Why is Bill Murray, who loves Illinois basketball, rooting for UConn in the Final Four?
INDIANAPOLIS — The last time Illinois reached the Final Four, in 2005, the Illini’s best-known fan showed up to the national semifinals looking dapper. Bill Murray, an ardent Chicago and Illinois sports enthusiast, longtime bon vivant, a man of many talents and many roles, had that going for him. Which was nice.
He donned a rumpled but refined plaid sport coat over a pale orange vest and a brighter orange — Illinois orange — tie, replete with an orange Champaign Country Club hat. The Illini won that night but lost in the championship game against North Carolina, and 21 years later he still “feels like there were phantom (foul) calls against James Augustine,” Luke Murray said with a laugh. Luke is the second-oldest of Bill Murray’s six sons.
He’s also an assistant coach at Connecticut, which means he’s the reason why his father, for once, will not be cheering on Illinois on Saturday night when it plays in the national semifinals . Indeed, the Illini’s opponent at Lucas Oil Stadium has made things a bit complicated for Bill Murray, though he’s clear about his loyalties. “Go Huskies!
” Murray wrote in a text message to a Tribune reporter earlier this week. And if his son’s UConn team advances to the national championship game Monday night, it will do so at the expense of the father’s Illini. Bill Murray, for one, is accustomed to complex if not disappointing sporting dynamics.
He is a lifelong Cubs fan, after all. But this is a new one. What must it be like for him, seeing his longtime favorite college basketball team advance through the NCAA Tournament and all the way to Indianapolis, and the sport’s grandest stage , only to meet his other favorite college basketball team?
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