Posted: 7/18/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Wesley Fane Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber gestures during a March 8 game at Assembly Hall against Minnesota.

July is a hectic month of almost non-stop work for Bruce Weber. The Illinois coach has often been on the road recruiting, attending multiple national AAU tournaments to scout some of the nation's best prep talent.

But even during the NCAA-mandated dead period from July 16-21, during which coaches are prohibited from recruiting, Weber finds himself doing work - yard work, that is.

Weber woke up early Wednesday morning to cut the grass and pull some weeds after driving home from Ohio late Tuesday night.

Even Big Ten coaches have household chores.

Weber's first 10-day recruiting stint included trips to Philadelphia, Chicago, Augusta, S.C., Louisville, Ky. and Akron, Ohio among other destinations.

"Hotels get old, and games get old," Weber said. "(But) it's a necessity. You have to do it. It's important."

Assistant coaches Wayne McClain, Jay Price and Jerrance Howard also returned to Champaign after their 10-day journeys.

Wednesday marked the first day the entire Illinois coaching staff had been in the same city in almost two weeks, according to a team spokesman. The coaches took the rare chance for a staff meeting and had individual meetings with the players.

After decades of constant July traveling, the summer recruiting period can become tiresome for a veteran coach. But for Howard, a second-year assistant who is making his first round on the recruiting trail this summer, the experience has been thrilling - in the short term.

"Jerrance is all excited about it," Weber said. "I've done it, this is my 30th summer. (Howard) started, 'I don't know if I could do it that many times.'"

Weber has little contact with the Illini players while on the road and counts on other members of the staff to motivate the team in his absence.

Strength coach Jimmy Price is a constant presence at the Ubben Basketball Complex, but Weber has another person to keep an eye on things: senior guard Chester Frazier.

"He's talked about coaching in the future," Weber said. "I said, 'Here's your chance to coach. You can grab these guys and go.' A couple of guys have teased, 'Coach Frazier had us doing this or that.' So I think that's good that he's taken the team on."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools

The Daily Illini encourages on-topic discussion through article commenting on its articles and blogs. It is our policy not to delete any comments based upon political or ideological point of view. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are abusive, off-topic or use excessive foul language.

The posting of copyrighted material, including any and all content for which you are not the author, is illegal under Federal intellectual property laws. Such activity will not be tolerated. Comments containing copyrighted material will be removed, and continued violation of copyright law is grounds for being banned completely from commenting on DailyIllini.com.

If you feel any post meets these conditions or merits review, please e-mail our editors at meonline@dailyillini.com.