Bruce Brett Weber (born October 19, 1956) is the former men's basketball head coach at Kansas State University. Prior to his tenure at Kansas State, Weber was the head coach at

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

and the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. Weber won conference championships and conference coach of the year awards at each of the three schools where he served as head coach. He guided his teams to a combined total of 13 NCAA tournaments in 24 seasons, including an appearance with Illinois in the championship game of the 2005 NCAA tournament. Weber was the consensus national coach of the year in 2005.

Coaching

Early career

Weber began his coaching career with a brief stint as a graduate assistant coach at

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

during the 1979–80 season under head coach

Gene Keady Lloyd Eugene Keady (born May 21, 1936) is an American basketball coach. He is best known for his 25 years serving as the head men's basketball coach at Purdue University in Indiana. In his tenure leading the Boilermakers from 1980 to 2005, he went ...

. In 1980, Weber moved to

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

along with Keady. He remained an assistant coach at Purdue for 18 seasons before becoming the head coach at

in 1998.

Southern Illinois

In his five seasons at Southern Illinois, Weber led the Salukis to consecutive

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

championships and NCAA tournament appearances in 2002 and 2003, including a Sweet Sixteen finish in 2002.

University of Illinois

On April 30, 2003, Weber was hired by

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

to replace Bill Self, who had departed from Illinois to take the head coaching job at

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

2003–04 season

The Illini played a tough early season game against

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

on December 2 in Greensboro, and were tied at 69 with just six minutes to go. Illinois eventually lost the game 88–81, but it proved to be a good test for the young team with no seniors in the starting lineup. Weber faced his toughest test after starting the conference schedule with an even 3–3 mark. He changed many doubters' minds by winning the remaining ten games on the conference schedule, winning the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

title outright for the first time since 1952. The Illini finished second losing to

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in the Big Ten tournament championship game. They received a bid as a #5 seed in the 2004 NCAA tournament, defeating Murray State and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in the first two rounds to reach the Sweet Sixteen. A 72–62 loss to top-seeded

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

ended their tournament run, but capped a solid first season for coach Weber.

2004–05 season

The 2005 season opened with high expectations and the return of all the team's starters. On December, 1 the Illini defeated the number-one ranked team, Wake Forest, 91–73, at

Assembly Hall An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the st ...

. Weber sported a glowing orange blazer for the game, and Assembly Hall was painted orange by the 16,618 fans wearing school colors. The pressure grew for Weber as the victory vaulted the Illini to the top spot in the polls the following week, a spot they would carry for the rest of the season. Regular season perfection and their 29–0 record ended on the last game of the regular season, however, as Illinois lost a 12-point, second half lead to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and lost on a last second shot to the

Thad Matta Thad Michael Matta (born July 11, 1967) is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team. From 2004 to 2017, Matta led the Ohio State Buckeyes to five Big Ten Conference regular seas ...

-coached Buckeyes, 65–64. The Illini won the Big Ten regular season and

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

titles. In the 2005 NCAA tournament the team received the overall #1 seed, and top seed in the Midwest Regional. Illinois defeated Farleigh Dickinson and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

in the first two rounds in Indianapolis. In the Sweet Sixteen, Weber led the Illini to a victory over his alma-mater,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, then defeated

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in an amazing comeback to advance to the Final Four. After leading Illinois to a win over

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

in the Final Four, Weber could not deliver the Fighting Illini their first national championship, falling 75–70 to

in the National Championship game. Weber coached the team to the best record in school history, finishing 37–2, and tying the NCAA record for most wins in a season. Weber won many coaching awards after the season, including the

Naismith Award Naismith Award is a basketball award named after James Naismith, and awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Naismith Awards include: * Naismith College Player of the Year (men's and women's; NCAA Division I basketball) * Naismith College Coach of t ...

and the

Henry Iba Award The Henry Iba Award was established in 1959 to recognize the best college basketball coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Five nominees are presented and the individual with the most votes receives the a ...

2005–2012

Despite losing three starters to the NBA, the Illini finished the 2005–06 season with a 26–7 record and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. The 2006–07 season had a disappointing start, including the first three-game losing streak in Weber's tenure. However, the Illini rebounded to finish 23–11 and again qualify for the NCAA tournament. The 2007–08 season marked the first time during Weber's tenure that the Illini did not qualify for a postseason tournament, finishing the season with an overall record of 16–19, 5–13 in the

. The team improved markedly the following year, however, finishing 24–10, 11–7 in the

and returning to NCAA tournament. After a 10–0 start to the 2011–12 season, Weber's Illini went 7–15, finishing the season with a 17–15 record. On March 9, 2012, one day after the Illini lost its Big Ten tournament opening-round game to Iowa, Weber was relieved of his duties. During his nine-year tenure as Illinois coach, Weber amassed a Big Ten record of 89–64, and an overall record of 210–101. His overall win percentage with Illinois (67.5%) stands as second only to Bill Self in the modern era. His 210 wins are the third-most in school history, behind only

Lou Henson Louis Ray Henson (January 10, 1932 – July 25, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. He retired as the all-time leader in victories at the University of Illinois with 423 victories and New Mexico State with 289 victories. Overall, Henso ...

and

Harry Combes Harry Combes (March 3, 1915 – November 13, 1977), a native of Monticello, Illinois, served as head men's basketball coach at University of Illinois between 1947 and 1967. Biography Combes played high school basketball for Monticello High Scho ...

Kansas State University

On March 31, 2012, Weber was hired as head coach at Kansas State University, replacing Frank Martin, who had departed to become head coach at

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. In his first season at K-State, Weber led the Wildcats to 27–8 record and tied for the Big 12 Conference title with a 14–4 conference mark. The title was K-State's first regular-season conference championship since 1977. Weber was named the 2013

Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year The Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year is a basketball award given to the most outstanding men's basketball head coach in the Big 12 Conference, as chosen by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters. The award was first given fo ...

. His first season at KSU ended with an upset loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament to LaSalle, 63–61, in Kansas City's

Sprint Center T-Mobile Center (formerly Sprint Center) is a multi-purpose arena in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It is located at the intersection of 14th Street and Grand Boulevard on the east side of the Power & Light District. It has effectively become ...

. The team finished ranked #12 in the nation in the AP Poll and #20 in the Coaches Poll. Senior Rodney McGruder was named first-team all-conference. Shortly after the end of Weber's first season, starting point guard Ángel Rodríguez and two other players announced their intentions to transfer. Kansas State's roster was further thinned when incoming freshman Neville Fincher was declared ineligible for the 2013–14 season, and incoming point guard Jevon Thomas was declared ineligible for the fall semester. Weber started his second season at Kansas State 0–1, but finished the non-conference schedule with an 8-game winning streak and a 10–3 record. In its first conference game, Kansas State upset #6

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

and earned a #25 ranking in the following week's

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

. The team finished the regular season with a 20–12 record, 10–8 in the Big 12, and returned to the NCAA tournament for a school-record fifth straight season. The next two years for Kansas State under Weber were less successful. His third season at Kansas State ended with a 15–17 record (8–10 in Big 12 play), and the school did not advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. The losing record was only the second for Weber in his first 17 seasons as a head coach. Following the season, Weber's squad saw the transfer and departure of six scholarship players, including

Marcus Foster Marcus Aurelius Foster (March 31, 1923 – November 6, 1973) was an American educator who gained a national reputation for educational excellence while serving as principal of Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1966–1969), ...

, Jevon Thomas, Nigel Johnson, Tre Harris and Malek Harris. Following the departure of numerous players from the prior season, the 2015–16 season was again difficult. The Wildcats finished 17–15, 5–13 in

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

play. From that point, Weber successfully rebuilt the program. In 2016–17, the Wildcats returned to the NCAA tournament and finished with a 21–14 (8–10) record. In 2017–18, the team improved to 25–12 (10–8) and advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2018 NCAA tournament, including a 61–58 win over

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

in the Sweet Sixteen. The team received a #19 national ranking at season's end in the Coaches Poll. In 2018–19, the team tied with

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

for its second regular-season Big 12 Conference title under Weber, with a 14–4 conference record. For the third consecutive season, Kansas State was invited to the NCAA tournament. After an upset first-round loss in the NCAA tournament, the team finished with a 25–9 record and a #18 national ranking in the AP Poll, and #19 ranking in the Coaches Poll. Two players from the team were named first-team all-conference: Dean Wade and Barry Brown Jr. Weber's final three teams saw little success, posting records of 11-21 in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, 9-20 in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, and 14-17 in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, and finishing 9th or 10th in the Big 12 all three years. The day after a loss to

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

in the preliminary round of the Big 12 tournament, Weber announced his resignation from Kansas State. Weber's tenure with Kansas State concluded with two conference co-championships and five NCAA Tournament appearances, including an appearance in the 2018 Elite Eight. He ranks third on K-State's all-time total wins list, behind only

Jack Hartman Jack Hartman (October 7, 1925 – November 6, 1998) was an American gridiron football player and basketball coach. Hartman played basketball and football collegiately at Oklahoma State University with his basketball tutelage under famed coach ...

and

Tex Winter Morice Fredrick "Tex" Winter (February 25, 1922 – October 10, 2018) was an American basketball coach and innovator of the triangle offense. He was a head coach in college basketball for 30 years before becoming an assistant coach in the National ...

, and 11th in overall winning percentage.

National team

In the summer of 2019, Weber coached the United States national under-19 team at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban Ar ...

, Greece. His team won the tournament championship with a 7–0 record.

Head coaching record

Personal

Weber was born in Milwaukee to Louis and Dawn Weber, growing up with two sisters and two brothers. Weber attended the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscon ...

, and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

Milwaukee Panthers The Milwaukee Panthers are the athletic teams of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. A total of 13 Panthers athletic teams compete in NCAA Division I. The Panthers have won the James J. McCafferty Trophy as the Horizon League's all-sports ...

. He graduated from UWM in 1978 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

. Weber added a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in education administration and physical education from

in 1981. He is married to Megan Weber, and has three daughters – Christy, Emily, and Hannah.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Bruce 1956 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Basketball players from Milwaukee College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball coaches Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball coaches Milwaukee Panthers baseball players Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball coaches Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Milwaukee University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball coaches