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Izzo on the firing:
"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 mans up to his own
responsibilities. Incredible, incredible
person. I've recruited against him and
lost, and I've recruited against him and
won, and (it) 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 of 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
nine out of 10?
"I don't know who's beaten me the
worst, probably Bo (Ryan), but second
on that list -- and I'm canonized as
something some of the time ... .
"I think it was ridiculous the way that
thing was handled. And if I take abuse
for that, I really don't care, because I'm
also the president of our association.
This isn't about a friendship. This is
about a profession.
"And whenever you're in an
organization, whether it be yours,
whether it be mine, or whether it be a
business one, the only way you can be
successful is if, top to bottom, from the
president to the trainer, we're all on
the same page, and that in five, six
months, you can determine something.
"I feel bad for the Illini nation, because
somebody's -- somebody pulled the rug
out from under them. I feel bad for
those players that have been there that,
in my estimation, weren't given a fair
chance back about the middle of
January, whenever that famous
statement was made.
"But if you look at that team from that
statement, it went directly down. And I
feel worse for Bruce, because we lost a
good soldier. And yeah, friendship is
some of it, but it's not all of it. We lost
a good coach. We got a coach that beat
me and my team more often than not,
and I just -- I can't figure that out.
"I can't figure out how you guys allow
it. You guys are always figuring out the
negatives of things. I can't figure out
how you guys allow it.
"And my wife and I shed a tear this
morning over it, and it was half for
Bruce and half for my profession.
"But unless there's things -- and I will
publicly state this -- that I don't know,
but when I heard those comments back
in January, it made me sick, and I said
there's a problem.
"And so I hope the administrators that
made those statements have a good
game plan, but you guys lost a good
guy, we lost a good guy, and I think -- I
just hope he gets another job. And I'm
going to do everything in my power to
help him.
"And I guess that's all I'll say, because
I'll probably put my foot in my mouth,
because if it was HBO, we could get at
it right now, and I'd really be fired up
about it, because I just think -- I can't
believe -- I can't believe nobody's
looked at when those comments were
made and where that team went.
"I mean, this guy has won more games
than anybody -- percentage than
anybody that's been at the school. And
he's done it the right way, and that's
not easy to do. And it's not an easy job
there. And when a big-time recruit's
father, I think -- watch what I say here
-- comes out and makes statements, I
mean, you better have a good idea the
guy you're dealing with.
"And I know this. I've known Bruce
Weber since the day I was a grad
assistant. There's not a classier, better
guy -- and I don't want to just hear he's
a nice guy -- better coach. He's had
some things thrown at him, too, with
injuries and guys leaving early and stuff
like that.
"So I'm sad, more sad for my profession
than I am for Bruce, because he's a
man. I've seen him in his press
conference. He'll man up, and he'll get
it done.
"So sorry I had to get on a soapbox, but
I'll leave it at that."
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