The rumors have been circulating, but NIU basketball coach Rob Judson will be back in DeKalb and not at his alma mater, the University of Illinois.

Southern Illinois University’s Bruce Webber will be the next U of I coach. Judson heard that the Illini were going to name a new coach and then released a statement (see right).

“I get to keep coaching a great group of guys,” Judson said.

When asked if he was contacted by U of I Athletics Director Ron Guenther during the search to replace Bill Self, who left for Kansas, Judson said he would not comment about any of the process. He did, however, want to stress that he never applied for the job and never had a formal interview.

“The future is to recruit for Northern Illinois today,” he said. “One thing we’ve always tried to do is work as hard as we can to do the best with what we have at that moment. Throughout all the speculation, that’s what we’ve done.”

Judson’s players at NIU are relieved that he is staying and happy that all the rumors are out of the way.

“I’m real excited because we are going to be continuing our progress that we made from this last year,” freshman forward Rome Sanders said. “I thought he had a real good chance at getting the job with everyone turning it down. He basically was saying that everybody knows he’s got the strong Illinois ties, but he thought it was a longshot. I assumed he was telling us just so we didn’t worry.”

Expert from Judson letter

During the past week, there has been much interest and speculation regarding the basketball coaching position at the University of Illinois. It has been rewarding and flattering to feel the loyal support from the media, high school coaches, friends and fans.

Ron Guenther (Illinois’ Athletics Director) is going to make the best decision for Illinois basketball. As a former Illini student-athlete and coach, I will always wish Illinois the best.

I am excited to continue our rapid progress here at Northern Illinois. My family has always been extremely happy in the DeKalb community and at NIU. Together with our staff, we will continue to be committed to achieving our goals for Northern Illinois basketball. We are looking forward to coaching our hard-working and dedicated team of student-athletes.