Kenny Battle: "I??™m Definitely Interested In The Job"

[tornado]

Kenny Battle tells the media he wants the Illini assistant job

But will he get the same lack of respect from Bruce Weber that Matt Roth, Lewis Jackson, and Patrick Beverley got?

Here are Battle's comments:

"I did call Coach Weber and left a message with him about the job. I haven’t heard back from him yet, but I’m definitely interested in the job"

" I’ve always told Coach Weber if the opportunity opened up, I would be interested in a coaching job there"
"But the decision really has to be his..."

http://illinois.scout.com/2/679081.html

One other source I saw said Kenny Battle is not being considered a candidate by Weber.

[DannyCooksey]

I'm not sure Brucey is secure enough in his position to hire a guy like Battle.

[BradleyBrave]

I posted this on the other board a couple of years ago - Battle told me personally that he and a few other players had expressed to Weber that they wanted to help out the program in any way that they could, and that Weber shunned them. Sounds like it's still going on.

[real fan]

Weber"s job is on the line if he cannot start getting better talent; I question how qualified Battle or other ex-players are to recruit top notch players when they have not done this before..

[it's boogie time]

I'm not sure that Battle ever got his degree. Maybe he did later on. I know that held him back when he tried to get some jobs after his basketball career was over.

While I don't think he would be a good assistant on the coaching staff, you would think there would be other spots to utilize him. He is one of the most popular athletes to come through there. He was the heart of that Flying Illini team. There has to be some sort of PR or alumni relations type position at the school that could take advantage of him.

[bert notorius]

I posted this on the other board a couple of years ago - Battle told me personally that he and a few other players had expressed to Weber that they wanted to help out the program in any way that they could, and that Weber shunned them. Sounds like it's still going on.

Yup. Must not have been a very severe shunning or Kenny has some thick hide.

[MacabreMob]

Yup. Must not have been a very severe shunning or Kenny has some thick hide.

Shun: to avoid deliberately and especially habitually.

Sounds to me like this is a plain old shun. No degree of severity to it - just a shun. Avoided deliberately and it continues (out of habit).

[bert notorius]

Hiring an "outside sales rep" which is basically what a bball recruiter does is one of the trickiest, dangerous hires a "company" can make. You can never relax in knowing what deals they are scheming and what business they are going to take with them when they eventually leave. Weber's been in the game for 28 years. He probably has a contact or two to call on. How many recruits has KB steered to his alma mater since graduating? How do we know he wouldn't secretly steer recruits to NIU?

And a quote:

Battle hopes his opportunity in the Sauk Valley will be a springboard to where he wants his coaching career to wind up: major Division I college or the NBA.

“I see myself there,” Battle said. “I’m fairly young (42). I have extensive basketball knowledge. That’s my ultimate goal, to be at a Division I university. I always wanted to be the first African-American coach at Illinois. I want to get back to the Final Four and win it there.”

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