Bruce Weber had all the necessary training -- 19 years as Gene Keady's assistant, ensued by a five-year head coaching stop at Southern Illinois, where he racked up 103 victories and two Missouri Valley Conference crowns. Despite that sparkling resume, however, Illini fans were unimpressed after the 2002-03 season when their school hired Weber to take over for Kansas-bound Bill Self. The naysayers grew more boisterous about it after Illinois dropped non-conference contests to North Carolina and Providence and stumbled into Big Ten play at 3-3. The second-guessing bordered on silliness at times, as the Self-delusional public questioned everything from Weber's installation of the motion offense to his attire.
All the second guessing stopped after the team reeled off 12 straight wins in conference play and won the Big Ten regular season title outright for the first time since 1951. The Illini stormed into the NCAA Tournament after earning a No. 5 seeding in the Big Dance, Illinois slapped around Murray State, 72-53, and dismantled Cincinnati, 92-68, to get the pleasant taste of the Sweet 16. There the Illini ran into the Duke Blue Devils who are led by Uber-coach Mike Krzyzewski and touted super freshman Luol Deng. The Illini's season ended with a 72-62 loss to eventual national runner-up, but the Weber hire was considered to be one of the best in all of the country. The school was so thrilled with the teams success they rewarded Weber with a one-year contract extension and a $50,000 annual raise.
The team will be anchored by the same five that carried the team into the Sweet 16 last year. Starting at point guard will be Dee Brown who averaged 13 ppg and 4.5 apg, at the shooting guard will be Deron Williams who scored 14 ppg last year. In the frontcourt will be Luther Head at small forward, Roger Powell at the power forward and James Augustine at the center spot. Each of them averaged 9.6 ppg or higher during last season’s campaign. The stability of the team hardly seems to be any kind of a concern now since five starters are returning this season, the 47-year-old Weber could be headed for an even snootier tax bracket -- and the University of Illinois could be gearing up for a run at the national championship.
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