As hotel bills go, this was a whopper: $5,365.89, to be exact.
That was the tab for two nights' stay at a downtown Indianapolis luxury hotel for University of Illinois officials assigned to "Project Varsity": the selection of a new Illinois athletic director.
They had gathered at the J.W. Marriott in early February to secretly interview candidates for the job, who flew in from Texas, Pennsylvania and Florida, among other locales, records show.
All told, the cost to keep those interviews far from prying eyes in Illinois exceeded $11,000 — from the limousine service that shuttled candidates back and forth, to the Indianapolis Airport ($1,096.