Headlinin’: Illinois trustees stage civil rights stand over Tim Beckman’s contract

Making the morning rounds. • Nothing personal, coach. Two University of Illinois trustees voted against the appointment of new head coach Tim Beckman Thursday, not out of opposition to Beckman, but to protest the fact that the school has never hired a black head coach in football or men's basketball. "African-Americans predominate these two sports," said trustee Lawrence Oliver, just before the board as a whole voted to approve Beckman's five-year, $9 million contract. "I would hope that as a university we find this shutout unacceptable." In fact, Illinois interviewed two black candidates to replace Ron Zook, Houston's Kevin Sumlin and Pittsburgh Steelers running backs coach Kirby Wilson (an Illinois alum), and reportedly offered the job to Sumlin, who turned the Illini down for Texas A&M. [The News-Gazette] • I can see this is going to go smoothly, part one. By all appearances, West Virginia is still planning to join the Big 12 this summer, even ...