Ex-Flyin' Illini Stephen Bardo voices frustration on Twitter

Share

One prominent Illinois athletics alumnus isn't too happy with his alma mater right now.

Stephen Bardo, a member of the 1989 Flyin' Illini men's basketball team and a current Big Ten Network basketball analyst, took to Twitter on Saturday morning to voice his frustration with the current state of the Illinois athletics department, which is currently embroiled in a pair of investigations into allegations of abuse and mistreatment toward the coaching staffs of the football and women's basketball program. Though Bardo's comments seemed to be directed toward the state of the program in general rather than specifically about those two investigations.

https://twitter.com/stephenbardo/status/604646050209656832

[MORE BIG TEN: Report: Investigations costing Illini up to $425 an hour]

Bardo's main point of frustration was the lack of diversity in the athletics department, including the most-prominent head-coaching positions, and he linked that fact to the general opinion among many that the school's highest-profile programs have difficulty landing top high school talent from Chicago.

https://twitter.com/stephenbardo/status/604646334638002177

Though Bardo's main point was a lack of minority voices in the athletics department, he tied in some of the allegations made by former women's basketball players that were racially themed, such as the suggestion of separate practices for African-American players, saying the two do relate.

https://twitter.com/stephenbardo/status/604664235227000832

[MORE BIG TEN: Illini AD announces steps to better serve student-athletes]

While he did mention the men's basketball program in his tweets, Bardo made it clear he was not railing against current head basketball coach John Groce, who is white, or calling for a new head basketball coach but that his "disappointment is with the leadership of the university and athletics department" and that he wants to see more diversity at the "decision-making level."

https://twitter.com/stephenbardo/status/604652982672728064
https://twitter.com/stephenbardo/status/604655985823739904
https://twitter.com/stephenbardo/status/604656208340000768

[MORE BIG TEN: Mike Thomas addresses firestorm surrounding Illini athletics]

Bardo took an interesting angle, and it's a topic that hasn't come up during the firestorm surrounding the athletics department. Bardo also has a bigger megaphone than most, given his prominence as a BTN analyst, and it will be interesting to see if his words are given more weight than those of other former student-athletes on Twitter.

Contact Us