Bruce Weber was fired as the head coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini earlier today after nine seasons in Champaign. While most are already turning their attention towards Weber's replacement, esteemed Michigan State coach Tom Izzo wasn't about to let the moment pass without saying a few words about his good friend.
Turns out, Izzo had a lot to say. Seriously. Here's a snippet, but there's so much more.
"I’m sick about it. I’m sick about it. And I’m sick about it — and make sure you understand the reason why.
They beat us early in January and I beat Ohio State, and so I have three problems. Bruce is a friend of mine. He’s been here since the Gene Keady days. He’s done it the right way. He
doesn’t cheat. He man’s up to his own responsibilities. Incredible, incredible person. I’ve recruited against him and lost and I’ve recruited against him and won, and hasn’t changed things.Number two, we have to understand that we blame kids for a lot of things. Kids have changed. Now we have administrators that are pulling the rug under ourselves in the middle of January when you’re 16 and 6 or 7 or whatever it was, and we publicly talk about — we’ll make decisions at the end of the year.
I don’t know what you guys think of kids because they haven’t changed much, but if there’s one place they’ve changed, they’re a little more fragile. Not as many two-parent homes. Not as good a school systems that are holding kids accountable and demanding. And so now we put that on those poor kids? And then we’re surprised that they lose 9 out of 10?"
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