Bruce Weber Fired After 9 Seasons at Illinois

Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas announced the end of the Bruce Weber era on Friday morning, the day after the Illini season ended with a first-round exit in the Big Ten tournament.

Weber coached nine seasons at Illinois, taking the Illini to the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 in 2004 and the title game in 2005. But since then, they have won only two tournament games and have missed the NCAA tournament three of the last four seasons.

“It’s just how we were trending,” Thomas said. “I looked at the total body of work. It’s not just the last three or four months or not just the last month. It’s the last nine years. In coach Weber’s tenure we’ve had great success here but in the last four or five years, i don’t know if you would say we were running in place or that maybe we even digressed. Certainly for a program of our stature, I think it’s important we’re playing at the highest level.”

The Illini started this season 15-3 and were ranked in the top 25, but they hit a tailspin, losing 12 of their final 14 games and finishing 17-15.

Assistant coach Jerrance Howard was named the interim coach. Thomas said the Illini will play in the NIT if they receive an invitation but they would not accept an invitation to play in any other postseason tournament.

Illinois will begin a national search immediately and Thomas said he likely will use a search firm.

Weber’s release was the third since Thomas was hired in August. He also let go football coach Ron Zook and women’s basketball coach Jolette Law.

The Illini have more than $7.1 million tied up in buyouts to the three coaches and the school also has facility upgrades planned to Assembly Hall. But Thomas said that would not keep the program from paying a new coach a competitive salary.

“There’s going to be a lot of interest in this job,” Thomas said. “We will move quickly but we will move diligently.”

Weber, who was not at Thomas’ news conference, planned to meet with the media later this afternoon.