HEY, GOOD LOOKIN': ILLINI WILL BE COOKIN' IN 2006 All is not lost: Sweet 16 possible even without Head, Powell, Williams

ST. LOUIS -- Bruce Weber summed it up pretty well when he said,"If you're not happy with this, I feel sorry for you. Because lifeain't getting any better."

Still, it's reasonable to wonder how long it will be before lifeapproaches being this good again -- in terms of making a run at theFinal Four.

It's probably a ways off. But Illinois has a chance to continue tobe a contender in the Big Ten and take a shot at the Sweet 16 in theNCAA tournament before facing long odds.

Senior starters Luther Head and Roger Powell Jr. are gone. Barringa shocking development, junior star Deron Williams also is gone. Theonly question there is if he will be one of 16 lottery picks June 28or fall just outside that group.

All is not lost, though. It appears Dee Brown will be back, alongwith James Augustine, to anchor the 2005-06 Illini. Brown might haveplayed his way into the NBA by continuing to shoot the lights out inMarch the way he did in February. But that didn't happen, and heinsists he loves college so much that he's looking forward to anotherseason.

Brown and Augustine are good places to start -- especially in aBig Ten that's still not hitting on all cylinders. Kudos to MichiganState and Wisconsin for their fine NCAA tournament runs. But thereare still a pack of underachievers in the league who have as much, ifnot more, rebuilding to do than Illinois.

The Spartans and the Badgers also have some reloading to do. Andwhile there is reason for optimism at Indiana, Ohio State, Iowa,Minnesota and Michigan, they'll remain underachievers until they dosome achieving.

Meanwhile, athletic director Ron Guenther, who has one of the bestbargains in college sports in Weber, will meet with his coach of theyear this spring and reward him for a job well done. Weber currentlyis signed through 2009 at $550,000 a year.

It's difficult to say what Guenther, who likes to keep successfulcoaches locked up for five years, has in mind for Weber when theyhave their annual sitdown.

But here are some possible starting points: Bruce Pearl, regardedas Public Enemy No. 1 by many Illini fans, recently left Wisconsin-Milwaukee for a reported $800,000 a year at Tennessee. And Bill Selfwas making about $1 million when he left Illinois.

Weber, who genuinely loves what he does, is not about money. Buthe is in a high-risk, high-reward business that is, so a sizableraise seems likely.

Beyond Brown and Augustine, the most intriguing returnee is BrianRandle, a 6-7 sophomore who missed this season with a broken left(shooting) hand. Randle has a chance to be the first true smallforward Illinois has had in years. If Randle delivers on signs thathe'll be a good defender as well as a decent scorer, he'll provide alot of stability.

Warren Carter, a 6-9 sophomore who saw some crunch time, also is apromising returnee. If off-guard Rich McBride, who never seemedcomfortable coming off the bench, finds his shooting touch with moreminutes, that would be a welcome contribution.

Even though seniors Jack Ingram, who became the lone significantreserve, and Nick Smith, who never got beyond his defensiveliabilities, are gone, Illinois figures to have much better depthnext season. It's not hard to improve on what was basically a six-man rotation, and that will soften the blow of losing standouts suchas Williams, Head and Powell.

Calvin Brock, who redshirted as a freshman this season, willcompete for playing time in the backcourt. So will Chester Frazier, a6-2 point guard from Baltimore, and Jamar Smith, a 6-3 shooting guardfrom Peoria Richwoods.

Illinois' other freshman signee, Charles Jackson, a 6-7 powerforward from Georgia, and Marcus Arnold, a 6-8 power forward who satout this season after transferring in from Illinois State, both couldprovide some bulk inside.

If it's quality bulk, Weber will be on his way to fashioning thekind of teams his old boss, Gene Keady, liked: inside muscle andoutside speed. If it's not, Jackson, who was recruited by manyfootball powers as a tight end, would be a plum for Ron Zook.

In other words, the bottom line with recruiting is that Weberhasn't broken through yet. This Final Four appearance ought to help,but that remains to be seen.

It would be nice if Weber could land a blue-chipper such as JonScheyer, the Glenbrook North star who plays for his brother, DaveWeber. Duke seems to be the front-runner there, though.

At some point, Weber will need to start landing the kind ofrecruits who have enabled Illinois to go 141-33 (an .810 winningpercentage) the last five seasons, second only to Duke (150-27,.847).

And he's going to have to do it without American Expresscommercials.

But Weber will work hard at it. And he has a good track record fordeveloping un-hyped recruits.