CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bruce Weber will highlight the Saluki Tip-Off Dinner on Thursday, October 6 at Kokopelli Golf Club. A limited number of tickets for the event are available due to capacity limitations.
The event is set to begin at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour before dinner at 7 p.m. The night will include a silent auction as well as a raffle. Individual tickets for the event are $100. All the proceeds from the event will benefit Saluki Basketball.
To register for the event, click HERE. For more information, contact Assistant AD Ticketing/Development Bryce Williams at 618-453-1803.
“This program is built on the support from our community and our championship tradition. To be able to bring both of those together again at our annual tip-off dinner is exciting,” head coach Bryan Mullins said. “We are honored to have Coach Weber and former great players back to represent this program again.”
Weber was the architect of SIU’s basketball resurgence during the 2000s. He inherited a program that had recorded three-straight losing seasons and quickly turned them into Valley champions. During his five seasons at SIU (1999-2003), Weber’s teams compiled a 103-54 record, advanced to two NCAA Tournaments (2002, 2003), including a Sweet 16 appearance, plus an NIT appearance (2000).
Southern won the MVC title in both 2002 and 2003 and Weber was named MVC Coach of the Year in 2003. The Salukis beat five BCS opponents during Weber’s stay and climbed as high as No. 22 in the national rankings. The program he built was sustained by his successors, Matt Painter and Chris Lowery, who led Southern to four more NCAA Tournament appearances.
The event precedes the Men’s Basketball Golf Scramble scheduled for October 7 at Kokopelli Golf Course. For more information on the event and to register, click HERE.
