For some staunch University of Illinois basketball fans, it seems like only yesterday.

There are those who can remember every word uttered by Iowa assistant coach Bruce Pearl during the fall of 1989.

There are grudges that will always be held.

Pearl hopes there are also those who believe history is just that -- history -- as he leads his University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers into an NCAA Chicago Regional semifinal game against the No. 1-rated Illini Thursday at 6:27 p.m. at the Allstate Arena.

That game can be seen on WHBF and heard on the Illini Radio Network (KUUL-FM 101.3 or WRMJ-FM 102.3).

For those with a short memory or new to the situation, both Pearl and Illinois assistant coach Jimmy Collins were recruiting Chicago Simeon star Deon Thomas back in 1989.

Pearl contends that at one point, Thomas told him Illinois was offering $80,000 and a Chevy Blazer. Pearl, at the time a 29-year-old assistant, met with the rest of the Iowa staff. It was decided that he tape subsequent conversations with Thomas.

When the NCAA found out, Iowa officials decided to turn over the tapes, which appeared to back Pearl's claim. Thomas later said he was just trying to get Pearl off the phone.

The NCAA cleared Collins and Illinois in Thomas' recruitment but sanctioned the Illini for other violations including a two-year probation, scholarship and recruiting restrictions and a ban from the 1991 NCAA tournament.

Thomas later filed a civil lawsuit against Pearl, claiming he violated state and federal eavesdropping laws, but the case eventually was dismissed.

Pearl's coaching career was hit just as hard. He was besieged by death threats and lambasted by ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale, who said during a 1990 broadcast that Pearl had committed ``coaching suicide'' and that his taping of a call was ``totally unethical.''

A star on the rise in some eyes, Pearl was forced to try to rebuild his career at Division II Southern Indiana, where he won a national championship and went 231-56 in nine seasons.

Pearl doesn't believe he broke any coach's codes or that his decision in 1989 has had any lasting effect on his coaching career.

``Maybe when I first left Iowa, the options were limited,'' he said. ``Once we got to Southern Indiana, opportunities came our way.''

He finally landed a Division I job at Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2001, and has taken the mid-major Horizon League program to new heights, including the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time.

For his efforts, he gets to relive 1989 all over again with his first meeting with the Illini as a head coach.

``I think it's a great opportunity to put it behind me again,'' Pearl told reporters Saturday night in Cleveland after beating Boston College. ``I stand by what happened and what I did. I hope it won't take the focus off our kids. It will be a pain. It happened in 1989. There have been several coaches (at Illinois) since 1989. I don't think it will be that big a deal. It shouldn't be.''

That's the way he'd like it, but that won't happen. Reporters won't let it, and it's doubtful that the pro-Illini crowd that will greet him Thursday evening in Rosemont won't either.

``The only thing that would bother me is that if this becomes the story line,'' Pearl said on Monday. ``There are so many story lines that are new. Never has there been a No. 12 beat a No. 1 and that should be a storyline.

``I'll be received the same way Oklahoma State fans will receive (Arizona coach) Lute Olson in the second game. You see, we're in the way of Illinois and its dream. I'm not naive enough to believe the volume won't be up because of the investigation.''

Illinois coach Bruce Weber is among those who knows the history, but wishes it wasn't such a major story this week.

``I understand the anger and frustration of the fans and former players, but we are just worried about beating them,'' said Weber, who added he's known Pearl for a long time, but only as a coaching associate. ``I appreciate their dislike and the best thing we can do is win the game. For those people, the worst thing that could happen is we lose this game.''

Weber noted he's received numerous calls and e-mails broaching the subject, including some from ex-Illini players wishing they could suit up and help beat public enemy No. 1.

The key, according to both coaches, is that the current players not become involved with something that happened when they were just starting grade school.

``A lot of it depends on you guys, how much you bug them about it,'' Weber said.

Added Illini forward James Augustine, ``We haven't been able to talk to our fans, but I know a couple of years ago we've had a semi-chance of playing Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the fans were really hyped up for it. We can't worry about that; we have a game to worry about.''

Pearl points the finger at the Illinois-based media for the way the story has been portrayed.

``You bet it was a very difficult thing to go through for everybody,'' he said. ``I regret some of the methodology but not the intent.

``The classic defense is to discredit the witness and that's what happened to me, especially by the media in Illinois who was not interested in the facts. It would be too long and deep for me to go into it how it was portrayed wrong.''

He'd much rather put it in the past. It's doubtful Illini fans will ever allow that to happen.

The Bruce Pearl file

-- Personal: Native of Boston and graduate of Boston College in 1982. Married (Kim) with four children (Jacqui 17, Steven 15, Leah 11 and Michael 7).

-- Getting started: He spent 14 seasons as an assistant coach under Dr. Tom Davis, starting at Boston College, moving to Stanford and then for six seasons at Iowa.

-- Getting a-`head': His first head-coaching job came at the University of Southern Indiana, with a nine-year record of 231-46. His 1994-95 team won the NCAA Division II national title.

-- At UW-M: Pearl is in his fourth season at Milwaukee, with an 86-37 record. He's twice been named Horizon League Coach of the Year.

Where are they now?

The key players in the 1989 Bruce Pearl Tapegate saga have moved on 16 years later, but Thursday's game between Pearl's Wisconsin-Milwaukee team and Illinois brings each back to life.

Here's where they are today:

-- Bruce Pearl: Was an Iowa assistant in 1989 and now is head coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In his fourth season.

-- Deon Thomas: Was the central player in the tapes, being recruited by both Illinois and Iowa. The 34-year-old forward is playing professionally in Israel for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Premier League. He is an Israeli citizen.

-- Jimmy Collins: Was the lead Illinois recruiter on Thomas and has been enraged with Pearl ever since. He coaches at Illinois-Chicago, in the same league as UW-M, and still refuses to shake hands or acknowledge Pearl before or after games.

-- Tom Davis: Was Iowa head coach, retired and then returned last season to coach at Drake.

-- Lou Henson: Was the Illinois head coach and then moved on to New Mexico before retiring due to health reasons midway through this season.