If Bernstein's assertion has any shred of validity, do you believe that Cuonzo Martin would be one of the candidates? It would be hard to imagine anyone else having more credibility in the East St. Louis / Belleville area.
Please forgive me if anyone has asked this already, but does anyone think that Jeff Hornacek would ever want to coach Illinois? He interviewed for the Bulls job in 2008, went to Lyons Township and likely has enough credibility to get in on the 2017 recruiting class.