In most contexts, a middle-aged man “scouting junior high talent” is pretty inappropriate, even disturbing. Maybe it still is. But since he started showing up in middle school gymnasiums, Bruce Weber’s fortunes have changed significantly.

Perhaps an explanation is in order for the uninitiated; those who attend primarily to their own beeswax.

You see, college basketball runs on recruiting. A great coach can’t do anything without talent, and a mediocre one can be made to look competent with star-caliber players.

The logical conclusion here is that to be successful in the NCAA, all you need to do is bombard a few teenagers with phone calls and text messages for the better part of their high school career until they are convinced that you are the best coach for them. That’s pretty much college basketball recruiting.

And Bruce Weber was just terrible at it. Following the Final Four run of 2004-05, Illinois swung and missed on big prospect after big prospect, many from within state borders. In the classes of 2005 and 2006 alone, Illinoisans and future NCAA stars Sherron Collins, Jon Scheyer, Derrick Rose and Evan Turner all politely declined Weber’s scholarship offer. Throw in the highly publicized decommitment of Eric Gordon, and things didn’t look good.

Around that time, a lanky kid with uncanny athleticism named Jereme Richmond started high school, and almost immediately after, committed to play at the University of Illinois. At the age of 14. Richmond would go on to be a McDonald’s All-American and win the Illinois “Mr. Basketball” award before finally arriving on campus this fall.

Since then, it’s been a complete shift in strategy for Weber, and the improvement has been dramatic. He and his staff have begun to identify talent at younger and younger ages, beginning in about seventh grade. The recruitment begins shortly after, and by the time the top kids are attending their first homecoming dance, the Illinois coaching staff is on them like stink on cheese.

Illinois has now been the beneficiary of two consecutive top-15 national recruiting classes, and looks to have another assembled for next fall with the recent addition of Mike Shaw; a senior power forward from De La Salle High School in Chicago.

Suddenly, just a few years after Weber seemed doomed to flounder and drag the program down with him, the future is blindingly bright for the Illini.

If you attended Midnight Madness or the Orange & Blue Scrimmage or the first exhibition game against Lewis, you’ve seen why. The roster is stacked with remarkable athletes.

Take freshman Meyers Leonard. He’s a former guard who found himself the lucky recipient of a 7-foot body. He hasn’t proven a thing at the college level yet, hasn’t scored a point or grabbed a rebound in an official game. But when you see him dunk between his legs, you believe.

Leonard committed to the Illini in the summer after his sophomore season to grab the last spot in the Illinois recruiting class. Weber was able to beat elite basketball schools to the sixth-ranked center in the country by knowing about him before they did. Waiting to target juniors and seniors is the thing of the past. Weber won’t be caught staking the hopes of his class on a last-minute decision by Derrick Rose ever again.

It’s been lather-rinse-repeat since then, and the formula has been overwhelmingly successful as the staff has assembled its 2011 recruiting class. Point guard Tracy Abrams says, ‘Yes’ early in his sophomore campaign, and his AAU teammate, center Nnanna Egwu, follows before his junior year. For his next act, Weber beats America to a sleeper named Mycheal Henry, who later develops into a five-star talent. And for the icing on the cake, the four-year recruitment of Mike Shaw culminates in his commitment.

It’s an exciting time to be an Illini fan. Weber is a man who has always had a recipe that would yield a great team, but just needed to learn how to get the ingredients. With a new approach and ace recruiter Jerrance Howard helping him out, he now finds the cupboard full.

The next few seasons, you’ll see a team that can get up and down the floor. A team with depth coaches dream about with waves and waves of superb athletes. You’ll see clear heirs stepping up to move into the starting lineup when players leave, and you’ll see more alumni playing in the NBA.

The only question remaining is if all this will translate into wins.

We’ve seen Bruce Weber with a talented team before, and it was a pretty impressive sight. In 2004-05, he beautifully orchestrated perhaps the best and most exciting team of the decade, a team that was as well coached as any since.

So you have to believe he has the ability to win big with the next few teams he’ll have. Those teams look good on paper, and will look just as good in uniform. Anything can happen, but it’s hard to imagine them not being successful.

And the recruiting train should continue to roll. With five-star prospects like high school sophomores Jabari Parker and Thomas Hamilton favorably impressed by the Illini, and touted freshmen like Jahlil Okafor, Paul White and Larry Austin already feeling the full-court press, Bruce Weber is building relationships with prospects earlier and earlier.

If you’re not on the Illini basketball bandwagon yet, I suggest you reconsider.

Matt Swain is a senior in Engineering. He can be reached at [email protected].