Kevin Stallings calls Bruce an......

[OWB]

Stallings is like one of the nerdy guys who tries to cuss in order to sound cool, but comes up with lame things like "idiot a__hole" instead and ends up sounding like an even bigger dork.

 

[hatvol96]

I do not think it qualifies as news that Bruce is about as popular among other SEC coaches as a bad rash. Also, Stallings was an assistant at Purdue when the Illinois incident took place. With the exception of the Indiana staff, all of the Big 10 coaches treated Bruce like a pariah after that debacle.

 

[jwells]

Maybe Stallings just wants to be the bad-boy of the SEC?? Bruce has the excitement already...Stallings has got to find a way to compete. Maybe these kids will wanna come play for a badass like Stallings. epper:

 

[orange+white=heaven]

I do not think it qualifies as news that Bruce is about as popular among other SEC coaches as a bad rash. Also, Stallings was an assistant at Purdue when the Illinois incident took place. With the exception of the Indiana staff, all of the Big 10 coaches treated Bruce like a pariah after that debacle.

And folks think us fans can hold a grudge...

So no one will be nominating the Pearl for head of the coaches association. I can live with that. I'll wager Bruce can as well.

Strange though, how easily Bruce seems to make enemies among the very people who should most appreciate his abilities...

 

[AllVols]

I do not think it qualifies as news that Bruce is about as popular among other SEC coaches as a bad rash. Also, Stallings was an assistant at Purdue when the Illinois incident took place. With the exception of the Indiana staff, all of the Big 10 coaches treated Bruce like a pariah after that debacle.

Ok, I admit that I don’t follow BB that much, so I don’t know what happened here. Can you fill those of us in that don’t know?

 

[orange+white=heaven]

Ok, I admit that I don’t follow BB that much, so I don’t know what happened here. Can you fill those of us in that don’t know?

A couple of story links to peruse...

Link One

Background: What happened 15 years ago

Fifteen years ago, Deon Thomas of Chicago Simeon was a prized high school recruit. He was courted by both Illinois and Iowa. Ultimately, he chose Illinois and went on to be one of the best players in the ’90s for the Illini. But the Iowa Hawkeyes, particularly Tom Davis assistant Bruce Pearl, weren’t eager to see him in Champaign-Urbana. They framed Illinois in a recruiting “scandal” with the NCAA.

Link two

Bruce Pearl's memo, which was turned over to the NCAA is reproduced below.Just an excerpt here. Read all for clarity, if there can be such a thing..

Deon Thomas is human. He and his grandmother live on or below the poverty line. He comes from a broken home. He turned down Illinois’ offer of cash and a car on many occasions but could not hold out at the end. I personally do not blame him and a definitely do not hold any animosity toward him.

The University of Illinois basketball program has committed several technical and philosophical violations in the recruitment of Deon Thomas. If found guilty of these charges, in the name of fairness, they must be punished.

I should add that I didn't post these for their 'objectivity'. They were merely the first impressions appearing off google...

 

[hatvol96]

Ok, I admit that I don’t follow BB that much, so I don’t know what happened here. Can you fill those of us in that don’t know?

Sure, here is the short version: Illinois accused Bruce of improprieties in the recruiting of Deon Thomas. In an attempt to protect himself, Bruce taped some conversations with Thomas. During said conversations, Thomas stated that Illinois had made offers of illegal inducements to him, most notably a Chevy Blazer. This led to an NCAA investigation that landed the Illini on probation. It also led to much of the coaching profession considering Bruce a self serving snitch.

 

[AllVols]

Thanks for the link, they sound like a bunch of Bama fans, (So what if we cheated, you told on us, boo hoo hoo.)