A chat with Tracy Webster

After an evening of trading messages, I finally hooked up with Tracy on the phone. Turns out somebody had forwarded him a copy of my previous blog that claimed he owes me $100.

Because this somebody wondered if Tracy was suddenly gambling with scribes, I guess I'll set the scene. I was attending an Illinois practice a few years ago when the team and the coaches left the practice floor went into their locker room to watch some tape.

Since I was buddies with a few of the team managers, I jumped out on the floor to shoot with them to kill the time. When the team and coaches came back on the floor, I had the ball near the 3-point line and bounced it off the floor toward the hoop. Tracy saw this and said, "I'll give you 100 bucks if it..." and then he turned to see the ball go through the hoop.

So my story is Tracy owes me $100 and I'm sticking to it. Of course, I've owed UIC's Tracy Dildy a lunch for over a decade after he kicked my butt in a pickup game at DePaul in 1997 or '98. So somehow, if you include interest, everything probably comes out about even.

Anyway, you didn't click here to read about shooting (or non-shooting) exploits. But if you're here to see a stereotype exploded about Tracy Webster, then you've come to the right place.

For some reason, Illinois fans think Webster didn't do squat during his three seasons in Champaign-Urbana and recruiting life began anew once Webster left for Kentucky and Jerrance Howard came aboard at the start of the 2007-08 school year.

So let's go through a quick list of people for which Webster was the lead recruiter:

1. Jereme Richmond. The Waukegan senior-to-be seems an odds-on choice to be in next year's McDonald's all-American game, which would make him the Illini's first McD AA since Dee Brown.

2. Demetri McCamey. Third-team all-Big Ten this year as a sophomore.

3. Mike Davis. Second-team all-Big Ten this year as a sophomore and just scratching the surface of what he's to become.

4. Darius Miller. Just finished his freshman year at Kentucky after being ranked No. 35 in the RSCI recruiting rankings for the Class of 2008.

5. Dominique Ferguson. This Class of 2010 super-stud committed to Kentucky (i.e. Webster and Billy Gillispie), then de-committed after the coaching change. Hailing from Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, the same school as Greg Oden and Mike Conley, this 6-foot-9 wing is certainly available.

So that's two guys from the Chicago area, one from Virginia, one from Kentucky and one from Indianapolis within the last two-and-a-half years. Webster has maintained his Chicago contacts, but he also has increased his reach. I told him that I expected to hear about two commits within his first week on the job. He just laughed.

"I have a ton of people to call," said Webster, who officially was announced as Jerry Wainwright's assistant on Tuesday. "My phone has rung a lot. I just want to get in there and get to work."

Webster, who played his high school ball at south suburban Thornton, understands that DePaul fans (and media such as me) are expecting things to improve or a coaching change to occur. But he likes that challenge.

"This is where I want to be. It'll be fun to be back home and get back with the guys that I played with and played against. It'll be really, really good."

LW