Bruce Weber gives emotional answer after potentially coaching his last Kansas State game
Bruce Weber knows what is coming.
At some point in the next few days, the Kansas State men’s basketball coach will meet with athletics director Gene Taylor and they will likely work out an agreement that ends his 10-year run with the Wildcats.
“Whatever happens, happens and that’s fine,” Weber said. “K-State is a great place, great people. I love coaching here.”
K-State ended its season with a 73-67 loss against West Virginia in the opening game of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday at T-Mobile Center. The Wildcats (14-17) finished the year on a six-game losing streak when it was understood that only a return to the NCAA Tournament, or something awfully close to it, would earn Weber more time in Manhattan.
That sealed his fate. The glow of his incredible first seven seasons with the Wildcats has faded, and fans are eager for a change.
One fan even brought a large sign to Wednesday’s game that read “BYE BYE BRUCE” and held it up for him to see across from K-State’s bench before the start of the second half. Another made a sign that urged K-State to seek Illinois coach Brad Underwood as Weber’s replacement.
Weber has one year remaining on his contract, which pays him a base salary of $2.8 million. His buyout is $1 million.
With that in mind, Weber was asked if there was anything he wanted to say about his time at K-State, which featured incredible highs (five NCAA Tournament appearances, two shared Big 12 championships, one Elite Eight) and disappointing lows (four losing seasons).
His emotional response lasted nearly seven minutes.
He covered a lot of ground before the news conference ended. At the start, he defended his accomplishments at K-State and seemed to challenge Taylor, who was sitting in the back of the room, to bring him back for another season.
First off, he pointed to the Big 12 championship he shared with Kansas in 2013. That was the program’s first league title since 1977.
“I’m very, very proud of my time here,” Weber said. “It’s funny, some of you guys asked about the tradition and the history. It was a long, long time ago that we had won a championship (before I arrived in 2012) and I told the guys the funny part and sad part is that I didn’t get much credit for that. They all said it wasn’t my guys.”
Six years later, he led the Wildcats to another shared Big 12 championship, this time with Texas Tech.
“Then we did it with our guys,” Weber said. “We won a Big 12 title and I’m proud of that. The tournament bids, I wish I had more. Everyone wants more bids. But between 1977 and 2013 K-State had some pretty good coaches. Lon Kruger, Hall of Famer, he didn’t win a title. Then Dana Altman, got fired and didn’t win a title. Then it’s Bob Huggins. Only a year, but a Hall of Famer, he didn’t win a title. Frank Martin, maybe a Hall of Famer, pretty good coach. He didn’t win a title.
“We won titles and we did it the right way.”
Weber wasn’t finished.
He went on to call out some of his coaching peers for cheating, saying that he has been growing out his hair until they are punished by the NCAA.
From there, his answer focused more on the big picture. At one point, his voice cracked and he fought back tears. Then he told the story about he got into coaching more than 40 years ago.
“I’m a miracle, guys,” Weber said. “I wasn’t a great player. I told the guys my dad came over and didn’t get a high school degree. He made all my family teachers and coaches. My brother is in the high school hall of fame in Wisconsin and Illinois. My sisters are teachers and coaches. I had a whim.”
That helped him get a job working as an assistant at Western Kentucky and then Purdue. After that, he became a head coach at Southern Illinois and took them to the Sweet 16. That earned him the chance to follow Bill Self at Illinois, where he took the Fighting Illini to a national championship game. Next came K-State, which he guided as far as the Elite Eight.
Along the way, he watched young players turn into men and fathers. Some of his favorite memories are interacting with former players and their families when they return to Manhattan for a few days each summer.
He will always cherish those times, but he is unlikely to create new memories with the Wildcats.
His answer seemed like a farewell.
“It’s a crazy business,” Weber said. “I have loved it. I hope I get to continue. We’ll see what happens.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Bruce Weber gives emotional answer after potentially coaching his last Kansas State game."