TALKING ILLINI 11/17 HR 1

Boz & Mr. G try and figure out where the wheels came off the wagon for the Illini with The News Gazette\'s Bob Asmussen. Plus - the parents of Hoops recruit Tyler Griffey talk about the factors that lead to their son signing his letter of intent to play for the Fighting Illini & what he will bring to the team.

TALKING ILLINI 11/17 HR 2

What does the 2008 Illinois basketball season look like? Boz and Mr. G are joined by Illini Coach Bruce Weber with his thoughts on the first two games of the season. He also talks about the toughest games coming up and how the chemistry of this team is shaping up. And Dave Eanett, the voice of Northwestern University, also joins the guys to talk about the Wildcats impressive 2008 football season.

TALKING ILLINI 11/17 EXTRA

Brandon Pauls High School Coach Chuck Ramsay lets the Illini Nation know what they can expect next season from his star player.

Bob Asmussen

Bob Asmussen is in his 13th year covering the Illinois football team as the full-time beat writer for the Champaign News-Gazette. He is in his 2oth year at the News-Gazette overall.

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Dave Eanet

Dave Eanet is the Sports Director and sports anchor on the Spike O'Dell show. Dave celebrated the 10th anniversary of his second tenure at WGN in July of 2006. He began at WGN in October of 1984 and oversaw production of the Chicago Bears broadcasts in the 1985 Super Bowl season, before being named Assistant Program Director. He left WGN in 1988 but returned in 1996. While absent from WGN. Dave became the play-by-play voice of Northwestern Wildcat Football in 1990, and continued in that role when the games came back to WGN in 1996, following the Wildcats' run to the Rose Bowl. He also handled play-by-play of DePaul basketball in 1997, and then became voice of Northwestern basketball. A 1977 Northwestern graduate, Dave was inducted as an honorary member of the Northwestern Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. He was made an honorary member of the N Club, Northwestern's letterwinners' organization, in 2002, and was honored by the Northwestern Gridiron Network with its Distinguished Service Award in 2000. Dave is also frequently seen anchoring sports on the WGN TV News at Nine, and has handled television play-by-play for Big 10 Womens Basketball, Chicago Bears and Chicago Rush football, Chicago Sky basketball, Chicago Bandits softball, and the Illinois high school basketball championships. Dave and his wife Karen are the proud parents of two young adults: Lindsay, a journalism student at the University of Missouri, and Steve, who attends high school. In 2005, Eanet was inducted as an honorary member of the Northwestern University Athletic Hall of Fame. He was made an honorary member of the N Club, Northwestern’s letterwinners’ organization, in 2002, and was honored by the Northwestern Gridiron Network with its Distinguished Service Award in 2000.

Bruce Weber

The Illinois basketball program has enjoyed unprecedented success both in the Big Ten and nationally under head coach Bruce Weber.



Illinois is the 11th-winningest college basketball program in the nation during Weber's tenure, totaling 152 victories over the last six years. With 152 wins in just six seasons, Weber already ranks third on the Illinois career coaching wins list.



Weber has won 72.7 percent of his games while in charge of the Fighting Illini (152-57). He owns the highest winning percentage of any coach in Big Ten history who has coached at least six seasons in the conference. His 152 wins, meanwhile, are the most in Big Ten history by a coach after his first six years.



Weber has earned a solid reputation in the college ranks and with NBA personnel as a coach who stresses player development and fosters an unselfish brand of basketball where the most important facet is team chemistry. Weber strives for an up-tempo motion offense coupled with hard-nosed man-to-man defense, traits that translate well to the NBA game.



Illinois has had four players selected in the NBA Draft under Weber, as Deron Williams (No. 3, Utah Jazz) and Luther Head (No. 24, Houston Rockets) were taken in the first round of the 2005 Draft, and James Augustine (No. 41, Orlando Magic) and Dee Brown (No. 46, Utah Jazz) were chosen in the second round of the 2006 Draft. Utah's selection of Williams at No. 3 overall in the 2005 lottery made him the highest-drafted player in Illinois history. Illinois' total of four NBA draft picks over the last four years ranks eighth among NCAA schools.