For what it's worth, and it's probably not much, but the Derrick Rose/Memphis/grade-changing scandal brewing reminded me of Rose's 11th-hour visit to the Illinois campus in 2006. The day after Rose attended the Orange and Blue Scrimmage, I remember him walking into Ubben to observe the team's practice. Before most of the players got there, he picked up a rolling ball and shot a left-handed jumper. Rose said as he walked in the door that he wanted to stay Saturday night, too, which came as a surprise and made you wonder if, hey, maybe this is more than just a last-minute token visit.

And then there was the college announcement shindig at Martinique Boutique on Cicero. It was a small crowd, mainly family and Simeon teammates, and various college assistants from all over the place were sending text messages like, "What's he saying?" and "What color are his shoes?" and stuff like that. These weren't even coaches recruiting the point guard, there was just a national interest level, and it's pretty obvious why. He was the greatest prep point guard I've seen, not that that means anything.

So that's just a quick view on some of Rose's dealings with Illinois, since the Illini allegedly were one of three finalists, according to his brother. And I know the Illinois coaches loved the kid, largely because of his ability but also because of a humble personality that didn't fit the mold of a star of his caliber.

Anyway, today, Bruce Weber stayed pretty tight-lipped about the drama unfolding in Chicago (Sun-Times latest story) and Memphis (Commercial-Appeal's latest). The Illini coach just returned from conducting clinics in Poland and Germany and said his knowledge of the latest developments is limited to what he's seen on "the ticker" on ESPN.

"You probably know more than I do. I've just kind of read the stuff from the ticker," Weber said at Ubben. "You never want anyone to have problems, any school, it's not good for the game of basketball. We'll just have to wait and see where the whole thing unfolds with that. Until that, I don't know if I can really say anything. I don't really know anything, to be honest."

Asked if he views this as "a Memphis problem" or a widespread issue, Weber indicated it was the latter.

"I don't think it's something that's brand new. It's obviously been around forever. You sign a kid, you want him to qualify. There's problems in all walks of life. Politics, business, banking, Wall Street. In our game it's not perfect, either. You hope for the sake of college basketball, the business is done right as much as possible."

Klee