Booby Narang
Daily Egyptian Sports Editor
A new era of Saluki basketball began with the naming of Bruce Weber as head coach of the SIUC men's team in May. Weber has the arduous task of turning around a stagnant basketball program and re-building fan support.
Weber becomes the 10th coach in the program's 85-year history. He replaced local legend Rich Herrin, who was asked by the University to resign after 13 seasons at the helm.
Weber, 41, was an assistant coach at Purdue University, where he learned under the tutelage of Gene Keady, and helped lead the Boilermakers to six Big Ten championships in 18 years.
Weber said his immediate goals include getting the Salukis to the break-even point and then to the upper half of the Missouri Valley Conference standings.
Weber said the next step is getting to the position of competing for the Valley title on a yearly basis in three or four years.
The style of basketball Weber will employ is the popular 90s method of pushing the ball up court.
The area of rebuilding is something Weber is not going to allow to become an issue.
"I've been involved in one losing season since I've got into coaching, and I plan on fighting to the end," Weber said.
SIUC Athletics Director Jim Hart chose Weber over South Carolina State coach Cy Alexander.
"I felt very comfortable with Bruce Weber and liked his positive attitude," Hart said. "Bruce is going to bring a renewed enthusiasm with an excitement to the game."
Purdue coach Gene Keady said SIUC made an excellent choice in selecting Weber.
"Bruce Weber is a great person, hard worker, and has super basketball knowledge," Keady said. "He brings a winner's attitude and entertaining basketball consistent with what the fans will enjoy."
The tough job of producing a winner falls to the first-time head coach. Weber said the main thing is SIUC has a good tradition and can win again.
A head coaching position is something Weber has been seeking for years.
"I have a pretty good reputation in the coaching world and have made good contacts," Weber said. "Being at Purdue a long time, I met a lot of coaches and recruited numerous places, and people respected our program. I think people respect me and know me, and that will help with recruiting."
The biggest adjustment for Weber will be the transition from assistant to head coach. Weber said the difference will be the pressure of having the final decision on important issues and being held responsible for the decision.
"At Purdue I made a lot of decisions, but if things went wrong, the blame went on coach Keady," Weber said.
Weber is fully confident in turning around the Saluki program with his coaching experience.
"I've been under one of the top coaches in the country in one of the top leagues in college basketball," Weber said. "It's given me a chance to learn basketball and have an understanding of the game and what it takes to win and build a program."
Weber named Matt Painter as assistant coach and Shane Hawkins as undergraduate assistant coach in July. Weber also announced that Rodney Watson will be retained next season as director of basketball operations.
Weber's goal for the upcoming season is to change the recent losing ways for the Saluki basketball program.
The Salukis suffered through a dismal 14-16 campaign last season, which marked the third consecutive losing season for the team.
The team will look for scoring from senior guard Monte Jenkins, who was third on the team in scoring last year with 13.6 points per game, and junior forward Chris Thunell.
Thunell, last year's Missouri Valley Conference newcomer of the year, is upbeat about the team's chances for next season.
"I can't wait for the season to start and think fans will be surprised at the difference from last season," Thunell said.
Weber plans for the team to push the ball up court this season and create scoring opportunities with good shots.
"We will use the 90s method of pushing the ball, but we will not force shots and have bad shot selection," Weber said.
Four seniors will return, and Weber said that will be a motivating factor.
"The seniors have not had a winning season yet," Weber said. "I think they would be hungry to get something done and let it all loose and see what we can get done."
The strength of the team will be rebounding with Thunell, last season's leading rebounder at 8.6 per game, leading the charge.
"With Thunell, Derrick Tilmon, and James Watts coming back, we will definitely be strong on the boards this season," Weber said.
Weber tried to solidify the point guard position with the off-season signing of junior college recruit Ricky Collum and Memphis prep standout Brandon Mells.
Weber also added 6-foot-4 shooting guard Gianandrea Maraccini to shore up the backcourt. Maraccini, a junior college recruit from Los Angeles, is an excellent three-point shooter.
Thunell said the team should be more under control with the addition of the two point guards.
The team will need to improve on their defense this season, which proved to be the downfall last season.
"Last year we got killed on defense," Jenkins said. "We couldn't guard anybody, but this season our defense should be ranked right up there with Bradley."
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