The Pre-Loader

W2W4: Illinois' Bruce Weber has changed his recruiting outlook in the face of criticism, and the future is suddenly bright.

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Weber now goes for the younger commits, and the program is responding.

Derrick Rose would have looked splendid in orange.

Ask any Illini fan. With that in mind, those fans were ready to forgive Illinois head coach Bruce Weber after losing locals Sherron Collins and Jon Scheyer, even knowing Scheyer's high school coach was Weber's brother. And even after Kelvin Sampson famously convinced Eric Gordon to come to Indiana long after the current Los Angeles Clippers guard had verbally committed to Illinois, it would have been okay. If only Rose had come.

"If Derrick was going to play with Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Luther Head type-players, it would have been a no-brainer," said Reggie Rose, Derrick's older brother. "Derrick's dream was playing in the NBA. He had to go to a place where the best opportunity was for him to do that. We had no problems with Illinois."

At least he wouldn't today, since Weber finally has his once-dreadful recruiting in order.

Just last year, amid his worst season in Champaign, Weber was being bashed for his inability to land the state's top talent and capitalize on Illinois' run to the title game in 2005. But something has changed on the recruting front, and good play on the court has come with it.

"To find a college coach who looks himself in the mirror and says, 'This isn't working.' That's a very introspective and humbling approach."

"I give Bruce Weber all the credit," said Scout.com national recruiting director Dave Telep. "To find a college coach who looks himself in the mirror and says, 'This isn't working,' that's a very introspective and humbling approach. Sometimes you have to put your ego aside and do what's right for the program."

Weber had no other option if he wanted to remain at Illinois for long. While anybody will tell you Weber is strong enough with the X's and O's to compete with average talent, it was only a matter of time before the down Big Ten re-emerged again and Weber's recruiting woes caught up with him.

If Illinois was ever going to return to the national spotlight as it did when Weber pushed Bill Self's former team to a national title game, something had to change.

For Weber, two things did.

One, he started recruiting earlier. He and his staff began watching eighth-graders, offering freshmen and becoming even more aggressive as they turned into sophomores.

"One of the things coaches kept encouraging was, 'You got to offer a kid at an early age,'" Weber said. "I said, 'The heck with it. It's not working the other way.' To me, I was a little reluctant. 'He doesn't have grades. He has to get better as a player.'"

And that can be a risk.

"I'm not a blind faith guy in coaches offering young kids scholarships," says Telep. "Sometimes things will really work out in your favor. Sometimes you'll have buyer's remorse."

But Weber feels confident.

"I know from my own daughters, it's tough to even think about college that early. But we're the state school. We have a great product not just athletically but academically. What better can you get?"

Not any better, based on who's committed early. Six-foot-7 forward Jereme Richmond, the state's top junior and a top-15 national player, committed as a freshman. Another highly touted junior, Crandall Head, Luther's younger brother, pledged to Illinois as a sophomore. D.J. Richardson and Brandon Paul, two of the best in the 2009 class, committed within days of each other before their junior seasons. And recently, sophomore Tracy Abrams, another major prospect, gave Illinois its first 2011 commitment.

Scott Powers

Jereme Richmond, a 6-7 junior from Waukegan, has already committed to the Illini.

The fact that others have ditched the state didn't bother Paul, a 6-4 shooting guard who says Illinois' early love was instrumental. He also was sold by the fact that this was the same coach and program that went to a national championship game not too long ago and sent several from that team to the NBA.

The second reason for Illinois' resurgence was hiring assistant Jerrance Howard, who at 28 is already a premier recruiter.

Alex Legion, a former McDonald's All-American, knew Howard, while both were briefly at Kentucky. When Legion decided to transfer during his freshman year, Howard was a major reason why Illinois became his destination.

"He was like a mentor," Legion said. "We hung out a lot. He was a big brother. Him coming here as an assistant was great."

Howard has no secret to his success: be yourself.

"Everybody wants to know what sort of person they're sending their kid to," Howard said. "That main word is 'trust.' When I first got into the game at Texas A&M, I learned that in order for a kid to know you, they have to trust you. You have to find something that separates you from everybody else. It's developing a personal relationship."

Illinois' 2009 recruiting class was ranked No. 13 by Telep in November. With Head and Richmond, the 2010 class should be higher. The 2011 class could be even better with the amount of sophomore talent in Illinois.

"They're getting the best guys in the state," Telep said. "That's where they needed to start…."Illinois is not recruiting like North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA. They don't need to be. The first step was to shore up the borders. Then, they can go on an exploration mission."

For Weber, he's gone from vying for a national title to fighting to stay out of the bottom of the Big Ten. Now, he's working his way back toward the top.

"I think you learn all the time in life you're self-evaluating, making improvements," Weber said. "We had a great run. We made it to the championship game. You begin appreciating. You think you're doing a good job; you also realize life has been good to you. Then sometimes life smacks you in the face, and you got to keep fighting and get off the ground. That's what we tried to do."

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