Illinois won’t discipline athletic director

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois will not discipline Athletic Director Ron Guenther for yelling at men’s basketball coach Bruce Weber and Illini players during the team’s NCAA tournament loss last Friday, officials said.\nGuenther yelled substitution advice to Weber – who was just a few feet away – and at one point called Illini forward Warren Carter an idiot, according to a columnist for CBS SportsLine.com, who sat two seats from Guenther on press row during Illinois’ 54-52 loss to Virginia Tech.\nThe columnist wrote that Guenther also pounded the table throughout the game in Columbus, Ohio, during which the Illini blew a 13-point second-half lead.\nRichard Herman, chancellor at the Urbana-Champaign campus, told the Chicago Tribune for a story first published on its Web site Tuesday night that Guenther – in his 15th year as athletic director at Illinois – would not be disciplined. He said Guenther had apologized to Weber and planned to apologize to Carter.\nCarter told the newspaper that Guenther had apologized.\nThe outbursts happened because Guenther is a fan, Herman said.\n“I think this was an unfortunate lapse and he is very embarrassed by it and certainly regrets it,” Herman said. “You don’t get to lapse into being just a fan when you are an (athletic director).”\nNeither Herman nor Guenther returned calls from The Associated Press on Wednesday.\nBut in an interview published Sunday in The (Champaign) News-Gazette, Guenther acknowledged his comments and actions.\n“Did I slap the table? Yes,” Guenther said. “But I didn’t direct my comments to anyone in particular, and I certainly didn’t intend for my words to be picked up. That did not represent the way I feel about our players, and they know it.”\nPeople who sit on press row aren’t supposed to openly root for either team, regardless of their loyalties.\nGuenther, who was a lineman on the Illinois football team in the mid 1960s, often watches Illinois sports events from out-of-the-way places because he reacts as a fan would, Illinois athletics spokesman Kent Brown said Wednesday.\n“Everybody in this department knows there is no bigger supporter and no bigger fan of Illinois athletics than Ron Guenther,” Brown said. “Every sport he attends he cares about.”\nGuenther and the Illinois basketball and football programs have been under pressure this year over a variety troubles.\nThe basketball team’s first-round NCAA exit followed a car accident that led to felony charges against player Jamar Smith for drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident that left his passenger, player Brian Carlwell, with a serious concussion. And Rich McBride, a senior on the team, pleaded not guilty this month to drunken driving after an arrest last fall.\nFootball coach Ron Zook’s strong incoming class of recruits led to public speculation that he couldn’t bring high-caliber players to Illinois without cheating. Then, two weeks ago, Zook kicked two Illini football players off the team after they were charged with burglary and theft. Jody Ellis and Derrick McPhearson pleaded not guilty.