Grieving Weber to coach Illinois after mother's death

CHICAGO -- Bruce Weber stood alone at the edge of the court, clutching a clipboard, his face red and his eyes filling with tears as the United Center fell silent in tribute.

No one would have blamed him if he'd decided to skip top-ranked Illinois' game Saturday and seclude himself with his family, mourning the sudden death of his mother less than 24 hours earlier. But Dawn Weber raised her children to be strong, to play on no matter what.

So there her son stood, biting his lip and trying to keep the tears from falling. In the stands, one of his daughters sobbed openly, burying her face in her sister's arms.

Finally, Weber looked up, acknowledging the crowd with a wave. Then he started drawing on his clipboard, burying his grief in a game, if only for a few hours.

"That's the message I said to the kids: `You can't control life and death, but you can control what you do on the court. You have a great opportunity, don't let it slip away,"' Weber said in a pregame interview, arranged long before his mother's death Friday night.

"I'm hoping the kids -- if anything, it will help focus them."

Illinois beat Minnesota 64-56. When the game ended, Weber shook hands with the Minnesota players, many of whom appeared to be giving him condolences. Illinois center James Augustine trailed after Weber, patting him on the back as they returned to the bench.

The Illini players congregated around their coach, patting him on the back or shoulder. Weber wiped his hand over his face, smiled in relief and then grabbed player Luther Head around the shoulder in a bearhug as they walked to midcourt for the postgame interview.

Dawn Weber, 81, had come to Chicago on Friday from the family's hometown of Milwaukee to watch two of her sons coach. Bruce Weber's No. 1 Illini were playing in the Big Ten Tournament while a younger son, David, had his Glenbrook North High School in the Class AA sectional finals Friday night.

But as Dawn Weber was at the United Center picking up her tickets, she complained of chest pains. She was taken to Rush University Medical Center, where doctors discovered she had a torn aorta, a splitting of the inner layers of the aorta below the heart.

"The last thing before she went into surgery, she told my sister to make sure I didn't know and my brother, David, didn't know because we both had games," Bruce Weber said. "She actually said, `Make sure my tickets are in my purse if I get to come back for the game. So she loved it. I mean it was her life. Her kids were her life. She just kind of relished in all our success."

Bruce Weber's wife, Megan, told him about his mother's illness after Friday's game, and they went to the hospital to join his brother and sister. Several hours into surgery, Dawn Weber died.

After consulting with his family, Bruce Weber said he would coach the Illini in Saturday's semifinal game.

There'd never really been a question.

"My other brother and sister and everybody just said, `You know, you've gotta coach,"' Bruce Weber said. "That's what she wanted. She loved it. She watched every game on the satellite. It was very important for her."

But that doesn't mean Saturday was easy.

"A lot of tears," a weary-looking Weber said "Your emotions just kind of drained out."

The Illini tried to treat this as much like any other game as possible, meeting for a private breakfast to go over the scouting report for Minnesota. Weber rode the bus with his team but walked into the United Center alone, surrounded by security guards and looking somber in a dark gray suit and orange tie.

He had agreed to pregame interviews with CBS and ESPN before his mother's death and decided to honor the commitments. He spent about 10 minutes doing interviews and then disappeared into the Illini locker room.

One look at the players, though, and it was clear this wasn't another game. The Illini wore black bands on the left shoulders of their uniforms, and the school's cheerleaders had given orange-and-black ribbons to the coaching staff, administrators and team's family members.

Weber came out to the floor briefly for the national anthem, then quickly left again. He returned just before player introductions, and was greeted with a warm cheer of "BRUUUUCE!" One fan held a sign that read, "Saddened by your Loss, Inspired by your Courage." Clearly touched, Weber smiled and waved.

When he went to shake hands with Minnesota coach Dan Monson, Monson whispered something in Weber's ear and then hugged him three times. The other Minnesota coaches also greeted Weber with hugs.

Though he appeared overwhelmed during the moment of silence for his mother, Weber was all business once the game started. He was up and out of his seat after just a few seconds, and not even two minutes had gone by before he started jawing at the refs.