Back to the Illinois Fighting Illini Newsfeed

Stick to Your Guns, Coach

I graduated from the University of Illinois in 2006, and covered Illinois from the stocked Bill Self cupboard through Bruce Weber’s coordination of its dynamite pieces. For those old enough to remember, it was a sight to behold.

After I graduated, I watched as Bruce Weber altered his core beliefs, failing to recruit the blue-chip pieces this program demanded with an iron fist. Eventually, and damning enough to get him fired, he failed to recruit the right kids to fit his system.

In all the years that Bruce Weber recruited to Illinois, it might be argued that Chester Frazier was the only one that truly fit what he wanted to do schematically and culturally.