UIC fires Luke Yaklich

by **SalukiWorld** » March 10th, 2024, 12:59 pm

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status ... 5396563979

**Sponsor**

by **BEARZ77** » March 10th, 2024, 1:41 pm

Bad day for former Illinois State assistants. :Violin:

by **UICJohn** » March 10th, 2024, 3:35 pm

As a UIC fan, I'm surprised by this. Mostly because he was given an extra year on his deal two seasons ago. I didn't think we would let him go with 2 years left on his contract.

In regards to letting him go in general, it's a weird feeling. I know that he has Illinois State ties and is very well thought of in basketball circles. I was very excited as a fan when we hired him coming off of success at Michigan. However, just never felt like the program had much of a direction with him in charge of it. He didn't do much in the Horizon League and then we lucked into an MVC invite. We had some momentum before our first season began and then had two very late departures from the program that just destroyed any chances we had of first year success.

As a coach that came in as a defensive specialist, the defense just never seemed to be anything other than average. As a team, long scoring droughts and bad mental mistakes plagued them game in and game out.

However, I will also say that the current program as a whole is one I'm not sure any coach can win in. Regardless of who they bring in, they need to invest more in the program. Our NIL is non-existent, the game day experience is not enjoyable, the marketing is nothing, etc. UIC is a little fish in a big pond and they can be a factor with success but not sure that the program has done anything to warrant that. We got our MVC invite and our response, especially compared to Belmont and Murray State, was nothing. An opportunity that, up until now, has not been taken advantage of at all.

Good luck to Coach Yak. He will land somewhere for sure.

And UIC - there is a lot to fix.

by **Bulldog2323** » March 10th, 2024, 3:59 pm

Very surprised. Unlikely but I'd hire Mullins if it were my choice.

by **IllinoisState** » March 10th, 2024, 4:49 pm

Bulldog2323 wrote:Very surprised. Unlikely but I'd hire Mullins if it were my choice.

The MVC does seem to like to share coaches.

by **MissouriValleyUnite** » March 10th, 2024, 11:03 pm

It’s unusual we even get 1 firing at Arch Madness. Crazy that we had 3 this year.

Lots of schools in the league are going all-in.

by **UICJohn** » March 11th, 2024, 11:17 pm

No idea how much CBS Sports actually knows or follows the UIC head coaching news…

Out: Luke Yaklich
Yaklich, who had a stout rep as a defensive tactician when he was hired, is out after four seasons and a 47-70 record. The Flames made the jump from the Horizon League to the Missouri Valley in Yaklich's third year but went 8-32 in league play after transitioning. The program was a victim the past two years in the transfer portal cycle. A source said Monday that a former power-conference head coach from the Midwest has been contacted for this job.

by **MissouriValleyUnite** » March 12th, 2024, 12:23 am

UICJohn wrote:No idea how much CBS Sports actually knows or follows the UIC head coaching news…

Out: Luke Yaklich
Yaklich, who had a stout rep as a defensive tactician when he was hired, is out after four seasons and a 47-70 record. The Flames made the jump from the Horizon League to the Missouri Valley in Yaklich's third year but went 8-32 in league play after transitioning. The program was a victim the past two years in the transfer portal cycle. A source said Monday that a former power-conference head coach from the Midwest has been contacted for this job.

That statement sounds very Bruce Weber-y. There’s others like Tom Crean, but they’ve also coached P5s in other parts of the country.

Watch Weber decline but recommend Dee Brown.

by **E-Villan** » March 12th, 2024, 9:06 am

MissouriValleyUnite wrote:
UICJohn wrote:No idea how much CBS Sports actually knows or follows the UIC head coaching news…

Out: Luke Yaklich
Yaklich, who had a stout rep as a defensive tactician when he was hired, is out after four seasons and a 47-70 record. The Flames made the jump from the Horizon League to the Missouri Valley in Yaklich's third year but went 8-32 in league play after transitioning. The program was a victim the past two years in the transfer portal cycle. A source said Monday that a former power-conference head coach from the Midwest has been contacted for this job.

That statement sounds very Bruce Weber-y. There’s others like Tom Crean, but they’ve also coached P5s in other parts of the country.

Watch Weber decline but recommend Dee Brown.

It also could be very Todd Lickliter-y...lol

by **PretzelDawg** » March 12th, 2024, 9:29 am

Bruce Weber is also being rumored to be the next coach at St. Louis U.