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Weber was hired April 30, 2003, and received a one-year extension to
his initial five-year contract in 2004 after leading Illinois to a
record of 26-7, an outright Big Ten championship and the NCAA Sweet
16 in his first season.
Weber became the first coach in Big Ten history to win
consecutive outright conference championships in his first two
seasons by directing last year's Illini squad to another Big Ten
title. Illinois tied the all-time NCAA record for victories in a
season en route to its 37-2 record and advanced to the NCAA
championship game for the first time in school history. The Illini
claimed the Big Ten Tournament title as well as the regular-season
crown, and won the NCAA Chicago Regional to advance to the Final
Four for the first time since 1989. Illinois was the national story
of the 2004-05 basketball season, flirting with an undefeated season
after winning its first 29 games, and earning the No. 1 ranking in
both polls for 15 consecutive weeks.
"I am very pleased with the job Bruce Weber has done with our
basketball program," said Ron Guenther, director of athletics. "His
performance has been exceptional. Additionally, he and Megan have
been excellent representatives for our institution. I am very
pleased that we can extend the contract."
[to top of second column in this article]
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 Weber has received a two-year extension, which will keep him on
the Illini sidelines through the 2010-11 season. In addition, a
number of upgrades will be made to the program to keep it among the
nation's elite.
"Of course I am pleased to receive a contract that has long-term
security, but I'm even more excited about the other commitments that
have been made to our program," Weber said. "We're going to be able
to reward our assistant coaches, which is something that is very
important to me. They have played such a huge role in our success,
and this should allow for stability in those positions. We're also
going to upgrade our video resources and make some necessary
upgrades to the Ubben Basketball Complex, which will keep it among
the best practices facilities in the nation.
"I am happy to be part of a wonderful program here and to work
with Ron and an administration that is very supportive of our needs.
It has been a memorable first two years, and our staff will continue
working hard to ensure the future success of the basketball program
here at the University of Illinois."
[Kent Brown, assistant athletics director, sports information
director,
University of Illinois]
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