Illini coach shows toughness

What’s the old cliche about keeping a good man down? Twenty-four hours after an appendectomy, Illinois coach Bruce Weber returned to the sidelines, looking a bit tired but nonetheless focused on his fifth-ranked team’s workout. A staff member set out a leather chair for the coach but Weber declined, preferring a metal folding chair. “Coach Weber is a tough guy,” assistant Jay Price said. “He wants tough kids. That’s his example … don’t let a little thing like surgery slow you down.” Weber didn’t make it through the entire practice, leaving an hour early. “He would have stayed the whole practice, but I don’t think his wife or doctor would let him,’` Price quipped.