UPDATE: The hire’s official.
Kansas State has scheduled a press conference Saturday to announce news regarding its basketball program and, according to Kellis Robinett of the Kansas City Star, the Wildcats will announce the hiring of former Illinois coach Bruce Weber.
Weber wasn’t out of work for long, if this report holds true, as he was fired from Illinois on March 9, now set to be introduced as the Kansas State coach three weeks later.
Weber coached in Champaign for nine season, compiling an overall record of 210-101. His most successful season came in 2004-2005, when the Illini were runners-up to the national championship.
In total, he made six NCAA appearances and one NIT appearance at Illinois. He also made two NCAA tournament appearances while at Southern Illinois, including one run to the Sweet 16.
Before taking the Kansas State job, he was reportedly in consideration for openings at SMU and College of Charleston.
The news spread quickly across Twitter and with some negative reaction. Former Wildcat point guard Jacob Pullen tweeted, “I support kstate for life no matter what but I’m not a Bruce Webber [sic] fan and I think Kstate can do a lot better.”
Kansas State was left with a coaching vacancy after Frank Martin departed for South Carolina, reportedly because of disagreements between Martin and his AD, John Currie.
Barring any transfers, Weber would be inheriting a team that would stay mostly intact for next season, with the exception of graduating forward Jamar Samuels.
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_
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- mcs7584 - Mar 31, 2012 at 1:31 PM
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A mid-major coach hired by a mid-major AD. Didn’t think it was possible to be more embarrassed by my alma mater than on the day Frank Martin walked out.
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- tg1944 - Mar 31, 2012 at 2:24 PM
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My greatest embarrassment is when an alumni runs around publicly criticizing his school. What is served by such comments other than to embarrass oneself. I definitely wanted Martin to stay, but Martin has been looking for reasons to leave ever since he proclaimed love and cried 24 months ago. Last year he tried for UMiami job just one year into a ‘wonderful life opportunity’ (his words at the time.
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- mcs7584 - Mar 31, 2012 at 10:10 PM
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Say what you want about me but the popular opinion, still, is that this was a bad hire. Any coach that includes the phrase “give me a chance” in his introductory remarks needs needs to have his hiring scrutinized. Of course, there are a lot of other reasons to question this move and it’s not just me saying so.
http://cjonline.com/sports/2012-03-31/kevin-haskin-mood-funeral-bruce
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- jumbossportsblog - Mar 31, 2012 at 4:32 PM
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Reblogged this on jumbossportsblog.
