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Fired as Illinois’ basketball coach, Bruce Weber said Friday he leaves with no regrets.
Left unsaid is he also departs with $3.9 million as a contract buyout. So while it is easy to empathize with Weber on an emotional level, it is not quite so easy on a financial one — unless you have received a similar parting gift from your former place of employment.
A photo of Carla Sizemore or one of Bruce Weber? Gee, such a hard decision.
Weber had a 210-101 won-lost record in nine seasons at Illinois and reached the NCAA Tournament final game in 2005, which the Illini lost to North Carolina. His victory total is third in school history to Lou Henson (423-224) and Harry Combes (316-150).
“This is a bottom-line business,” Weber said Friday. “We all know it. It’s the reality of the coaching profession. But I leave here with no regrets. I believe this program is on solid footing. I am very proud of what this basketball program has accomplished in my tenure.”
Bottom line is Weber went 17-15 this season. If the Illini go to the National Invitation Tournament, he will not coach the team — although why anyone would want a team that finished the season by going 2-12 is anybody’s guess.
Weber came to Illinois from Southern Illinois University. SIU has an opening for its basketball coach, and there is speculation he might return to Carbondale. Among the speculation for Weber’s successor, the names of Virginia Commonwealth’s Shaka Smart, Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin, Alabama’s Anthony Grant and former NBA player Reggie Theus have been tossed out. At least the initial reports sound better than some of the suggestions from Chicago sports radio in recent days that called for the Illini to hire a Public League coach who would provide a pipeline of talent to Champaign. As if Illinois is a place for a coach without college experience.
First-year athletic director Mike Thomas is smarter than that. Then again, so are most people.
Weber’s farewell:
Former Illini coach Lou Henson talked about Weber’s firing with David Spada and Elliott Harris in a bonus session of “Sports & Torts.” That’s the show that airs live on Thursdays at noon on talkzone.com.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo expressed dismay at Weber’s firing after the Spartans scored a 92-75 Big Ten Conference tournament quarterfinal victory Friday against Iowa in Indianapolis:
Totally unrelated to Weber and Illinois basketball:
The great thing about attending the Arnold Sports Festival is the chance to chat with so many people. Which explains why — even though The Arnold was last weekend — we still have videos to provide the faithful visitors to this site (even the philanderers may view and enjoy, too).
Today’s offering is an interview with Carla Sizemore, a figure competitor who lives in Dallas and originally is from Indiana:
For those disappointed not to see Carla competing, here is a video that shows her onstage from another event:
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