the assistant coach from Iowa who strongly recruited Thomas.

Pearl continued to repeatedly call Thomas at odd hours and several times a day after Thomas chose Illinois asking him what they had offered him, whether they offered him money or "a Chevy Blazer," and indicating that he would match or exceed whatever Illinois had offered. He followed Thomas to Amsterdam when Thomas played in an all-star high school exhibition. He hired one of Thomas' friends, Renaldo Kyles, to trail Thomas, help him find out what it would take to recruit Thomas, and help encourage Thomas to change his mind and choose Iowa.

On one occasion, Pearl called Thomas and woke him up. Thomas--a 17-year old boy at the time--dismissively answered a series of probing, leading questions about what Illinois had offered him with passive admissions like "Yeah, sure," "I don't know," "Yeah, somewhat," and "whatever," and hung up.

Unbeknownst to Thomas, Pearl was surreptitiously wiretapping these conversations. Only after it became apparent that Thomas would not change his mind, and with the approval and encouragement of Tom Davis (Iowa's head coach), Pearl filed recruitment violation charges with the NCAA, claiming that Illinois had paid Thomas. As evidence, Pearl submitted a 6 minute segment of the illegally wiretapped tapes containing admissions where Thomas purportedly admitted he was offered $80,000 and a Chevy Blazer, with conveniently-erased sections. Thomas later identified those erased sections as the segments in which Pearl offered to match and beat anything Illinois had offered.

The NCAA launched a long, drawn out investigation for the next two years, spearheaded by a former roommate of Pearl's and several recent Iowa graduates. Evidence later came to light that Pearl had even prepared written transfer papers in advance for Thomas to sign so he could play at Iowa as a result of being prohibited from playing for Illinois. Some have speculated that he set the whole thing up as a last-ditch effort to snag Thomas back to Iowa. Indeed, several investigators repeatedly told Thomas they would drop the entire investigation if Thomas went anywhere but Illinois. He stayed.

Phone records showed that phone conversation contained in Pearl's 6-minute tape was actually 14 minutes long. During the investigation, Illinois requested that Pearl release the remainder of the submitted conversation plus the remainder of Pearl's tapes to put the conversation in context. He refused. Illinois requested that the tapes be submitted to an independent lab for analysis to verify they had not been altered or tampered. Pearl refused.

The investigation produced little corroboration of Pearl's allegations. Thomas' explanation that he didn't know how to handle Pearl's repeated phone calls and simply didn't argue with Pearl stood up. But others came forward with similar allegations: most notably that Collins had also offered to pay LaPhonzo Ellis to play at Illinois, even though Ellis eventually chose Notre Dame. (Ellis later publicly admitted that he was pressured into lying about the claims that Collins had offered him money). Other violations included giving players Chevy Blazers, sloppy record keeping of recruiting contacts, and unofficial visits with recruits.

The NCAA also found in its constant vigilance and never-ending search for truth and justice that Jimmy Collins had illegally given Thomas $10 for a pizza one night during Thomas' suspension from play due to the NCAA investigation and that Collins shook hands with Thomas during a chance encounter at Aunt Sonya's in Champaign, violating NCAA rules regarding limiting and documenting the contacts coaches have with potential recruits.

Even with the illegally wiretapped conversation, the resulting NCAA investigation cleared Illinois and Thomas of Pearl's charges. Nonetheless, because of the pizza loan and some inconsistencies between different witnesses about whether Chevy Blazers were sold to some of the Flyin' Illini players on favorable credit terms, the NCAA imposed sanctions on the program, anyway. Because these minor and even questionable violations followed on the heels of more serious violations in the football program in the 1980s under Mike White, as well as the slush fund violations of the 1960s, the NCAA stiffened the sanctions and banned Illinois from post-season play for one year, and reduced scholarships for two years.

As a result, Juwan Howard and Chris Weber instead went to Michigan (creating the unexpected windfall of the "Fab Five" for Michigan), eventually to take Michigan to the National Championship game. Several other prize recruits also went elsewhere. Instead of being the foundation of the next great generation of Illini basketball, Thomas was somewhat stranded at Illinois with only role players willing to play for a suspended team. Nonetheless, Thomas eventually graduated with a stellar GPA and proved to be not just a good basketball player, but an even better person. Thomas' record for total career points also still stands at Illinois.

However, the reputation of head coach Lou Henson was tarnished and the reputation of Jimmy Collins, the black assistant coach whom Pearl accused of bribing Thomas, was ruined. Although nothing was proven, the mere allegation tainted his reputation. (To be thorough, Collins' own street-manner of speaking and his close ties with Chicago Public League coaches known for selling their players did not help dispel any rumors.) Having lost the momentum of the Flyin Illini's success, and amidst the taint of unfounded NCAA violations and sanctions over minor violations, Henson continued to have difficulty recruiting top players to Illinois and was eventually forced to "retire" early in the mid-90s. Collins, once the heir-apparent to the head coaching job, was passed over for Lon Kruger.

In the aftermath, Dick Vitale--an eternal optimist who rarely has anything negative to say about anybody and who annoys people with his eternal optimism and enthusiasm--described Pearl on national television as "totally unethical" and indicated that Pearl committed "career suicide" from his involvement in the investigation. He lambasted Pearl for ruining a fine program and ruining the reputation of both Lou Henson and Jimmy Collins, who both recruited underprivileged kids from Chicago not just to play for Illinois, but to graduate from Illinois.

In the aftermath, Vitale was right: Pearl had committed career suicide and could not get a job coaching in Division I for over a decade. His fate did not stem from breaking a code of silence, but from manufacturing evidence and manipulating a 17 year-old kid to serve his own purposes. He won a Division II National Championship at a small school in Southern Indiana, and recently was hired by UW-Milwaukee as its coach. He has never expressed contrition for his tactics, no less the consequences of his manipulation. Indeed, he has defended his actions, said he would do it again, and spontaneously added that he is "a good father and a good person," which all good fathers and good persons frequently say about themselves spontaneously.

Many headlines and talk this year feature Bill Self as the target of Illini bitterness because he left Illini nation hanging by choosing to go to Kansas after only two years. I personally regret but respect Self's decision and consider Roy Williams to be more of the villain, if anybody is a villain. Moreover, in light of Kansas' loss to Bucknell in the first round of the Tournament and our success under Bruce Weber, I doubt that we should really complain about Bill Self, anymore. Bill Self is actually a good guy who very reluctantly left us to accept one of the top three basketball jobs in the country; and he still left our program far better than it was when he arrived. He freed our program from the taint of the late Lou Henson years, and left our program on the verge of greatness, allowing Bruce Weber to be our Joshua. He also did not encourage any players to follow him, even though Charlie Villenueva did renege his commitment to Illinois in the wake of Self's departure. (Fortunately, at that.)

But Self is just a blip on the radar compared to what Bruce Pearl did to Illinois and what Illini fans think of Pearl. Bruce Pearl truly wreaked havoc on our reputation and our success, all out of his bitterness for losing a single recruit. Many older Illini fans have an irrational hatred for this filthy little pawn.

All that said, I don't support heckling the guy or making an ass of ourselves on National television when we are supposed to be "the good guys," "the ever-positive and loyal Illini fans," and such. A few confirmatory boos at the beginning and knowing grin at the end of the game should suffice. It might also be nice if, when Illinois is up by 20 midway in the second half, Bruce Weber calls a time out, gathers his team, and says, "For the fans... tonight only... we run up the score."

Perhaps the best part of this vengeance is that the current Illini team and coaches do not have a personal connection to this grudge. They will not be distracted by it, will remain focused on taking care of business as usual, and not allow it to turn them into bad sports. Bruce Weber graduated from UW-Milwaukee and was an assistant at Purdue when it all happened.

It is the older fans who have not forgotten and who will likely bask in the glory of revenge and perhaps even be rather sore winners when all is said and done. The scene could get ugly... very ugly. Turn down the volume on your televisions if you have children in the room.

Update: Lou Henson originally refused to comment, saying it was better to not contribute. After a week of hearing about Illini bitterness, he broke his silence and urged fans to get over it. He refused to even speak Pearl's name, but defended Jimmy Collins, saying Collins would have been fired if any of the allegations were true. He also asked Illini Nation to focus on the joy of this year's team instead of the misery of the past.

[slufanskip]

you can keep repeating all you want ... but to insuate that because they weren't on the court at the same time they only count as 1 player is incredible. So if Bryce never starts until after Ian leaves and goes for 15 and 10 his Sr year ... it will still only be 1 player? You don't make sense.

Lets count together ...

Ian, Tom, Bryce ... 3 players. They all play the same position and probably will not play on the court at the same time ... but Tom started for a year. He was a good center. Ian is prving to be very good and Bryce we have yet to see ... but I don't think UB expected him to really contribute until his Jr year and then hopefully have made enough progress to start his Sr year.

If we recruited 2 pg's in the same year and the split the time 20mpg each and each averaged 8 ppg and 4 apg ... is that just 1 player.

I don't know if you are aware ... but they are allowed 13 scholarships ... but only 5 players play at one time and with UB only about 8 in a rotation ... do the other 5 not count as recruits?

Seriously ... I'm confused

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