sentences:  In 2005 as a sophomore in high school, Gordon made an early unofficial verbal commitment to Bruce Weber, who had somewhat recently replaced Bill Self as the University of Illinois's head coach when Self left to accept the head coaching position at Kansas.On November 30, 2005, Gordon made a verbal commitment to play basketball for Weber at Illinois, despite overtures from Duke, Arizona and Notre Dame.Gordon and his family cited their comfort with Weber, the relative distance to the Illinois campus from their Indianapolis home, and the success of former Illini guards Deron Williams and Luther Head in the NBA as reasons for their decision.