Illinois Coaching Job

[GGGG]

WSCR is reporting that Reggie Theus is a major candidate.  I don't think we have to worry about Buzz here.

Theus did a great job recruiting for Pitino at Louisville, and turned around New Mexico State before leaving for the NBA.  If you get him some good bench assistants, this would be a good hire.

[butchbadger]

They really want to (and are under a lot of pressure to) hire an African American coach. 

They paid lip service only to it in their football hire recently and caught some heat for it.   Bad facilities, bad town, but it could be a sleeping giant.

[Bieberhole69]

They really want to (and are under a lot of pressure to) hire an African American coach. 

They paid lip service only to it in their football hire recently and caught some heat for it.   Bad facilities, bad town, but it could be a sleeping giant.

Didn't they offer Kevin Sumlin the job?  They should be getting a new stadium soon too.

[GGGG]

Sumlin played the Illini like a fiddle to get Texas A&M to pay him more.

[Bieberhole69]

Sumlin played the Illini like a fiddle to get Texas A&M to pay him more.

Oh i totally agree, but I don't think the school can get that much heat when they actually offered the job to a minority candidate. It's not like they just brought him in to fill a quota, they actually wanted to hire him.

[brewcity77]

They really want to (and are under a lot of pressure to) hire an African American coach. 

They paid lip service only to it in their football hire recently and caught some heat for it.   Bad facilities, bad town, but it could be a sleeping giant.

I'm not sold...we've been hearing that for years. Ever since Lou Henson left, UI has been a stepping stone job. Kruger used it to get to the NBA. Self used it to get to Kansas. Weber used it to get back to Southern Illinois.

Maybe I'm wrong, and I suppose the same could be said of Marquette as we've waited for someone to stay (after O'Neill and Crean both used us as a stepping stone) but I think that right now, they're clearly falling behind in the Big Ten. MSU, tOSU, UW, even IU, Purdue, and UM are well ahead at the moment. Illinois has a long way to go before they get out of the sleeping phase, and even further before they can get close to giant.

[RJax55]

WSCR is reporting that Reggie Theus is a major candidate.  I don't think we have to worry about Buzz here.

Theus did a great job recruiting for Pitino at Louisville, and turned around New Mexico State before leaving for the NBA.  If you get him some good bench assistants, this would be a good hire.

Interesting name, I think he could recruit well at UofI. I know DePaul interviewed him back during their last coaching search.

However, he would be a risky hire. That NMSU team was mainly made-up of transfers, a team built to win quick. Seems to me that Theus was less concerned about building a program and more interested in getting a better job.

The issue for the Illini is not a lack of talent, but having a strong identity and culture. I don't see those things as strong points for Theus.

[GGGG]

I'm not sold...we've been hearing that for years. Ever since Lou Henson left, UI has been a stepping stone job. Kruger used it to get to the NBA. Self used it to get to Kansas. Weber used it to get back to Southern Illinois.

Maybe I'm wrong, and I suppose the same could be said of Marquette as we've waited for someone to stay (after O'Neill and Crean both used us as a stepping stone) but I think that right now, they're clearly falling behind in the Big Ten. MSU, tOSU, UW, even IU, Purdue, and UM are well ahead at the moment. Illinois has a long way to go before they get out of the sleeping phase, and even further before they can get close to giant.

BTW, in 21 seasons, Lou Henson only got to the Sweet 16 or beyond three times.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

They're not a sleeping giant...they're already a major program. They lost the final to NC like 5 or 6 years ago, nearly going undefeated in the process.

[TallTitan34]

Also, Illinois's AD has scheduled a meeting with Bruce Weber tonight.  He might not even make it to the NIT should the Illini get invited.

[butchbadger]

Theus was spotted cozying up to Jabari Parker's mom at the WY game the other night.
Maybe he knows the job is his already.

[T-Bone]

Theus was also spotted teaching kids a valuable lesson while delivering some comedic relief.

[Hoopaloop]

BTW, in 21 seasons, Lou Henson only got to the Sweet 16 or beyond three times.

True.  He didn't have much tournament success but did win a Big Ten title and finished second through fourth probably ten times.

UI as a program could be argued as the greatest program not to win a national title.

29 NCAA Appearances  (for reference, MU has 29 also but we had an advantage prior to 1975 because we were an independent and conferences only sent 1 team to the dance back then)

5 Finals Fours  (we have three)

39-30 in the NCAA Tournament for .565%.   MU is 36-30 at .545%

The biggest missing thing is the title.  Their 88-89 team was very good and could have won it all.  Lost to the Fab Five in the Final Four by 2 points.

[Jackson_Downer]

The 88-89 Illinios team was pre Michigan fab-five era.  The stud to come out of Michigan then was one Glenn Rice.  That was the year that got me into seriously following college basketball in the first place.

[Norm]

I still can't believe that UM beat Illinois in that 1989 semi-final. Sean Higgins, who fabricated a story about his father threatening him with a baseball bat to get out of a signed LOI with UCLA, got the putback in the last couple seconds to win. I had picked Illinois to win it all that year, and had Duke and Seton Hall in the FF too. I didn't pick Michigan to get there and of course they won it all.

[PBRme]

Didn't they offer Kevin Sumlin the job?  They should be getting a new stadium soon too.

Where is Illinois going to get the money for a new stadium.  Aren't they in worse shape than Greece (before the latest bailout)

[SaintPaulWarrior]

Where is Illinois going to get the money for a new stadium.  Aren't they in worse shape than Greece (before the latest bailout)

Well they just raised personal income taxes 66% and corporate taxes to 9.5% from 7.3%.  They say they are temporary but when they built the toll roads in the '50's or '60's those tolls were supposed to be temporary until the roads were paid for.

So as long as people/companies do not move out of state they will have even more money to spend.