Nothing Sweet About the Last Sixteen Years for the Illini

"I don't really want to use the word, but he is evil, what else can you say he is?…It's kind of hard to forgive a snake."
-Deon Thomas

"I cooperated with an NCAA investigation and provided information, testimony, documents and tapes as part of that…I'm sorry that the situation hurt Deon Thomas. In many ways he was a victim. But sometimes you have to choose to do the right thing when you see something that is wrong. I'm hoping that this is the last time I'll have to revisit this."
-Bruce Pearl

I’m sure we all are familiar with the story by now. Instead of attention being given to Bruce Pearl for an outstanding coaching job done thus far, or to his players for their toughness and superb effort in this
tournament, the focus will be on what went down sixteen years ago.

As the top assistant to Dr. Tom Davis at Iowa, Bruce Pearl committed what could have been career suicide. He blew the whistle. Tired of losing recruits because of infractions they believed were happening, Davis and the University did something about it.

Although it was the University who supplied the equipment, and Davis who encouraged it, to this day it is still Pearl who is chastised.

Deon Thomas was a prized recruit who had verbally committed to Iowa, but backed out of that commitment to sign a letter of intent with Illinois. Concerned that they lost Thomas because of illegal recruiting procedures taken by Illinois, Davis had his young pupil secretly record a conversation with Thomas.
On April 8, 1989, Pearl called Thomas and recorded their conversation. In that conversation Pearl asked Thomas if he was upset that then Illinois assistant coach and current UIC head coach Jimmy Collins offered him money and a car during a recruiting visit. “Yeah, somewhat“ Thomas relied. The money was allegedly $80,000 and the car a Chevy Blazer. Pearl also asked Thomas if this bothered him, to which Thomas responded “No, not really.”

Back to Jimmy Collins. Collins, much like Pearl, was the top assistant for a major conference team and appeared to be on the fast track to a head coaching job. This scandal took away many opportunities for Collins because of the reputation he earned due to this conversation. Although sixteen years have passed, Collins has never forgiven Pearl and in a recent Horizon League match up, Collins refused to shake Pearl’s hand after Pearl’s Panthers defeated Collins and the University of Illinois Chicago Flames.

Thomas, who now lives and plays professional basketball in Israel was told of that incident and responded, "I wouldn't either, because of jealousy, someone took away coach Collins' lifestyle and his job. He messed up my future. How can you forget someone like that?"

In a phone conversation with the Chicago Tribune, Thomas went on to say, "We might have been able to do some damage in the tournament when I was there, but what hurt us was the Curse of Pearl. I have never seen Bruce Pearl since that happened and I don't care to ever see him. I have nothing to say to him if I did. Talking to him about this would give him a sense of importance that he doesn't deserve."

"I've moved on with my life and things are going well here, but when you see so many people that were affected by what [Pearl] did, it still bothers you. I won't say I wish him the best, because I want Illinois to kill them when they play [Thursday]. That would be sweet."

The allegations against Collins, Henson and Thomas were never proved by the NCAA, but Illinois was placed on probation two years later and received a post season ban and scholarship and recruiting restrictions in 1991.

The fact is Deon Thomas never led Illinois to the promised land he was expected to, and as a way out he has placed blame on other people. How did Bruce Pearl and this alleged curse cause Illinois to lose games in the NCAA tournament?

No one knows the whole story here, except for Thomas, Pearl and Collins. We do know that in a taped conversation Thomas acknowledged at least being offered money and a car from the university. That being said, how did Bruce Pearl mess up Deon Thomas’ life?

The fact is Jimmy Collins and the Fighting Illini broke the rules, and so did Thomas. They collectively messed up both of their lives. While not viewed as an acceptable thing to do by many in the coaching fraternity, the fact is Bruce Pearl did the right thing.

The story here should be Illinois head coach Bruce Weber facing his alma mata or Bruce Pearl leading a school that many in Milwaukee didn’t even know had a basketball team until recently into the sweet sixteen.
The attention is going to be on Bruce Pearl, no doubt about it. Many current Illinois fans don’t even know the story here, they’re too young. There are no holdovers from the time of this scandal, and yet you wouldn’t know it by listening to Illinois message boards or radio stations.

If I was arrested for robbing a bank, I wouldn’t blame the teller who called the police on me, so the notion by Illinois fans that Pearl is the man to blame is ridiculous.

This may end up being a blessing in disguise for UWM. They’re the little school from Milwaukee who wasn’t supposed to be here, facing the number one team in the country and number one seed in the tournament.
The pressure is all on Illinois and Bruce Webber, and the attention is all on Bruce Pearl. All the Milwaukee Panthers have to do is show up and play basketball.

Getting back to what Deon Thomas said, I’m afraid you’re wrong. Bruce Pearl does deserve this attention and sense of importance. As far as the outcome of the game is concerned, I think Bruce Pearl would find that “sweet” if UWM were to “kill” Illinois.

As a matter of fact, with the exception of Thomas never becoming the player he was supposed to be, and currently playing in Israel, I’m sure nothing would be sweeter to Pearl than a UWM victory over Illinois when Illini fans just won’t let this go.

If you would like to read more on this story, check out the article written by Chicago Tribune reporter David Haugh on Chicago sports.com