Former Illini hoops assistant coach, prep coaching standout Wayne McClain dies at 59

In a March 11, 2014, photo, Champaign Central High School head coach Wayne McClain cheers during a game at Mattoon High School in Mattoon, Ill. McClain, a former assistant basketball coach for the University of Illinois from 2002 through 2012, died Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014, at a local hospital after an unspecified illness. He was 59. (AP Photo/The News-Gazette, Robin Scholz) MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

A July 19, 2013, photo shows former University of Illinois assistant basketball coach Wayne McClain at his home in Champaign, Ill. McClain, who was an assistant coach at Illinois from 2002 through 2012 and current Champaign Central High School head basketball coach, died Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014, at a local hospital after an unspecified illness. He was 59. (AP Photo/The News-Gazette, Robin Scholz) MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Wayne McCain, the former Illinois assistant men's basketball coach and standout prep basketball coach, died Wednesday. He was 59.

Champaign Central High School Principal Joe Williams said McClain, who was the school's head coach, died Wednesday at a local hospital after an unspecified illness.

McClain was an assistant coach at Illinois from 2002 through 2012, ending his tenure there as associate head coach under Bruce Weber.

But McClain made his reputation as at Peoria Manual High School, where he coached his teams to state titles in his first three seasons in the mid-1990s.

Williams says McClain had "really, really, really high expectations, and he never wavered in those expectations."

Williams says the Central players were shocked and that McClain's son, former Illinois player Sergio McClain, met with the team.