Buzzer Beater: Illinois Jon Ekey for Three and The Win vs Iowa

((ht: btn.com))

Nothing says March Madness better than a buzzer beater. And while Illinois pulling out a last second win vs. Iowa wasn't in an NCAA Tournament game, it still was pretty impressive.

Jon Ekey of Illinois was the guy with the clincher, dropping the 3 from the top left side of the 3-point line giving the Illini the 66-63 win over #24 ranked Iowa.

Worst Injury of the Day: Munchie Legaux's Leg Goes in Wrong Direction

Oooofff!

Don't watch this with the kids folks, it's pretty gruesome.

University of Cincinnati QB Munchie Legaux (yes, that's his name) was taken from the field on a stretcher during Saturday's Cincinnati vs. Illinois game in Champaign.

Legaux was hurt dropping back to pass. As he releases the ball, two Illinois defensive linemen collapse into his left leg.

From opposite directions.

The result was not good, let's hope the injury wasn't as serious as it looked. As of the time this story was written, we've not seen an injury report.

BUZZER BEATER: Top Ranked Indiana Shot Down At Illinois 74-72

In this wide open year in college basketball a top ranking in the polls is more of a curse than a badge of honor.

Indiana was the latest victim last night in Champaign, Illinois losing to Illinois 74-72.

That will be the easiest buzzer beater Illinois senior forward Tyler Griffey will ever make.

"I just made a simple curl cut and left two guys behind me, and Brandon got off a heck of a pass," Griffey said. "Zeller and Watford were both right in front of me and just kind of stayed there."

It’s the third time Illinois has knocked off a top ranked team in Assembly Hall.  The first came on January 11^th, 1979 against Michigan State.  That Spartan team would go on to win the national championship with Magic Johnson leading the way.

The second time was December 1^st, 2004 when top ranked Wake Forest went down.

D.J.Richardson led the Illini with 23 points.      

I thought he (Richardson) was absolutely terrific on both ends of the floor," Illinois first year head coach John Groce said. "He battled, he fought."

Report: Illinois fires Bruce Weber

((ht: champaign news-gazette))

Well, if you follow Big 10 hoops, this probably isn't a surprise.

According to the Champaign (IL) News-Gazette, Illinois is parting ways with Bruce Weber. Weber, who has been the coach since 2003, has struggled to do anything with the program.

The Illini have only been in the NCAA tourney once in the last 6-years and haven't finished in the Top 25  for even longer.

The team got off to a great start this season, going 15-3, but what followed was not just a fade, but a total collapse. They lost 11 of the last 13 to finish 17-14 and again, out of NCAA range.

Read the story from the News-Gazette RIGHT HERE

The presser is supposed to come later Friday morning.

Already, our friends at the 4-letter (ESPN) are speculating that Illinois wants VCU coach Shaka Smart. And quite honestly, we laugh at that speculation. Why would Smart go to Champaign? Bueller? Bueller?

Yeah, we though so.

Good luck on the coaching search Illinois.

Coaching Carousel begins: Multiple coaches fired

Ron Zook

It seems to start earlier and earlier each year. But in this case, it more or less begins at the end of the last regular season game.

Already, less than 2 days after that, we've got multiple coaching changes to report. And no, Urban Meyer is a separate story.

We start in Champaign, Illinois where to the surprise of very few people, the Zooker, Ron Zook was let go. He was let go in the midst of his team starting 6-0 and finishing the season 0-6.

Said Athletic Director Mike Thomas, "I assessed the entire program and felt that it was time for a change in leadership."


Thomas will discuss where the program is headed at 3:15, Zook, oddly enough will speak an hour later at the football stadium.

Read the full story from news-gazette.com RIGHT HERE

In Kansas, the Turner Gill era has ended.

Turner Gill

Gill was hired two years ago and given a 5-year, $10 million contract. He didn't finish. Kansas will pay him $6 million to leave Lawrence so they can find a new coach.

Gill went 5-19 overall and 1-16 in the Big 12. And really, the Jayhawks haven't been competitive at any point during his tenure.

The next question of course, who will take over the moribund program.

The Kansas City Star gives us details and suggests a few names RIGHT HERE

Next please.

Larry Porter

To the surprise of nobody, Memphis has relieved Larry Porter of his job after 2 seasons and 3 career wins. The Tigers, who desperately want to move to a "BCS" conference are perceived as a great basketball school and "They play football too?".

Porter, a Memphis grad in his 1st head coaching job went 3-21 in his 2 seasons and the Tigers were a perennial visitor to our "Bottom of the Barrel".

Also, Memphis AD R.C Johnson is expected to retire as well.

Read about the departures from Commercialappeal.com RIGHT HERE

Dennis Erickson

And in Tempe, Arizona it appears Dennis Erickson's tenure at Arizona State has come to an end. The departure has been widely reported and is expected to be made official sometime Monday.

Erickson was 31-30 in his 5-years, including a 6-6 record this season. He's taken the Sun Devils to bowl games, but has struggled living up to the expectations out there in the desert.

AZCentral.com gives us the latest RIGHT HERE

In Birmingham, UAB coach Neil Callaway was relieved of his duties as the Blazers football coach.

Callaway walked into a program in disarray and essentially ignored in the state of Alabama and couldn't do much with it. He went 18-42 in 5 long seasons as one of the lowest paid coaches in Division 1 football. His best season was a 5-7 slate in 2008.

AL.com gives us a recap of Callaway's tenure RIGHT HERE

And finally (for now), Paul Wulff hasn't been fired...yet at Washington State. The Cougars are 9-40 in Wulff's 4 seasons in Pullman and there have been hints that Athletic Director Bill Moos is ready to pull the trigger and find a new coach.

Washington State finished 4-8 this season, which was an improvement as the team has steadily won one more game each year than the past.

The Seattle Times says this is a done deal. Read the story RIGHT HERE

And yes, Washington State has a serious hard-on for former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach. Considering the jobs available, that may be a bit of a pipe-dream.

Expect more to come, we will try our best to keep you updated as the Carousel picks up speed before it runs out of steam sometime in mid to late January.

Much like the classic movie Logan's Run, we welcome you...to Carousel:

Zooker bails on his own presser

Ron Zook

((ht: eye-on-collegefooball))

It appears Ron Zook, the head coach at the University of Illinois didn't want to talk about the future of Ron Zook today at his weekly press conference.

Rumors are again swirling around Zook who after winning his first 6 games this season, has seen the Illini crash with 4 straight losses.

Zook, who is 34-49 in his 7-plus seasons in Champaign is frequently criticized for boneheaded coaching decisions and inconsistent play from his teams.

Today, he began his presser by saying he wasn't going to answer questions about his future. And sure enough, it was asked.

**Note to coaches**--If you don't want someone to talk about something like that then don't say "Don't ask me about it." That NEVER works.

Here is a link to the video of Zook staring at the questioner then walking away, the video is not embeddable, so you'll have to go to the website that has it by clicking RIGHT HERE

Hey, we found an embeddable player from CSN Chicago, so here's your video: