Klee chat

Illinois ties aside, Jerrance Howard has to look out for Jerrance Howard. If the next coach is someone that's compatible and open to keeping someone from the former staff - and that's extremely rare except for the occasional Wayne McClain-type situation - then he could stay. But Jerrance will have his choice of jobs, and several programs have asked me about his plans to gauge his interest in other jobs, if he doesn't stay at Illinois. Florida was a real suitor a couple years ago. So was Marquette and his good friend Buzz Wiliams. And Jerrance told me last night he's never experienced anything like this current stretch the Illini are going through. As for those recruits in '13-'14-'15, they obviously would be the first priority for the next staff - after retaining the current players.

Klee