but I believe the time has come for Illini coach, Bruce Weber to go. Make no mistake about it, Bruce Weber is an excellent coach, probably one of the top five coaches in the nation and if his only responsibility was in taking a young group of players and turning them into a championship team, Weber would be the Illini's coach for life.
However, we all know there is more to collegiate coaching than just "coaching". He is also responsible for recruiting top quality player to the university and on a scale of 1 to 10 Weber would score a -5. His recruiting has been dismal at best and I see no improvement long term.
It was no fluke that Illinois made it to the finals in 2005, he took a bunch of kids who were good players and molded them into a TEAM that was OUTSTANDING. Weber made that team what it was. Bill Self recruited the players, but Weber made those players a team. It seemed that with the success of 2005, Illinois had finally reached the pinacle of collegiate success yet since that time Weber has been unable to recruit a single top player in the country.
Weber recruited assistant coach Tracy Webster in hopes that he would be able to tap into the Chicago talent and in losing him to Kentucky on Friday, he has also lost Darius Miller, who committed to Kentucky on Friday.
I like Weber, I liked him when he was at Southern and will probably always like him but I am no different than the thousands of other Illini fans who after tasting success want more of it. I have no problem waiting a couple of years for success but when a coach has shown that he possesses no ability to recruit top flight talent, I am left with little choice but to call for his replacement.
The success we enjoyed in 2005 could not have been accomplished by any other coach and Weber is to be commended for that, however, one appearance in the finals is not enough to ensure a coach a life long position and with that I have finally, reluctantly I might add, joined the chorus of fans that are now calling for Weber to be replaced.
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