SIU coach heads north to IU

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Bruce Weber became the 16th men's basketball coach at the University of Illinois Wednesday, returning to the Big Ten after five seasons at Southern Illinois.

"I am honored and humbled to be named the coach here," Weber said. "It's a tremendous honor."

Weber agreed to a five-year contract worth $2.5 million, according to a university spokeswoman. His base salary will be $150,000 per year with another $350,000 compensation from radio and television appearances, camps and other promotional work.

The deal includes a $1 million dollar buyout clause, twice the buyout that was in former coach Bill Self's contract.

Weber said athletic director Ron Guenther called him Monday morning to offer the job, and the two completed the deal in Champaign on Tuesday. Weber returned to Carbondale and told his SIU players Tuesday night and was back in Champaign early Wednesday to meet the Illinois players.

"Everybody's excited," said Illini freshman James Augustine. "He's just like Coach Self. He has a sense of humor. He's ready to work hard. He's enthusiastic, he's hyper sometimes."

Weber called Illinois one of the top 15 basketball programs in the country.

"Our goal is to win a national championship at the University of Illinois," Guenther said in introducing Weber. "I believe Bruce Weber is the coach to lead us to the next level.

"Everywhere I turned Bruce came up five stars relative to integrity. I can't speak enough about the integrity of Bruce Weber."

Weber compiled a 103-54 record after taking over the Southern Illinois program in 1998. Before taking the job in Carbondale, he spent 18 years as an assistant under Gene Keady at Purdue.

He said he has always wanted to be a head coach in the Big Ten.

"I've said I would only take a job where I felt I had an opportunity to be at a national program at a place where I had a chance to finish my career and do it for the long run and have a chance of winning a national championship. And I believe that this is it," Weber said.

Weber, 46, replaces Self, who left April 21 to become coach at Kansas. He promised a style similar to the up-tempo play Self used in leading the Illini to a share of the Big Ten title in his first two seasons and to three straight NCAA appearances.

"We have not played an ounce of zone defense in two years. It's just our style, we're going to pressure," he said. "I like running and scoring. We will push the basketball."

Last season, the Salukis went 24-7 and won the regular-season Missouri Valley Conference championship. They lost to Missouri in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Weber's best year with SIU came in 2002, when the Salukis went 28-8 and made it to the Sweet Sixteen of the tournament.

Guenther said he talked to several people during his nine-day search for a new coach, but he declined to name any candidate other than Weber.