Apr. 2—CHAMPAIGN — The 2025 NCAA men's basketball Final Four is being called by some the best in recent memory.
But Illinois fans beg to differ.
Sure, the field includes all four No. 1 seeds, two past champions and two looking for their first title.
The problem for the I-L-L I-N-I set is the particulars. There are legitimate beefs with three of them.
Start with the team most of the country expects to win: Duke.
Last time Illinois saw the Blue Devils on the court was at New York's Madison Square Garden on Feb. 22. Duke won by 43, the largest loss for Illinois ever. Rough night at the word's most famous arena.
Difficult to imagine Illinois fans embracing that team.
But there are other reason for Illinois to not support the Dukies. Like the guy in charge of the team.
Jon Scheyer, an Illinois native, played for Duke and was part of a national title team under Mike Krzyzewski. But the two-time News-Gazette All-State Player of the Year could have just as easily ended up at Illinois. His coach at Glenbrook North was the brother of then-Illinois coach Bruce Weber. No guarantees your brother will deliver you his best player, but it seemed to be more likely than not.
Had Scheyer played at Illinois, perhaps he would have replaced Weber as coach after a couple of national titles and a successful two-decade run.
Ahh, what could have been, but rarely is.
Hard to fault Scheyer for his college choice. If Duke under Coach K recruited you, the potential and tradition was too strong to resist.
Remember, Scheyer was a superstar player with NBA dreams — like current Duke great Cooper Flagg. Though Illinois moved players to the NBA, it was not at close to the same volume as Duke.
Maybe Scheyer considered coaching part of his future when he went to Durham, N.C., but a longtime playing career was the more likely goal.
So, my guess is the answer on Duke for Illinois fans is a big (but respectful) "No."
Love NASA, but not Sampson
Houston ranks among the best college basketball programs to have never cut down the nets.
Phi Slama Jama should have won in 1983, but got beat by the perfect underdog North Carolina State. The Cougars went two other times during the 1980s, including a loss in the 1984 final to Pat Ewing and Georgetown. No disgrace there.
If any other coach was in charge of the current Cougars, I believe Illinois fans would wrap their arms around the team.
But not with Kelvin Sampson in charge at Houston.
A successful coach at multiple stops, Sampson will forever be known to Illinois fans as "the guy who stole Eric Gordon."
Committed to Weber, Gordon would have made a huge difference for the Illinois program. But Sampson convinced him to come to Bloomington and play for Indiana instead. Hmmmm.
Gordon became a fine player, picked seventh overall in the 2008 draft. He has spent 17 seasons getting paid for play with five different teams.
Illinois fans won't forgive Sampson for the Gordon swipe. Sampson doesn't help any by being a bit of a crab. But it is not about personality. It has everything to do with doing the right thing and to Illinois fans, Sampson failed miserably. He would be the most-despised coach in this year's Final Four if it wasn't for the bottom guy on this list.
Avoiding trouble
In September, an investigation started into Florida coach Todd Golden following allegations of sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and stalking.
On Jan. 27, the school announced that it found no evidence of Title IX violations by Golden and closed the case.
The school's student newspaper reported multiple allegations against the coach.
Obviously, Golden is presumed innocent. When he reached the Final Four, Golden and the school had ...
