CHAMPAIGN  Bruce Weber has been the guy who can''t get in the game. So the new Illinois coach said Thursday he''d like to give an assist to another guy who''s on the outside looking in. It probably won''t be in 2003-04, but somewhere down the road, Weber said Thursday, Illinois will play Southern Illinois, the school from which the Illini hired Weber. At least if Weber has any say about it. "I''m going to try to schedule them," Weber said. "When you look at our schedule, we''ve always got a game in Chicago, we''ve got maybe a return game from that, we''ve got the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and then we''ve got Missouri. So there''s not a lot of room." Still, Weber would like to find a way to schedule the Salukis, and he sees at least one option. Southern Illinois brought about 5,000 fans to Chicago for a game against UIC in December, Weber said, so he figures it''s feasible the Salukis and Illini could draw big numbers in the United Center. "Maybe one year if they can''t find a name team for that (Chicago) game, that would be great," Weber said. "I know that Illinois has played Bradley there, so I think Southern would be an option, especially if they continue to be pretty good." And Weber figures the Salukis will stay competitive under new head coach Matt Painter, Weber''s former assistant who Thursday was named head coach at Southern. Had he been passed over for the job, Painter likely would have joined Weber''s staff at Illinois. Instead, Weber has some job openings to fill. One might go to former SIU assistant Chris Lowery, though there is an interview process that has to run its course before Weber can make any hires. He''ll likely start to round out a staff early next week. "Selfishly, I would love to have (Painter) here because he''s so good," Weber said of the former Purdue guard. "But I feel great for him. It''s great for his career. And it''s great for the players. We feel like we started something special down there, and this should help ease the transition and keep that thing going." Whether he''ll give Southern a boost by playing it still is up in the air, but Weber hopes it happens. Just not too soon. "We had two sophomores there, Darren Brooks and Stetson Hairston, who are awfully good," Weber said. "And after our team meeting the other day, they were like, ''You''re going to play us, right?'' I told them, ''Not until you two are gone.'' " * The old ballgame. Weber''s speaking voice has gotten a workout the past two days. His singing voice takes center stage next week. Weber will sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch of next Friday''s Cubs-Cardinals game at Wrigley Field. It''ll be Weber''s first time as a guest singer at Wrigley, though he was scheduled to make his singing debut last season on "Southern Illinois Day" at the ballpark. That outing was canceled because of the death of Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile. Weber, who also will throw out the first pitch at a Cardinals'' game May 18, is glad to get the second chance, though he might be the only one in his household. "My daughters are worried," Weber said. "They''re like, ''Don''t sing like you do in church.'' " You can reach Brett Dawson at (217) 373-7422 or via e-mail at bdawson@news-gazette.com.