Illini to play in Coaches v. Cancer event in November

Posted In: Herald & Review Mark Tupper Illini
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010

Coach Bruce Weber said Thursday that the University of Illinois basketball team will almost certainly play in the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer next November at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The tournament, scheduled the week before Thanksgiving, will include Illinois, Texas, Pittsburgh and Maryland, Weber said.
“I am 95, 98 percent sure we’re going to New York,” Weber said. “Two games (in Champaign), two games there. I believe we have pushed the contract through.”
Four other teams will participate and play in on-campus games prior to the four-team gathering on New York.
“We felt the opportunity to play in that event and the competition was important,” Weber said.
As a result, Illinois has delayed until 2011 its plans to play in a November tournament in Cancun, Mexico.
Weber also confirmed that Illinois will play sister school Illinois-Chicago in its annual United Center game in Chicago next season. Illinois and Illinois-Chicago are obligated to play each other once every four years, as dictated by the university.

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