Thanks to Philip Sarnecki's $500,000 gift last year, the swanky new coaches' locker room at State Farm Center will be named in honor of his dad, a longtime janitor on campus.
But on the eve of the arena's grand re-opening — and on the heels of Bill Cubit's promotion to head football coach — the Illini athletics donor isn't feeling much school spirit these days.
"I think the entire university leadership just looks dysfunctional," Sarnecki said from the Kansas City area, where he's the managing partner of a financial firm. "It's frustrating to see and probably unprecedented.