Uch

Here's hoping the Illini beat the crap out of his team, force him back into that stupid mascot costume and bitchslap the little fuck back to Milwaukee

Bruce Pearl - Human Piece of Excrement [via Taylor Bell & Clyde Travis in the Chicago Sun Times]:

In 1989, [Deon] Thomas was a 6-9 star at Simeon. He was Mr. Basketball in Illinois. He led his team to a 28-1 record. Simeon was ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 3 in the nation before losing to King in the Public League championship game. Thomas was recruited by Illinois, Iowa, Arizona and Minnesota.

[Bruce] Pearl was a young and rising star on coach Tom Davis' staff at Iowa. Ambitious and aggressive, he was eager to loosen [Illinios Assistant Coach Jimmy] Collins' stranglehold on recruiting in the Chicago area by landing Thomas.

Ironically, Thomas said he was leaning to Iowa at the outset of the recruiting process. But his grandmother, who along with Simeon coach Bob Hambric was the most influential person in his life until her death in 1994, advised him to attend Illinois because she didn't like or trust Pearl.

When Thomas informed Pearl of his decision to attend Illinois, Pearl went ballistic. He had an inkling about the turnabout because he had been paying Thomas' closest friend, Renaldo Kyles, to report every move. He was aware that Illinois had closed the gap and Thomas had changed his mind.

Later, Pearl taped a two-minute telephone conversation with Thomas and handed the evidence to the NCAA, prompting an investigation. In the tape, made without Thomas' knowledge, it was alleged that Thomas confirmed he was offered $80,000 and a Chevrolet Blazer to sign with Illinois. Thomas denied the allegation.

"Pearl asked me, 'Deon, I heard you got $80,000 and a Blazer from Illinois,''' Thomas recounted. "I said, 'Where did you hear that?' Pearl's response was, 'I heard it through the grapevine.' My response was, 'Yeah, OK.' That was it.''

He said he was "completely shocked'' when he later was requested to attend a meeting with NCAA officials in Chicago and learned about the tape. "I knew I had been set up,'' Thomas said.

Thomas also claimed Pearl showed up in Amsterdam while the Simeon team was participating in an international tournament. He said Pearl gave him $100, drove him and three teammates around town in a rented car and paid for their lunch. Pearl denied the allegation.

Thomas' mother claimed that Pearl threatened to make public her drug dependency if her son didn't go to Iowa.

Here's Pat Forde's take on ESPN.com.

Tune in Thursday at 4:27 p.m. PT to see the #1 Ranked Fighting Illini continue their march to St. Louis (and watch them impose some serious retribution).