Bruce Webber on the hot seat in Illiniois?

[Hoosier_Vol]

A good buddy of mine is a huge Illini fan and says the Illini Nation is calling for Webber's head already. They expect to be in the Final 4 every season after thier run a few seasons back and the fact they aren't getting the recruits plus the recent legal troubles is fueling the fire.

[Jaytrain5]

It probably doesn't help that Bill Self has Kansas locking up a 1-seed, playing as well as anybody in the country right now,

[Hoosier_Vol]

Very true but I think it's safe to say KU has a ton more talent..lol

[cd12]

Tubby will get them turned around!

[BigOrangeNation1]

They illini nation might be calling for his head, but they shouldnt. I think he has done a great job there. Especially getting them to a possible NCAA tournament run with those two players suspended, I think. Correct me if I am wrong. He even took them to a championship.

[Jaytrain5]

You're correct...he lost to North Carolina in the 2005 championship game. I'm not sure anyone could have beaten that Tar Heel team.

He did lead Illinois to the Big Ten tournament championship in 05 as well.

[BigOrangeNation1]

Also, a near undefeated season.

[Hoosier_Vol]

Bruce is a good coach. The Illini fans are just out of touch with reality. I think he should have gotten serouis votes for Big 10 COTY with what's happened there this season.

[JZVOL]

Thr big rumor around champaign is that Pearl will be the next coach of the Illini

[oz615]

Originally Posted by JZVOL

Thr big rumor around champaign is that Pearl will be the next coach of the Illini

I Seriously doubt unless the folks there has forgiven him

From Wikipedia...this is how it transpired:

The Pearl / Thomas incident

During the 1988-1989 basketball season, Pearl, then an assistant coach at the University of Iowa, was at the center of a recruiting scandal involving the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Both Illinois and Iowa were recruiting Deon Thomas, a top high school player from Chicago. Pearl lost this recruiting battle when Thomas committed to Illinois. Thereafter, Pearl relentlessly called the high school student over and over, and surreptitiously recorded a phone conversation with Thomas. Pearl attempted to get Thomas to admit that he had been offered an SUV and cash by Illinois assistant coach Jimmy Collins. Pearl then turned over the tapes to the NCAA, accompanied by a memo describing the events.[1]

When the NCAA investigated the alleged violations, they found Illinois guilty of no violations related to the Pearl/Thomas incident, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

However, Illinois was punished for vague violations of a policy known as "institutional control." Chuck Smart, the NCAA director of enforcement, could not explain the strange ruling. Smart said "We believe the Committee (of Infractions) did not say the allegations were false, but they did not find that they were true." Thomas's attorney responded: "When you bring an allegation and don't have the burden of proof, they have two words for that. It means, 'not guilty.' And when people on the enforcement staff shoot their mouths off and talk about the allegations still being true, it incenses me."

The Bruce Pearl-Deon Thomas incident cost millions of dollars to play out. Illinois spent a small fortune defending itself and the basketball program suffered greatly because of the sanctions imposed. Iowa certainly did not benefit from the negative publicity and Pearl skirted the brink of professional suicide.

An investigation conducted by now-SEC-commissioner Mike Slive and the university Chancellor demonstrated that Bruce Pearl might be the only one guilty of wrongdoing in this situation. Slive discovered gaps in the tape recording, which indicated deletions and/or creative splicing of the audio. Even with Pearl's editing, the tape "showed an obvious attempt by Pearl to lead Thomas to agree with a predetermined conclusion... Thomas never volunteered nor stated that he was offered or given anything on tape." (Chicago Herald & Register)

Furthermore, the grandmother of young Mr. Thomas alleged that Bruce Pearl offered her a new residence if Deon would attend Iowa, and that Illinois made no illegal offers.

When Pearl and Collins were both head coaches for four years in the Horizon League, the two men never engaged in the traditional postgame handshake due to bad feelings over the incident. When Thomas was asked about forgiving Bruce Pearl in a 2005 interview, he was quoted as saying "It's hard to forgive a snake". Thomas's basketball career was permanently knocked off its track, as he was barred from playing at Illinois -- today, he plays basketball in Israel.

[Jaytrain5]

I think JZ was being sarcastic...

[oz615]

Originally Posted by Jaytrain5

I think JZ was being sarcastic...

oh ok.

[Tenn_Vol_Authority]

Originally Posted by Rocky Top

A good buddy of mine is a huge Illini fan and says the Illini Nation is calling for Webber's head already. They expect to be in the Final 4 every season after thier run a few seasons back and the fact they aren't getting the recruits plus the recent legal troubles is fueling the fire.

No more hot seat threads. Apparently, the folks 'round here don't take too kindly to them...

[milohimself]

They need to calm down and look at the records. How has he done? Most people tend to forget that in men's college basketball, more than any other sport, the national championship is really just a hot streak. I've had a few people on here disagree with me about this one, but my defense is that most coaches I've heard say the same thing about it. IMO, the true measure of a coach is the overall record. No reason to fire a quality coach when a team doesn't hit enough of a hot streak when the tournament rolls around.

[JZVOL]

Originally Posted by Jaytrain5

I think JZ was being sarcastic...