Media day's focus set on recruit

CHICAGO -- Many basketball scouts consider North Central High School senior Eric Gordon the No. 1 guard in the nation. And that's the No. 1 reason Illinois coach Bruce Weber has had such a difficult time dealing with Gordon's decision to revoke his commitment to the Illini and instead commit to IU coach Kelvin Sampson and the Hoosiers.\nThe Indianapolis native switched his verbal commitment to IU on Oct. 13 and was a hot topic of conversation Sunday at the Big Ten Media Day in Chicago.\n"Obviously, in our case, it wasn't a real positive situation," Weber said. "But basketball is very competitive. Our business is very competitive. You gotta go on, you gotta move on."\nWeber addressed what he referred to as "the incident" in front of a slew of reporters for several minutes before discussing his team's upcoming season. The fourth-year Illini coach said he and Sampson have yet to talk about the Gordon recruiting situation.\n"(The Big Ten coaches) had a short meeting and just kind of discussed some issues pertaining to recruiting dates, all that stuff," Weber said. "We have a short meeting this week, and we have our big meetings in May. So I haven't really been around (Sampson), other than sitting in the same room."\nSampson, who has avoided questions regarding Gordon since his hiring, was short-winded when asked about the situation.\n"I don't talk about recruits. I just can't," Sampson said. "I can't say anything until (Gordon) signs."\nBesides Weber, other Big Ten coaches gave their input into the situation, as well. Purdue coach Matt Painter said he did not agree with the way Gordon committed to the Hoosiers.\n"Some kids will say, 'Hey, I'm verbally committed to that school, but I'm listening,'" said Painter, who was an assistant coach under Weber at his previous coaching job at Southern Illinois University. "Then you're not verbally committed. That's like telling your fiance, 'Hey, I'm still committed to you, and we're going to get married, but I'm going to go on a couple of dates.' I don't think she's going to buy that one."\nWeber spent most of his time with reporters fielding questions about recruiting and indirectly referring to Sampson and the Gordon situation. But the Illinois coach also shared his own approach to recruiting and explained how he would have handled things if presented with a similar situation. Weber said he would not pursue a recruit who was verbally committed elsewhere.\n"My philosophy, and how I would instruct my staff, is unless a kid goes publicly and announces that he's decided he will decommit -- if that is a word -- and go to that school and is looking to open it up, then he's kind of free game again," he said.\nThe Illini coach said the National Association of Basketball Coaches, from which Sampson is under sanctions and is serving three years probation, might be "searching" to make some changes to recruiting guidelines and scheduling. Weber said one of the new additions might include the option for high school juniors to sign a national letter of intent when they verbally commit to a team.\n"There's lots of things that are tossed around, and we have talked about it in our Big Ten meetings," Weber said. "The other extreme would be not even being able to offer a scholarship until (recruits) reach their senior year. Obviously, this situation might have brought some attention to it. Maybe in the long run it'll help everybody because (the NABC will) make some rule that'll not have this situation happen again"