New Marcus Liberty interview confirms corruption

[tornado]

sounds like Marcus Liberty may be suggesting that Bruce Pearl could have been right when he alleged that Illini players (Liberty, Thomas) were on the take and that money changed hands..

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130728/ARTICLE/130729694/0/search?p=1&tc=pg

[wily coyote]

sounds like Marcus Liberty may be suggesting that Bruce Pearl could have been right when he alleged that Illini players (Liberty, Thomas) were on the take and that money changed hands..
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...arch?p=1&tc=pg

Great article but sure doesn't surprise me that money changed hands. Marcus may have gotten the automobile but I'd be willing to bet he didn't see the $$$$$$ . I'd say a short little fat man in nice clothing did though.
John Feinstein wrote a book about recruiting back in that era. He writes about 2 assistant coaches running into each other at an airport and one of them asked the other how much a particular coach charged him to get to watch Marcus practice. I was fortunate enough to officiate Marcus several times in HS. He was a great HS talent. One of the better players I ever worked. If he would have played for someone like Chuck B his career would have been much different than it turned out to be.

[tornado]

PJS has a little blurb this morning about another past Illini Sergio McClain..
it contains a few inaccuracies...

[BU Bill]

PJS has a little blurb this morning about another past Illini Sergio McClain..
it contains a few inaccuracies...

Could this be one? it claims "Sergio was head coach for one year at Parkland College, going 14-15 with a seven-man roster. He also directed a pair of semi-pro teams ??” the Peoria Kings and the Springfield Xpress."
Not true, his record was 12-20>> http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/i...-parkland.html
And it claims he coached one year at Parkland College with a 7 man roster, also not entirely true. He started that year with a large & full roster, including 10 returning players and most of the starters from the year before and most of them quit the team in the second semester over differences with the coach.The same thing happened when he coached the semipro Peoria Kings team.
The article also states>> "GIVING BACK: McClain has operated a nonprofit, after-school venture the past two years at two Champaign churches called the 217209 Pipeline. The program provides free tutoring, nutritional meals and basketball instruction."
It's not the 217209 Pipeline, that doesn't make any sense.
It is the 217 309 Pipeline>> http://217309pipeline.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhnEkZnMqPw
And Sergio dismisses Simeon's 4 straight titles and suggests it is not worthy to compare with Manual's since it happened under the 4-class system, instead of the 2-class system, ???The classes water it down. We played the best in the state. For (Parker) to do that in no way erases what we did.". But Simeon plays in Class 4A, the highest class in the state, so their wins and championships were against the best in the state.
And he says>>???I remember thinking, ???What does he see that I don??™t see???™ From that point on, I trusted him and followed his plan. It got me to being the best player ever in the state of Illinois. That comes from Wayne McClain.??? Is Sergio the best player ever in the state of Illinois?

[bradleyfan124]

Prima donna!!!!! I am the best that ever was. Just ask me.

[Old Coach]

And Sergio dismisses Simeon's 4 straight titles and suggests it is not worthy to compare with Manual's since it happened under the 4-class system, instead of the 2-class system, ???The classes water it down. We played the best in the state. For (Parker) to do that in no way erases what we did.". But Simeon plays in Class 4A, the highest class in the state, so their wins and championships were against the best in the state.

For many, that statement is debatable. Arguably, Morgan Park could have made a claim as the best team in the state in 2013.

[tornado]

well - those Manual teams from the 90's were pretty powerful and I will grant him the license to brag - but Simeon can't be dismissed easily..

Simeon won the State Championship in 2006 (AA over Bill Cole's Richwoods), 2007** (AA), 2010 (4A), 2011 (4A), 2012 (4A), and 2013 (4A)

The only two years they did not win in that eight year span, they finished 2nd in 2008 (3A), and lost in a really tough SuperSectional in 2009 (the first year they were bumped up to 4A) which included De La Salle and eventual State Champ Whitney Young.



** this year they won the State Championship over O'Fallon but used FOUR key players (Derrick Rose, Tim Flowers, Kevin Johnson, and ex-ISU Redbird Kenyon Smith) who were later proven to have cheated on their tests and been given false grades to help their eligibility - all four were later denied eligibilty by NCAA with Rose's team (Memphis) having to forfeit dozens of wins and a Final Four appearance.
Oddly - IHSA never went back and revisited those findings and let the results of the IHSA playoffs stand - despite evidence that team used players that may have been ineligible.

[wily coyote]

Is Sergio the best player ever in the state of Illinois?

Not even close. Not even the best player to come out of Peoria. That had to be taken out of context. Liked Sergio as a player but best player in Il. is pretty big stretch IMO. Again he had great game but we've had alot of great players in this state. To go one step farther ,I don't think he was the best player at Manual either but what do I know. Manual has had so many great players.Can you say Howard,Frankie,Curtis,David,Lynn and many more. Great program and great coaches.

[Da Coach]

For many, that statement is debatable. Arguably, Morgan Park could have made a claim as the best team in the state in 2013.

I am sure there are people who will debate anything. But, I think most people would accept that winning the state championship in 4A would certainly give Simeon the right to make that claim.
And if we are really going to get picky, Manual's 4 championships were only in one class, Class AA.