Illini draw Stony Brook in NIT opener
Illinois landed a No. 1 seed for the NIT, joining Arizona State, Virginia Tech and Mississippi State.
North Carolina and UConn also are in the 32-team field.
The Illini open at Stony Brook at 8 p.m. Wednesday on ESPNU. Stony Brook, in its 11th season of Division I basketball, won the America East with a 22-9 record. The Seawolves finished ranked 142 in the final RPI.
For the complete bracket, click here
Stony Brook Seawolves
22-9 Overall, 13-3 America East Conference
Nov. 13 Stony Brook 75, MD Eastern Shore 57
Nov. 16 Stony Brook 87, Mount St. Mary 53
Nov. 21 Stony Brook 72, Wagner 48
Nov. 24 Rhode Island 75, Stony Brook 58
Nov. 28 Stony Brook 60, N.J.I.T. 46
Nov. 30 Stony Brook 71, Lehigh 52
Dec. 2 St. John's 63, Stony Brook 55
Dec. 5 Stony Brook 63, Columbia 60
Dec. 8 Fordham 93, Stony Brook 77
Dec. 12 Stony Brook 66, Colgate 55
Dec. 21 Sacred Heart 78, Stony Brook 70
Dec. 28 St. Peter's 67, Stony Brook 46
Dec. 31 Stony Brook 69, Holy Cross 60
Jan. 2 Stony Brook 84, Boston U. 75
Jan. 7 Stony Brook 70, Hartford 59
Jan. 10 Stony Brook 69, New Hampshire 63
Jan. 12 Binghamton 64, Stony Brook 62
Jan. 16 Maine 67, Stony Brook 61
Jan. 18 Stony Brook 81, UMBC 69
Jan. 21 Stony Brook 65, Vermont 60
Jan. 24 Stony Brook 67, Albany 61
Jan. 30 Stony Brook 71, Boston U. 55
Feb. 3 Stony Brook 54, Hartford 44
Feb. 10 Stony Brook 83, Maine 64
Feb. 13 Stony Brook 81, Binghamton 61
Feb. 16 Stony Brook 86, UMBC 72
Feb. 19 Stony Brook 68, Albany 66
Feb. 24 Stony Brook 82, Vermont 78
Feb. 28 New Hampshire 77, Stony Brook 55
March 6 Stony Brook 68, Albany 59
March 7 Boston 70, Stony Brook 63
The NIT seems best for this year's team. What's better for the young guys? Getting pasted in a first round game by the likes of Butler or Maryland? Or getting a chance at a deep run in a postseason tournament?
Yes, the competition might not be the best, but it's a better chance for the young guys to succeed and know how to survive in a one and done situation. All the more important with the fine recruits we have coming in the next couple years.
Theres a lot of people that have been hating on bruce i just want to throw a few ideas out there, this all comes down to the players.( not making the NCAA) they sit there and watch tv and got in their minds they were in. You could have the best coach in the world but if you don't have a true leader consistently, and players believing the hype people give them, things are not going to work out. This is the best thing for that team to have happen. We are going to have a bunch of seniors, with great sophomores, and really great freshmen next year with a gigantic chip on their shoulder. So do not worry Illini fans, they will shock the country next season. (just a reminder, don't forget how weber coached a bunch of nobodies the last couple of seasons before now and handled it pretty well. Where Zook loads up on talent and can't do anything with them, and gets paid a million to do it)
Two things I am tired of hearing. First, that somehow going to the NIT is somehow better for this team than going to the NCAA. False, absolutely untrue and it's not even close. The NIT is like a booby prize on a game show. It gains us nothing and I would be surprised if this team goes into it very fired up.
Second....that the failing of this season is on the players due to lack of leadership. What?! Who recruited these players? Who is supposed to be developing these players? Who is ultimately the leader of the program? BRUCE FREAKIN' WEBER. There is nobody else to blame for the product that was put on the floor this year. It was his ingredients, his cooking, and ultimately his failing. Better get it right next year or a change needs to be made.
All you Illini fans just dont think we are going to go in to the NIT and blow out Stony Brook. Remember we do suck that is why we are there at the NIT in the first place. Stony Brook and us are in the same league. Talent wise Stony Brook and us are equal. We belong with the small people because we are small people.
we need players that actually like to win and that want to win. the lack of inside play this year is utterly disgusting. bruce weber cant coach and he cant recruit. we lose all the best recruits to other schools in our conference so what does that tell you? you can tell a great coach by how many times he has gotten to the final four and how many times he has won the championship once he has gotten there, so that bein said all you illini fans that support failure think about it. with weber as coach we will never again even sniff the final four. remember the only reason we got to the championship when we did is because bill selfs players were still playing. look where coach self is at today he is still coaching great squads. and he is still competing for championships because he is a great coach.
tonyjb and pbillini are right on the money. when there is no inside game, no fast breaks, and little solid rebounding, where was this team going to tear off wins?
McCamey and maybe Davis are the only solid Big Ten bodies we've had in a run of four recruiting classes. Paul and Richardson are playing like freshman should. But think of the lack of overall game by Bill Cole, and somehow he is able to play a ton this year after barely getting a sniff the last two. We simply don't have players to compete in the Big Ten.
Wow, you "Illini" fans disgust me. I assure you, nobody is more disappointed by our failure to get to the NCAA tournament and that this season could have been better than I am. But the small handful of you who come on here and rip the coach, player, and program constantly really gets old.
Bruce Weber is a good coach, is he Bill Self or Tom
Izzo? no but very few are. Have there been recruiting failures yes..some there fault some out of their control (Turner). I can assure you that kids read these sites and your attitudes only hurt our chances. Many of our failures can be traced back to a couple of our assistant coaches..some of that has been corrected. We have a great core of young players with more to come and the future is bright.
This is college sports, it should be for enjoyment not life or death. With all of the problems with the econonmy, unemployment, natural disasters, to get this outraged over a sporting event is crazy. These are 18-21 year old young men who I promise you never missed a shot or turned a ball over on purpose.
To the Illini faithful who supported this team in great numbers...Congrats...for you few but loud detractors...if you hate Illinois and the coaches and players so much... find a new team to root for..you wont be missed.
Good luck in the NIT..lets go win 5 games!
I'm sorry. I'm a RHA RHA ILL-INI fan from the time my daddy bought me my first CHIEF hat through having my babies graduate from U of I. I'm not a happy camper. I believe Bruce Webber is the second coming of Lou Henson and from where I stand, this isn't good. What is a head coach? This is a big job. After all the X's and O's are drawn, all the recruiting is done, after the Grilling with Weber Show is finished, the task at hand is simply to motivate your players to be all that they can be. I'm not saying that Bruce is stupid. I'm not saying he's not a nice guy. I'm saying he's not a million dollar coach. Big Ten, Big Stage. This is big business. We fall short in so many catagories, I'm afraid they are starting to snow-ball on us. We all know what we could have had. That can't be undone. There is surely another Matta out there waiting to be recognized. A Tubby Smith looking for challenge. A Bobby Knight with better manners. If Mr. Weber can't rectify his short-comings then it's time to move on. We presently, along with the next recruiting class, have enough talent to work with. A couple more losing seasons and we won't be able to entice a walk-on to play here. Go ILLINIT!
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