Bruce Weber is in big $$$ trouble

In case you haven’t heard, the ESPN College GameDay college basketball crew broadcasts live from Illinois’ Assembly Hall at 10 a.m. Saturday.

It’s the first time ESPN has brought its GameDay crew to Champaign for football or basketball, so the Illini are hoping it’ll serve as a nice marketing tool for the program.

Initially, Illinois hoped to break the GameDay attendance record, but Kansas State drew more than 8,000 fans last week. Now the Illini are shooting for 4-5K to make the broadcast look better for the fine folks watching at home.

So if you’ve an insatiable desire to be on TV while painted orange -- and you’re not averse to screaming unintelligibly for long periods of time -- then the Assembly Hall doors open at 8 a.m. Admission and parking are free. Signs are welcome, but must be tasteful in order to get on the air.

ESPN sent Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis and Digger Phelps on this trip, which means there’s not a chance for Bob Knight and Illini fans to renew acquaintances. That’s probably just as well. And fans who want to heckle Digger for his tattle-tale role in Illinois’ NCAA probation in the early 1990s shouldn’t bother. For one thing, Illinois wasn’t exactly clean in those days. For another, it doesn’t make for good TV.

So what happens during GameDay? The usual talk-show stuff, though Illinois coach Bruce Weber will make an appearance and the Illini players might as well.

Here’s the big payoff: At the end of GameDay, Weber and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo are going to have a free-throw shoot-off. Each coach will shoot 10 free throws. According to the news release, the losing coach will raise a minimum of $5,000 for Coaches vs. Cancer for each missed shot.

Initially, I read the news release to say the losing coach will pay out of his own pocket, which is what inspired this blog’s headline…because Izzo ought to be a huge favorite to win the shootout.

According to Michigan State sports information marvel Matt Larson, Izzo shoots at least 100 free throws at the start of every practice and generally hits at least 95 percent. “(He) has been known to hit more than 100 in a row,” Larson wrote.

As for Weber? When I used to watch practice back in the day, I remember his incredible ability to miss shots during rebounding drills. Of course, you’re supposed to miss, but I never saw Bruce shoot for fun. Typical to his nature, though, he’s not willing to go into this shoot-off unprepared.

According to Illinois sports information maven Derrick Burson, junior forward Bill Cole told him Weber dragged out “The Gun” (a massive machine that catches made baskets and spits balls back to you) after Thursday’s practice in order to get in some shooting. Weber also has been putting up shots at recent team shootarounds and practices.

LW