UPDATE: The hire’s official.
Kansas State has scheduled a press conference Saturday to announce news regarding its basketball program and, according to Kellis Robinett of the Kansas City Star, the Wildcats will announce the hiring of former Illinois coach Bruce Weber.
Weber wasn’t out of work for long, if this report holds true, as he was fired from Illinois on March 9, now set to be introduced as the Kansas State coach three weeks later.
Weber coached in Champaign for nine season, compiling an overall record of 210-101. His most successful season came in 2004-2005, when the Illini were runners-up to the national championship.
In total, he made six NCAA appearances and one NIT appearance at Illinois. He also made two NCAA tournament appearances while at Southern Illinois, including one run to the Sweet 16.
Before taking the Kansas State job, he was reportedly in consideration for openings at SMU and College of Charleston.
The news spread quickly across Twitter and with some negative reaction. Former Wildcat point guard Jacob Pullen tweeted, “I support kstate for life no matter what but I’m not a Bruce Webber [sic] fan and I think Kstate can do a lot better.”
Kansas State was left with a coaching vacancy after Frank Martin departed for South Carolina, reportedly because of disagreements between Martin and his AD, John Currie.
Barring any transfers, Weber would be inheriting a team that would stay mostly intact for next season, with the exception of graduating forward Jamar Samuels.
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_