Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Bruce Weber Named MVC Coach of the Year
03/07/2003 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
March 7, 2003
Southern Illinois' Bruce Weber was named the Missouri Valley Conference's Rawlings Coach of the Year Friday by a vote of the league's coaches and media. Weber, in his fifth season as the head coach of the Salukis, received the league's top honor for men's basketball head coaches for the first time.
Weber, who has an overall record of 101-52 at Southern Illinois, has guided the Salukis to a record of 22-5, a league mark of 16-2 and the 2002-03 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season crown.
A 1974 graduate of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Weber guided Southern Illinois -- picked second in The Valley's preseason poll for 2002-03 -- to its second consecutive Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship and its fifth league crown overall.
In his head coaching career (all at Southern Illinois), Weber has three 20-win seasons. In 2001-02, Weber guided the Salukis to a share of the league's regular-season championship, the finals of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament and an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Weber, who powered the Salukis to a school-record 28 victories in 2002, guided Southern Illinois to victories over Texas Tech and Georgia in the 2002 NCAA Tournament, before falling to Connecticut in the East Regional semifinals.
Weber, who received 26 of a possible 39 first-place votes, outdistanced Southwest Missouri State's Barry Hinson, Creighton's Dana Altman, Wichita State's Mark Turgeon, Evansville's Steve Merfeld and Bradley's Jim Les for the league's top coaching honor. Hinson notched seven first-place votes, while Altman netted four first-place votes.
The Salukis practice at the Savvis Center Friday for 30 minutes. Prior to practice, Weber fielded questions from the media.
