ROSEMONT, Ill. - It'll be the middle of the night in Israel when top-seeded Illinois tips off, so Deon Thomas won't get to see the game live. As soon as he wakes up Friday, though, Illinois' all-time leading scorer will log on to the Internet, check the score and then go watch the replay.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee head coach Bruce Pearl watches his team during practice for the semifinals of the NCAA tournament's Chicago Regional Wednesday, March 23, 2005, at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. UMW will face Illinois on Thursday. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

"I'm always going to be an Illini. I'm always going to be a part of the university even though I'm not there anymore," he said from Tel Aviv, where he still plays professionally. "I can't say I'm as excited as those kids are, but I'm real close. I feel like I'm back there."

In some ways, he is. The soap opera surrounding Thomas' recruitment — a secretly recorded phone call, allegations of wrongdoing, an NCAA investigation — is being dredged up again as top-seeded Illinois (34-1) plays upstart 12th-seed Wisconsin-Milwaukee (26-5) in the Chicago Regional semifinal Thursday night.

UWM coach Bruce Pearl was the one who taped Thomas and turned it over to the NCAA, prompting an investigation that ended with sanctions against Illinois. Everyone involved has moved on, geographically and emotionally, but Illini fans aren't so quick to forgive.

Instead of another step toward the Final Four, the game has become a chance to finally avenge past wrongs.

"Regardless of who takes the floor against Illinois, do you think that team's going to be cheered?" Pearl said Wednesday. "Will there be a little more noise because I'm coaching the opposition? Sure there will. I understand that."

Thomas, a Chicago native, was one of the country's top prospects in 1989, and he verbally committed to Iowa. But he later changed his mind, opting to stay close to home and go to Illinois.

Pearl, then a young assistant at Iowa, was convinced something shady was going on. So he secretly taped a phone call in which Thomas seemed to confirm that Illini assistant Jimmy Collins had offered him $80,000 and a Chevrolet Blazer.

To this day, Thomas denies Illinois did anything improper, saying his comments were simply those of a naive 17-year-old player trying to get Pearl off his back without offending him.

"I'm not that person that Coach Pearl tried to say that I was. That's not me at all," Thomas said Tuesday. "For him to go out and tell lies and then pass them off as the truth in order to hurt someone or try to gain some notoriety or whatever he was hoping to get from it, it's wrong."

The tape touched off a 16-month investigation by the NCAA. Though Illinois was cleared of the allegations involving Thomas and Pearl's tape, other infractions were found and the Illini were barred from postseason play in 1991.

Thomas went on to become Illinois' all-time leading scorer, but he says his ability to trust people was forever shaken. Both Pearl and Collins saw once-promising careers derailed.

"It's a tough situation," said Illinois coach Bruce Weber, an assistant at Purdue at the time. "You've got two coaches involved, it's their livelihood. Maybe one guy went a little too far. I don't know. That's not my call. It wasn't good for either person, to be honest. But you've got to go on with life."

Pearl is trying. He maintains he did nothing wrong, and says he would do the same thing again. But his past won't stay buried. It's rehashed every time UWM plays Horizon League rival Illinois-Chicago, where Collins now coaches and refuses to shake Pearl's hand.

And now this. UWM's first trip to the regional semifinals, and Pearl draws Illinois.

"At some point, that was just going to happen," he said. "I didn't say a word to (the Panthers). It has nothing to do with the game."

Besides, the Panthers (26-5) have enough to worry about with the current Illini (34-1). UWM used its vaunted press to stun Alabama and Boston College last weekend, but Illinois is better equipped to handle it with its three standout guards.

It's not like the Panthers can sneak up on anyone again, either. The Illini have had several days to study UWM's defense, and they know all about Ed McCants and Joah Tucker, sharpshooters whom Weber called two of the best players left in the tournament.

"I really didn't know much about them. Now we do. We know they're going to compete," Illinois forward Roger Powell Jr. said. "We're a good team and I think we're able to compete as well. If we do what we're supposed to do, I think we'll be fine."

And a half-world away, Thomas will be cheering them on.

"Over here, unfortunately, I don't have any Illini gear," he said. "So I don't have any orange. But the heart is orange."