I wanted to know from people that were fans back in the late 90’s how the beginning of Bruce Weber’s tenure has compared to the beginning of Bryan Mullins’ tenure.
Obviously there are differences in that Weber was a highly-regarded Big Ten assistant for 18 years under Gene Keady and Mullins is an alum and was an assistant for 6 years in the Valley. But I’m wondering what the mood of the fanbase was when Weber took over and when people realized he might be the guy to lead SIU back to the Tournament?
Trying to remember back that far.
Fractured fan base after Herrin was fired.
I think Weber was well received but didn't make the splash Mullins has.
I think people were starting to get a little antsy going in to his fifth year.
There definitely more pressure on Bryan right out of the gate.
I think I remember some question why Bruce was an assistant for so long. There was sentiment that he was getting the experience here to eventually replace Keady.
Might be all in my head. That's what I remember though.
Trying to remember back that far.
Fractured fan base after Herrin was fired.
I think Weber was well received but didn't make the splash Mullins has.
I think people were starting to get a little antsy going in to his fifth year.
There definitely more pressure on Bryan right out of the gate.
I think I remember some question why Bruce was an assistant for so long. There was sentiment that he was getting the experience here to eventually replace Keady.
Might be all in my head. That's what I remember though.
I’m not sure what Weber inherited from Herrin in terms of returning players but SIU’s adjusted defense went from 240th in the country in Herrin’s last year to 30th in the country in Weber’s first year. It stuck in year 2 but everything seemed to take a step back in year 3 as they dropped to 171st in the country. And then obviously they took the Sweet 16 step up in year 4. I can only go off stats and recaps though which doesn’t really tell the full story here.
I’m pretty sure Weber using the job for experience before getting the Purdue job from Keady is something Weber has said publicly. And then Bill Self left for Kansas and he couldn’t turn down what Self had built at Illinois. I know I’ve seen him say it somewhere on YouTube whether it’s from his Illini press conference or something else.
I remember when they let Herrin go, the DE had a picture of Herrin walking down the hall, back to the cameras and head down. It was really sad and a lot of people were very upset, but at the same time the recruiting wasn't there anymore and they just weren't winning games anymore.
when they hired Bruce there was a different feel to it because they grabbed a longtime assistant of a very successful coach in the Big 10, and it was a surprising move. I went to pretty much every game in that first season, and there were a lot of empty seats but you could tell Bruce appreciated us when we brought out stupid props like clown wigs and balloons and newspapers etc. weber even called me into his office and asked me if he could do anything for the dawg pound and he went to silkworm and had a bunch of shirts made for us.
i will never forget sitting in the office and Painter just started making small talk with me and told me "just wait until next year, it's gonna get fun around here pretty soon"
Rich Herrin was a darn good coach, one of the best HS coaches in state history.
Played HS ball at Bridgeport, IL HS, now called Red Hill High School. Their nickname? Salukis!!!
Rich Herrin was a darn good coach, one of the best HS coaches in state history.
Played HS ball at Bridgeport, IL HS, now called Red Hill High School. Their nickname? Salukis!!!
to be fair herrin did a lot of illegal high school recruiting at benton high. helped the win total quite a bit.
Craving a McBride Special!
BUDDY YOU RANG MY BELL!!!
I was a freshman at SIU in the fall of 98. Herrin’s time ending came after missing the dance for three straight seasons. People loved Rich (still do), but there was a feeling that there was a need for change.
At the start of the year, we were 1-4. Missouri State came in for the first conference game (yes, the Valley used to play conference games in early December) and ran us off the floor. There were only about 2-3 k at each game. Interest was low. What we didn’t know was just how good that Missouri State team was! They wound up beating Tennessee and Wisconsin before losing to one of the most talented Duke teams ever in the Sweet 16.
Still, we were 1-4 and not many people were feeling good. The good feelings were that Weber was able to convince a lot of Herrin’s recruits to STAY. That was MASSIVE. I cannot state that enough. Thunnell and Schrader staying may have saved Weber’s first couple years. Oh, and Monte Jenkins staying was massive, too.
Plus, Weber had to think quick and snag some JUCO transfers. What he landed was, in my humble opinion, the biggest get in modern program history with Ricky Collum. Laugh all you want, but those teams don’t win without him. Just a gym rat-hustle-and-Chuck guy who could do it all.
So, like I said, we’re 1-4. I’m sitting in Boomer prior to the Saint Louis game and me and the guys are seriously considering not going. But, hey...it’s SLU. Conference USA team at the time. Probably as big as it gets. Let’s go.
Southern struggles early, and we’re like, ‘Here we go again.’ Then...bam. Collum 3, Collum 3, Schrader 3. We just went off. Everything clicked. It was like a new team just showed up. People went nuts. We won by 15, I think. Everybody left the Arena with a feeling that something special was happening.
But did people buy in? Ha! Not right away. We beat a good UIC team in front of MAYBE 1,000 fans before Christmas.
But the team was flying. Took down Tulsa. Started winning 2 out of 3. The Valley in 99 was tough. 3 Valkey teams made the dance. Bradley got preseason top 25 votes and didn’t make it.
Creighton and Evansville came to the Arena for two big games toward the end of 99. I remember the first big crowd and saying, ‘wow! There must be 9k here!’ There was actually only 5,500. But we got close to 7 at another game. Still, it was gonna take time.
We got to 14-9 and closed in on the top three in conference before losing 3 of our last 4 including two tough losses to Bradley and a heartbreaker in Springfield in OT.
However, you knew we were in the right direction. Plus, it helped having every local in your ear telling us about this ‘Kent Williams fella’ that was gonna change everything the next year.
So, what’s different between this team and that one? Bruce had the advantage of retaining many veteran players. This was an experienced group (Tilmon, too!).
Mullins team is MUCH younger, and plays in a weaker conference than what the Valley had in 99.
Similarities? Community reaction is about the same. People aren’t willing to buy-in just yet. They’ve been burned over the previous seasons, and want to make sure this is for real. That said, I was just taking to my buddies yesterday how this felt so similar to 99.
It was such a fun ride from the fall of 98 to that run in 02 and beyond.
Hope I didn’t ramble.
Bow Em
Rich Herrin was a darn good coach, one of the best HS coaches in state history.
Played HS ball at Bridgeport, IL HS, now called Red Hill High School. Their nickname? Salukis!!!
to be fair herrin did a lot of illegal high school recruiting at benton high. helped the win total quite a bit.
Allegedly 😀
BUDDY YOU RANG MY BELL!!!
I was a freshman at SIU in the fall of 98. Herrin’s time ending came after missing the dance for three straight seasons. People loved Rich (still do), but there was a feeling that there was a need for change.
At the start of the year, we were 1-4. Missouri State came in for the first conference game (yes, the Valley used to play conference games in early December) and ran us off the floor. There were only about 2-3 k at each game. Interest was low. What we didn’t know was just how good that Missouri State team was! They wound up beating Tennessee and Wisconsin before losing to one of the most talented Duke teams ever in the Sweet 16.
Still, we were 1-4 and not many people were feeling good. The good feelings were that Weber was able to convince a lot of Herrin’s recruits to STAY. That was MASSIVE. I cannot state that enough. Thunnell and Schrader staying may have saved Weber’s first couple years. Oh, and Monte Jenkins staying was massive, too.
Plus, Weber had to think quick and snag some JUCO transfers. What he landed was, in my humble opinion, the biggest get in modern program history with Ricky Collum. Laugh all you want, but those teams don’t win without him. Just a gym rat-hustle-and-Chuck guy who could do it all.
So, like I said, we’re 1-4. I’m sitting in Boomer prior to the Saint Louis game and me and the guys are seriously considering not going. But, hey...it’s SLU. Conference USA team at the time. Probably as big as it gets. Let’s go.
Southern struggles early, and we’re like, ‘Here we go again.’ Then...bam. Collum 3, Collum 3, Schrader 3. We just went off. Everything clicked. It was like a new team just showed up. People went nuts. We won by 15, I think. Everybody left the Arena with a feeling that something special was happening.
But did people buy in? Ha! Not right away. We beat a good UIC team in front of MAYBE 1,000 fans before Christmas.But the team was flying. Took down Tulsa. Started winning 2 out of 3. The Valley in 99 was tough. 3 Valkey teams made the dance. Bradley got preseason top 25 votes and didn’t make it.
Creighton and Evansville came to the Arena for two big games toward the end of 99. I remember the first big crowd and saying, ‘wow! There must be 9k here!’ There was actually only 5,500. But we got close to 7 at another game. Still, it was gonna take time.
We got to 14-9 and closed in on the top three in conference before losing 3 of our last 4 including two tough losses to Bradley and a heartbreaker in Springfield in OT.
However, you knew we were in the right direction. Plus, it helped having every local in your ear telling us about this ‘Kent Williams fella’ that was gonna change everything the next year.
So, what’s different between this team and that one? Bruce had the advantage of retaining many veteran players. This was an experienced group (Tilmon, too!).
Mullins team is MUCH younger, and plays in a weaker conference than what the Valley had in 99.
Similarities? Community reaction is about the same. People aren’t willing to buy-in just yet. They’ve been burned over the previous seasons, and want to make sure this is for real. That said, I was just taking to my buddies yesterday how this felt so similar to 99.
It was such a fun ride from the fall of 98 to that run in 02 and beyond.
Hope I didn’t ramble.
Great story, thanks for sharing!
I wanted to know from people that were fans back in the late 90’s how the beginning of Bruce Weber’s tenure has compared to the beginning of Bryan Mullins’ tenure.
Obviously there are differences in that Weber was a highly-regarded Big Ten assistant for 18 years under Gene Keady and Mullins is an alum and was an assistant for 6 years in the Valley. But I’m wondering what the mood of the fanbase was when Weber took over and when people realized he might be the guy to lead SIU back to the Tournament?
I see a lot of similarities in the teams by Weber and Mullins.
Both teams play in bigger shoes than they have, (they get things working it is smooth running) Where BBQ and C-Low could get at most 75% out of their teams at best, Weber and Mullins manage 120% on a good night, 99-100% on off nights.
Both coaches run a team with hustle and drive, not poker faces with smoke and mirrors, then use a hook to pull players for whatever reason.
Having seen Weber practices, Painter practices as well as C-low practices (I was a student and had reasons to be in the Arena for my own practices) I would expect Mullins practices are similar. biggest difference, Painter and Weber were working players hard, they were sore and tired, but smiling and Joking. c-low players were working, but lollygagging and clowning, not working as hard as they could, or they were spirit broken and just going through the motions.
Rich Herrin was a darn good coach, one of the best HS coaches in state history.
Played HS ball at Bridgeport, IL HS, now called Red Hill High School. Their nickname? Salukis!!!
to be fair herrin did a lot of illegal high school recruiting at benton high. helped the win total quite a bit.
to be fair?? LOL
Recruits like Doug Collins? Herrin convinced him to grow up in Benton! You must have gone to one of the schools they regularly beat. It's a public school. If the kid moves into the district, it's not illegal. If he doesn't live in the district, he can't play.
Let's see: Okawville 95 - 17 in 4 seasons
Benton 521 - 192 in 25 seasons
Marion 61 wins in 5 seasons
5 Elite 8s in class AA or class A, 677 wins
SIU: 2 Missouri Valley Conference regular season titles, 3 MVC Tournament titles, 3 NCAA Tournament appearances (should have been 4 - got screwed one year when they won 27, lost the tournament, and didn't get an at-large), 4 NIT appearances.
Definitely the record of a guy who has to cheat to win!!
I wanted to know from people that were fans back in the late 90’s how the beginning of Bruce Weber’s tenure has compared to the beginning of Bryan Mullins’ tenure.
Obviously there are differences in that Weber was a highly-regarded Big Ten assistant for 18 years under Gene Keady and Mullins is an alum and was an assistant for 6 years in the Valley. But I’m wondering what the mood of the fanbase was when Weber took over and when people realized he might be the guy to lead SIU back to the Tournament?
I see a lot of similarities in the teams by Weber and Mullins.
Both teams play in bigger shoes than they have, (they get things working it is smooth running) Where BBQ and C-Low could get at most 75% out of their teams at best, Weber and Mullins manage 120% on a good night, 99-100% on off nights.
Both coaches run a team with hustle and drive, not poker faces with smoke and mirrors, then use a hook to pull players for whatever reason.
Having seen Weber practices, Painter practices as well as C-low practices (I was a student and had reasons to be in the Arena for my own practices) I would expect Mullins practices are similar. biggest difference, Painter and Weber were working players hard, they were sore and tired, but smiling and Joking. c-low players were working, but lollygagging and clowning, not working as hard as they could, or they were spirit broken and just going through the motions.
I seem to recall someone--a respectful and respectable opposing fan--once posting, I think during the Lowery years (I think the later ones), that our players always looked miserable, like they weren't having any fun at all.
I remember thinking that was a fair assessment. Our guys now seem to be having fun despite similar hard-nosed attitudes from the coaching staff.
Enough time has passed that I mainly feel sorry for Lowery for just not getting it.
(Inflammatory political snark)
I'm not a CLO supporter, but he did go to the Sweet 16 his 3rd year and came within a few points of the Elite 8. Also 2 NCAAs before that. After that, things went South in a hurry.
Losing to Ohio Dominican was one of the all-time low points of Saluki Bball ....
until BBQ lost to Edwardsville!
I'm not a CLO supporter, but he did go to the Sweet 16 his 3rd year and came within a few points of the Elite 8. Also 2 NCAAs before that. After that, things went South in a hurry.
Losing to Ohio Dominican was one of the all-time low points of Saluki Bball ....
until BBQ lost to Edwardsville!
Ohio Dominican was much worse than Edwardsville. That Ohio Dominican team was like a 5-26 D2 team
