Did you see the comments by the AD at University of Illinois?

Despite winning last night against Michigan...they don't look good and they've got some real problems that have cost the Illini their spot in the rankings, and now they've fallen to the 2nd tier of Big Ten teams...and may be left out come NCAA Selection Sunday.
There are a lot of opinions ranging from Demetri McCamey under-performing, to bad shooting, to relying on too many young players...

BUT -- here's what the U of I Athletic Director said in an interview........
This is from John Supinie's column that is carried in several papers including the PJ Star.
http://is.gd/0kjOKz

Illinois AD Ron Guenther says this...about forcing basketball head coach Bruce Weber to make changes on his staff...
"Guenther wouldn’t force staff changes on Weber, he said, but the topic could come up during the yearly evaluation at the end of the season.
“You can’t be loyal to a fault,” Guenther said. “If he thought you there has to be a staff change to make this click, I believe Bruce would do it.”

so, in effect, he says they won't make any changes now but at the end of the year they will re-evaluate and might make changes.
He is clearly saying that even though there are good people on the staff and they are now loyal to those people...if at the year's-end evaluation they believe something needs to be done to improve things, then someone will get canned and someone else will get hired.

Then Guenther goes on to discuss recruiting failures....and even names some guys like Sherron Collins & Julian Wright that they failed to land...as if to cite specific examples of big-time recruiting blunders that were made by someone on the staff.

then...
"...Guenther acknowledged the disappointment"


OK -- you can only read ONE thing into this....that BOTH Guenther and Weber are unhappy about not landing that KEY player that would get them back to the Final Four...and that quite possibly some big time changes on the staff are going to be made to unload those responsible for the recruiting disappointments!

So just who are they talking about??

Let's see....clearly he's not talking about firing Bruce Weber -- that's clear from the context that it would be Guenther AND Weber who would clean house and fire someone currently on the staff -- but it would NOT be Weber.
Here are the rest of the coaches...
http://is.gd/TC2OFP

And it sure wouldn't be any of the lower level assistants who aren't involved at all in recruiting, that's for sure.......
So they sure aren't talking about the low-level, non-coaching, non-recruiting positions like Sean Harrington (Director of Basketball Operations), Gary Nottingham (assistant to the head coach), and Chester Frazier (video coordinator).

And in many respects, one guy on the staff has gotten accolades and big time raises and bonuses for how well he's been recruiting....
And all that's been Jerrance Howard......so you know he isn't talking about Jerrance Howard, who has been credited with landing all the top talent they have gotten the last couple years.

So that only leaves Jay Price, and Wayne McClain.
Those are the only TWO assistants this story can possibly be talking about!
BUT -- Jay Price does way, way more than recruiting....
He has been at Illinois as long as Bruce Weber, and has connections with Weber going back TWO decades at Purdue (under Gene Keady). He was Weber's first choice as an assistant coach, and is credited as the smartest coaching mind on the bench. He is responsible for much of the game plans, and practice coaching.
Recall -- he coached that team that went to Europe this past summer (that included Dyricus), so we know he has real head coaching ability. He has even gotten mentioned as a possible head coach for some positions that have opened up the last couple years. And really -- he is not involved much in recruiting, which is the area Guenther is referring to with his statement. So personally, I do not think Guenther is referring to Jay Price under any circumstances.
On top of all that Price and Weber are close friends.
http://is.gd/KRDS63

So there's only one remaining possibility -- that this comment is a shot across the bow of Wayne McClain!
McClain has actually been at Illinois the longest, since he was there under Bill Self for 2 years before Weber got there. I think there is little doubt that Guenther was referring to McClain when he referred to "You can't be loyal to a fault".
What I suspect he meant is that Bruce Weber has been loyal to McClain for all these years, just because of what he did for Illinois a decade ago (sent his son and a couple other players to Illinois). WM hasn't done anything for Illinois lately, so why should they remain loyal to him forever? And I don't think anyone would ever confuse Weber and McClain as "friends". If you ever watch a game, you'll notice that McClain never interacts with Weber or Price, or anyone else on the bench, except the players. He usually even sits at the far end of the bench with the players, and never sits near Weber.
There is no doubt that the players like Wayne McClain ..but it is clear that despite his previous reputation for getting the in-state players to Illinois...he hasn't done much at all the help the Illini in the recruiting area for years.
Jerrance Howard is getting all the instate kids now.

Illinois loses their point guard and all their big players except Leonard...who clearly needs a little more time to develop. Just how good is Illinois going to be with nobody to fill those spots at PG and in the paint -- except a bunch of untested freshmen...
You just can't play five shooting guards -- so there's going to be more said about the Illini recruiting shortfalls as time goes on.