Why the huge controversy regarding the hiring of the University of Illinois basketball coach? Isn’t that the job of the athletic director? Let the people responsible do their jobs.
What is surprising (or maybe not) is the continued “arrogance” of Chicago Public League basketball coaches like Landon Cox, Don Pittman and others, who publicly stated that unless “their man” and friend, Jimmy Collins, got the job, the Public League might just start sending their prized recruits elsewhere. Please.
Unless I’ve missed about a decade of college basketball, this so-called pipeline of “prized recruits” from Chicago that Collins is credited with recruiting so adroitly has led Illinois to nowhere. Illinois is not and has not been a national basketball power during the Henson/Collins tenure, nor have the Illini been anything more than just another decent Big Ten team.
Where are these prized recruits of the past, like Marcus Liberty, Efrem Winters and Lowell Hamilton, today? They certainly haven’t made it with their basketball skills.
Now that things have sorted out, maybe Collins can raise UIC to a national power–and maybe Lon Kruger can raise Illinois to a national power. One thing is for certain, though, and that is they will both need much more than a few “prized recruits” from the Public League to be successful.
