Illinois off to hot start behind new coach John Groce

"We have to keep our foot on the gas pedal," said Paul, who's averaging a team-best 19.5 points and 3.8 assists and is second in rebounding at 4.4 a game. "We've been in this same position, nationally ranked. None of that matters."

Paul remembers a teary-eyed goodbye news conference for Weber, the coach who recruited him as a teenager in Gurnee, Ill., and helped him develop as a person off the court and an all-conference guard on it.

"Losing Coach Weber wasn't easy, we had a real close relationship," Paul said. "I've had a sour taste in my mouth for a long time now for how things ended."

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