How Far has Illinois Basketball Fallen?
Guess how long it's been since the men's basketball team was ranked in the AP Top 25: 33 months & 11 days. Considering how highly ranked the program was when our mid-major coach took over, that is pathetic.
Great job Ron Guenther & Bruce Weber!
Great job Ron Guenther & Bruce Weber!
posted by Fire Ron Guenther at 1:11 PM
5 Comments:
FRG, exactly what in the world are you trying to say? Do you even know? Let's consider how highly ranked the program was. Look at the past 20 years final AP rankings for the sake of consistancy:
2007/08 nr
2006/07 nr
2005/06 13
2004/05 1
2003/04 13 (BW coach)
2002/03 11
2001/02 13
2000/01 4 (BS coach)
1999/00 21
1998/99 nr
1997/98 22
1996/97 19 (LK coach)
1995/96 nr
1994/95 nr
1993/94 nr
1992/93 nr
1991/92 nr
1990/91 nr
1989/90 18
1988/89 3 (LH coach)
So what are you trying to say, FRG? Are you saying the heyday was in 04/05? (As you said, "Great job Bruce Weber!")
Or was is 89/90? Great job Lou Henson! Too bad about the six straight years out of the top 25.
Or are you pointing to the 3 stepping-stone years Bill Self put in? Seriously, decent rankings, but does anyone even remember in what round they lost in the NCAA tourney?
And for the record, LAST YEAR'S NATIONAL CHAMPION coach Bill Self's current team is getting 15 AP votes, just like the Illini. BOGGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The whole idea of FRG's post is to illustrate that the Weber program has taken a terrific team and a prime recruiting opportunity, in a state with high school basketball talent of Texas football proportions, and managed to go 33 months without even cracking the top 25. Where is your logic... Bill Self won the National Championship last year, had all 5 starters drafted, and still has the same AP ranking as Bruce Weber in his third year of rebuilding! Nat'l Championship be damned, that is downright pathetic. When you are presented with opportunities like 04/05 (afforded by Self) you have a small window to take advantage of it and elevate your program to the next level (as Duke did in the late 80's), but because we had a small-time coach whose best player coached to that point was Glen 'big dog' robinson, he ended up recruiting such players as East Central Illinois legend Trent Meachem et. al. If you care about this program at all, you will realize we need a coach to get us back to a national championship, not Big Ten championships every third year.
Andrew- ECI legend Trent Meacham (nice spelling, btw) was not recruited. He transferred in, and is a freebie.
"Get us back to a National Championship"?
That last happened in 1914, so you can blame all the ADs and coaches since then too.
Andrew, while you and FRG are bemoaning Guenther and Weber's efforts, most Illini fans are enjoying an apparent resurgence in the basketball program. Your choice I guess.
Looks like based on the current results and the incomong recruits that we may be headed to unprecendented success. Just think if we had an AD that wasn't smart enough to hire our excellent coach and stik with him through a short downturn.
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