Illinois fans were in no mood to be cordial to Pearl, UW-Milwaukee coach endures lion’s den

UW-Milwaukee coach endures lion’s den
Illinois fans were in no mood to be cordial to Pearl
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Bruce Pearl knows it’s just as easy to scorn the accuser as the accused, a lesson he learned the hard way Thursday night.

That’s when Pearl and his Wisconsin-Milwaukee basketball team strolled into a lion’s den called the Allstate Arena, already 10 1/2-point underdogs for their Sweet 16 date with an Illinois team and its fans nursing a nearly two decade-long grudge. The payback wasn’t long in coming.

“I thought the fans were terrific,” said Pearl, tossing around compliments after the Illini hammered Wisconsin-Milwaukee 77-63. “I thought the fans were terrific for both teams.”

But not at the outset. Some 15 years earlier, Pearl was an assistant coach at Iowa who was getting his brains beat out on the recruiting trail by his counterpart at Illinois and chose a very messy way to get even. He secretly taped a phone call to an Illinois recruit named Deon Thomas and started the ball rolling on an NCAA investigation that cost the Illini a shot at the 1991 postseason, a handful of scholarships and three years of heartburn. Read More>>>

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posted by ADMIN @ Thursday, March 24, 2005