Brust's move from Iowa to Wisconsin spurs Big Ten debate at league meetings

CHICAGO -- Ben Brust has left his mark on Big Ten basketball six months before he'll suit up for the Wisconsin Badgers.

The former Iowa recruit spurred long discussions among basketball coaches Monday at the Big Ten meetings. Brust signed a letter of intent at Iowa last fall but was released from his scholarship in April when the school fired Coach Todd Lickliter. A Big Ten rule stipulated he could not earn a league athletic scholarship because he signed with another Big Ten school. So Brust appealed to a subcommittee of league faculty representatives. Brust was denied, but appealed to a full group of faculty representatives and was successful.

Brust, a 6-foot-2 guard from Mundelein, Ill., then committed to play at Wisconsin.

"I wouldn't say heated, but it was a long discussion," Illinois men's basketball coach Bruce Weber said. "It was just different viewpoints. One, you want what's best for the league and keep the best players in the league if possible. The other is when it really affects you and you lose a kid and it's not your fault, that's a tough situation, too. I think we'll discuss it tomorrow and then we'll make a proposal or whatever a comment to the joint group and Commissioner (Jim) Delany sometime.

"There were a lot of different opinions and obviously with the schools that were involved with (Brust). They were the ones ... until it really affects you when you go through it, you have a better feel of really what it means and how it will affect you in the short term and long run.

Weber said the discussion ranged from the narrow points of view -- Iowa losing a player and Wisconsin picking up one -- to the national trend of players leaving schools after their coaches leave.

"I think it's beyond even the Big Ten; it's the national letter," Weber said. "There are a lot of kids, more and more, with coaching changes getting out of their national letters. The problem you have here is you have teams that you play, they're rivals and you're going to touch them. It's one thing to sign someone, and he goes across the country. It maybe doesn't affect you the rest of his career. But when it's right in your conference, it becomes a touchy issues there's no doubt about it."