CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois fired Bruce Weber on Friday, letting go of a fiery coach whose first three years with the Illini included a run to the national championship game before a long, lackluster slide the past six years that concluded with a 17-15 mark this season.

"Bruce is everything you'd want as a coach," athletic director Mike Thomas said at a news conference that Weber did not attend. "We had great success here but in the last four or five years, I don't know if you want to say [that] we're running in place, or maybe even digressed."

Thomas, who in his first year on the job also has fired football coach Ron Zook and women's basketball coach Jolette Law, said fans expect the Illini to be "a factor" in the Big Ten and the "national conscience" each season.

Weber, in nine years with the Illini, led them to the 2005 NCAA title game, where they lost to North Carolina. He finished 210-101 at Illinois, trailing only Lou Henson and Harry Combes in wins at the school.

However, his teams were just 55-66 in the Big Ten the past six seasons, including 6-12 this season. The Illini closed the season 2-12.

"This is a bottom-line business. We all know it," Weber said Friday

surrounded by his family and most of his team. "It's the reality

of the coaching profession. But I leave here with no regrets. I

believe this program is on solid footing. I am very proud of what

this basketball program has accomplished in my tenure."

The Illini lost Thursday in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, falling to Iowa 64-61 in a disappointing end to a disappointing season that in early January had the Illini in the top 25 and atop the Big Ten.