Why Every Illinois Fan Can't Wait For Bruce Pearl....
...alternately titled, why every true Orange Blooded fan should hope we whomp Wisconsin-Milwauke by 70 points.
But first Kudos to Illinois for rediscovering portions of their game. The guard play still has me extremely worried about this team right now, and I know that whoever we face in the Elite 8 will be our toughest match up of the tourney.
Now, onto Pearl. It does take a deep fan to appreciate and understand the animosity towards UW-Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl. Mark Tupper does a decent job of summing some of it up in his column on Pearl. Another post on the history of the incident, including how Digger Phelps was involved (explaining his animosity toward Illinois) is here. (This is a detailed must read.)
However, let me tell you one fans perspective. 1989 was the last time the Illini made the Final Four. It was a year that they should have one a National Title behind a stellar lineup. Lou Henson was at the top of his game and was about to reap the national reputation he had been waiting for. Talent was going to flow into the program like never before and Illinois, although having lost a chance at the title, would be a major player for years to come.
The recruiting centered around Deon Thomas, a horse of a stud from Chicago Simeon. A lynchpin that would hold the middle for the Illini for the next four years. A nucleus to build championship teams around. Deon was recruited by a number of schools to come and play. One of them being the University of Iowa where Bruce Pearl was an assistant coach. Pearl was pissed that he could not land Thomas. Here are some quotes:
Now, Thomas was cleared of any wrong doing. Maybe he did get a car and cash, it would not surprise me. U of I had been in trouble for recruiting issues in the past so it is not out of the question, but as Jay Mariotti points out, Kendall Gill at the time was driving a car with a hole in the floorboard. The ramifications of Pearl tattling when he did not get what he wanted crippled the Illinois basketball team for the 1990's. U of I lost scholarships to give out, was suspended from postseason play for a year, and was given recruting restrictions. The sanctions killed the momentum we had, and ultimately cost Lou Henson his job. Read this quote from 1996 when Lon Kruger was hired to replace Henson as coach:
What should have been our years turning Illinois into a dynasty were laid assunder by a jealous assistant coach in Pearl and a vindictive Head Coach at Notre Dame, Digger Phelps. It was a hard lesson learned to make sure we were operating cleanly, but we did not escape it for 9 years until 1999 when we won the Big 10 title. In an ironic twist, it took Pearl 9 years at Southern Indiana before he was even given a chance to coach at a D-I school. He broke the coaches code and he is a scum ball. I had the chance to work with Deon Thomas each of the three summers after he graduated at a summer camp in my hometown. He was a great guy and very easy going...except when talking about Pearl and Iowa. I hope Weber brings in Thomas (the all time leading scorer in Illini history) to give the pregame pep talk.
No game in this tourney will give me more pleasure than to see the Illini disembowel and burn Pearl's team. I admire his players and their tenacity, but the man is pure creamed shit in a can. He will look lovely smeared all over the walls of Allstate Arena.
But first Kudos to Illinois for rediscovering portions of their game. The guard play still has me extremely worried about this team right now, and I know that whoever we face in the Elite 8 will be our toughest match up of the tourney.
Now, onto Pearl. It does take a deep fan to appreciate and understand the animosity towards UW-Milwaukee coach Bruce Pearl. Mark Tupper does a decent job of summing some of it up in his column on Pearl. Another post on the history of the incident, including how Digger Phelps was involved (explaining his animosity toward Illinois) is here. (This is a detailed must read.)
However, let me tell you one fans perspective. 1989 was the last time the Illini made the Final Four. It was a year that they should have one a National Title behind a stellar lineup. Lou Henson was at the top of his game and was about to reap the national reputation he had been waiting for. Talent was going to flow into the program like never before and Illinois, although having lost a chance at the title, would be a major player for years to come.
The recruiting centered around Deon Thomas, a horse of a stud from Chicago Simeon. A lynchpin that would hold the middle for the Illini for the next four years. A nucleus to build championship teams around. Deon was recruited by a number of schools to come and play. One of them being the University of Iowa where Bruce Pearl was an assistant coach. Pearl was pissed that he could not land Thomas. Here are some quotes:
According to the Illinois side of the story, Iowa assistant Bruce Pearl kept
badgering him even after Thomas had already announced his intentions to play in
Champaign. But Pearl continued to call Thomas at home and secretly taped the
phone conversations. One time, Pearl was pestering Thomas about alleged money
and automobiles Illinois had offered him to get him to sign on the dotted line.
Thomas finally said something along the lines of “yeah, yeah that’s right” to
get the relentless recruiter off his back. Pearl then took the tapes and turned
them over to the NCAA. Although most of the allegations were dropped, Illinois
was found guilty on lack of institutional control.
Now, Thomas was cleared of any wrong doing. Maybe he did get a car and cash, it would not surprise me. U of I had been in trouble for recruiting issues in the past so it is not out of the question, but as Jay Mariotti points out, Kendall Gill at the time was driving a car with a hole in the floorboard. The ramifications of Pearl tattling when he did not get what he wanted crippled the Illinois basketball team for the 1990's. U of I lost scholarships to give out, was suspended from postseason play for a year, and was given recruting restrictions. The sanctions killed the momentum we had, and ultimately cost Lou Henson his job. Read this quote from 1996 when Lon Kruger was hired to replace Henson as coach:
Illinois still hasn't fully recovered from NCAA sanctions in 1990 for violations
which included improper recruiting contacts by Collins. Since then the Illini
have never won more than 19 games in a season and are 1-6 in postseason play.
What should have been our years turning Illinois into a dynasty were laid assunder by a jealous assistant coach in Pearl and a vindictive Head Coach at Notre Dame, Digger Phelps. It was a hard lesson learned to make sure we were operating cleanly, but we did not escape it for 9 years until 1999 when we won the Big 10 title. In an ironic twist, it took Pearl 9 years at Southern Indiana before he was even given a chance to coach at a D-I school. He broke the coaches code and he is a scum ball. I had the chance to work with Deon Thomas each of the three summers after he graduated at a summer camp in my hometown. He was a great guy and very easy going...except when talking about Pearl and Iowa. I hope Weber brings in Thomas (the all time leading scorer in Illini history) to give the pregame pep talk.
No game in this tourney will give me more pleasure than to see the Illini disembowel and burn Pearl's team. I admire his players and their tenacity, but the man is pure creamed shit in a can. He will look lovely smeared all over the walls of Allstate Arena.
posted by GT at 10:59 AM
2 Comments:
Thanks for the link, I appreciate it! Go Illini! I hope this week's scrutiny shows Pearl to be the rat he is.
Also, I hope the players are allowed to focus on the game. Let us (the fans) duke it out with the rat. Let the innocent bystanders (current UI players, curernt UI coaches, and UWM players) prepare in peace.
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