Bruce Weber Says "Outside Influences" To Blame For McCamey, Illini’s Woes

The Boiling Point: Illinois coach Bruce Weber told an Illinois radio show the Illini’s star guard stopped coming in and working once outside influences got to him.


Bruce Weber, former Gene Keady assistant and current Illinois head coach, told “The Waddle and Waddle” show on ESPN 1000 in Illinois that much of Illinois and Demetri McCamey’s troubles come from listening to outside sources. The Illini host Purdue Sunday afternoon.

"“It’s disappointing, some of it is Demetri, obviously,” Weber said. “But the outside influences, just kill kids, I’m just telling you. I feel bad. He was playing so well, and all of a sudden, the runners, the agents, the third-party people, they’re all telling him he’s an all-American and this and that. Then, he stopped coming in to work hard and spend extra time on his shot and all the stuff you need to do. Here, I’m saying give a five-month commitment, put more time in, and they’re telling him how great he is. It just screws up kids. It’s not just me. If you talk to our the football coaches, you can talk to other coaches in the Big Ten, it’s one of the worst things we have to deal with in college basketball is the outside influences, the third parties, the agents, the runners, whatever. It’s that honestly.”"

McCamey went into the Illini’s game against Ohio State Jan. 22 averaging 16+ points and 7+ assists per game. In the five games since, he’s averaging 9.7 points and 4.2 assists. Illinois is 2-3 in those games.

Weber removed the star guard from his starting lineup in the team’s win at Minnesota Wednesday.

"“I think once we had success too many outside influences [started] talking to kids. [It] makes such a difference. Instead of worrying about the team and the effort, they’re more worried about themselves and what they’re getting, their numbers and all that stuff, and it caught up with [us]. It’s just disappointing. We should be somewhere … I don’t know we’re 16-8 [now], probably 19-5 at worst and right on the verge on being a top 10 team, but we’re not now."

Shameless Plug: TheBoilingPoints.com will host a live chat during the Purdue-Illinois game Sunday starting at 12:45 p.m. Eastern.