There wasn’t a good time for Illinois assistant coach Tracy Webster to leave for bluegrassier pastures. As the Illini’s point man in Chicago, as well as a guy who made connections from coast-to-coast, he was the closest thing the Orange and Blue had to a star salesman.
But for Webster to leave Illinois for Kentucky on Wednesday ranks with the worst possible timing imaginable. On Sunday, the current “quiet period” ends and coaches can fan out across the country for the next 27 days recruiting players and conducting home visits.
This contact period is hugely important and, while it’s not impossible for a three-man staff to do a solid job from Sept. 9 through Oct. 5, it turns an already grueling stretch into a ridiculously tiring time for the coaches. Bruce Weber has mentioned in years past just how arduous this fall period is — and that’s with a full staff.
The coaches are supposed to conduct individual workouts on campus and remind their current players that they care about them and their on-court and off-court development (an even more important job this year with so many rookies on the roster), yet they’re supposed to seal the deal with undecided seniors and set the foundation with underclassmen. That’s a heckuva combination.
The terrible timing of Webster’s shift — and the school to which he’s shifting — fully explains the terse, one-sentence sendoff that Weber offered in his official statement.
QUOTE:
CHAMPAIGN, ILL.–Illinois men¹s basketball assistant coach Tracy Webster
resigned today after serving on the UI staff for three seasons from 2005-07.
³We appreciate the hard work and contribution Tracy made to our program and
wish him well,² Illini Head Coach Bruce Weber said.
ENDQUOTE
Considering Weber is the same guy who, only a day before, talked for 15 minutes about the recent Canada trip without taking a breath, shows you how this might hurt. Does it ruin Illinois’ chances with Top 30 recruit Darius Miller of Kentucky? While it’s hard to imagine the Illini were the frontrunner, it all but kills their chances to land the top remaining recruit (per the national rankings) on their Class of 2008 wishlist.
But what’s done is done. Now it’s a matter of finding someone who’s better than Tracy Webster at convincing Chicago area players to come to Illinois.
In my mind, that means just one guy: Notre Dame assistant coach Gene Cross. Now, I’ve got to disclose here that I’ve known Gene for 10 years. I covered him when he was with Dave Leitao at DePaul. I did it on a lesser basis when he was at UIC with Jimmy Collins. I’ve kept in touch as he went on to Virginia (with Leitao) and then shifted to the Irish.
I bring up the personal angle for two reasons: 1) To head off any criticism that I’m shilling for a guy simply because I’m friendly with him; 2) To explain that I’ve seen him work and that’s why I believe he’s the right guy.
This might be a teeny exaggeration, but I bet you could name any Chicago Public League school or any Chicago area AAU team and he could tell you the name of every single coach with those programs and every single potential recruit. And he doesn’t just reach out to the big shots and the “champions.”
One day when I stopped by DePaul for a practice or workout (I forget which), Gene had an entire Public League team in the gym to observe. The team didn’t have a D-1 recruit and I believe it was even in the Blue Division, but Gene thought it was just a good thing for everybody involved to get to have the experience. And, hey, if that school ever happened to have a D-1 kid, then so much the better, but you get the point.
He recruited Wilson Chandler, the recent first-round draft pick, to DePaul. Several Public League players kept Virginia on their list far longer than anyone would expect, simply because of their connection with Cross (and Leitao).
All right. Off the soapbox. I’m sure by bringing up Cross’ name (and suggesting he won’t greet reporters with a sneer) probably crushes his candidacy, if he even wants to leave Notre Dame’s upwardly mobile program.
But the dude PLAYED at Illinois (check out his high-top fade on old highlight clips) and GRADUATED from Illinois. If an alum with long-time Chicago connections can’t sell the Illini and bring in recruits, then you wonder if anyone can.
LW
