Illinois Fighting Illini

Team Summary

The Illinois Fighting Illini are part of the Big Ten conference composed of programs generally from the Midwest. Illinois has a rich basketball history within their program, and they are off to a great start in the campaign. Illinois is 11-3 on the year and is a perfect 4-0 in conference play. COntinue for more Illinois Fighting Illini Stats.

Illinois is an offensive and defensive juggernaut as they are scoring 80.4 points a game and allowing just 64.6 points a contest. They are really shooting the ball as they knock down 47 percent of their shots from the floor. The Fighting Illini are also one of the top rebounding teams in the country this year as they grab 43.9 rebounds a game.

Kofi Cockburn leads the charge for Illinois on both ends of the floor. He scores 22.5 points a game and also grabs 12.5 rebounds per game. He is one of the most dominant players in college basketball, and teams will always need to specifically gameplan around him.

The Fighting Illini have high hopes for this year, and this may be the year where they break through and win another Big Ten title. If they continue at the path they are on currently, then there is a good chance that they are hanging another banner in their rafters soon.

Team History

Elwood Brown was the Fighting Illini’s first coach when they first started playing in 1906. Under coach Ralph Jones, Illinois won their first Big Ten title in 1915, going 16–0 (and 12–0 in Big Ten play). The Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll recognized them as that season’s champions retrospectively.

In the following nine years, they won two additional Big Ten championships, both of which were shared. They won the Big Ten once more in 1935, sharing it with Purdue. They won the Big Ten championship five years later, in 1942, for the first time since 1915.

The Premo-Porretta Power Poll gave Illinois one pre-tournament national championship and one non-NCAA tournament national championship in 1915 and 1943. Illinois has competed in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament 31 times, winning 17 Big Ten regular-season titles and competing in five Final Fours, nine Elite Eights, and five Final Fours.

The team is currently coached by Brad Underwood, who was hired on March 18, 2017. Underwood has led the team to some success as he has turned in seasons of 14-18, 12-21, 21-10, and 24-7. That growth really exceeded everyone’s expectations coming into the year.

Championships

Illinois has never won an NCAA title outright but came very close in 2005 as they finished as the runner-up that season. Illinois has won a swath of Big Ten trophies, and three of those have come in the conference tournament.

They won the postseason conference tournament in 2003, 2005, and 2021. They won the regular-season championship in 17 different seasons. They were the regular-season Big Ten Champion in the following years: 1915, 1917, and 1924, 1935, 1937, 1942, 1943, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1963, 1984, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005.

Important Team Events

Illinois has had a lot of significant events over the last few years, but I don’t think any was as crucial as announcing Brad Underwood as the next head coach. Underwood has reinvigorated the program and has breathed some fresh air into the program as well.

Look for Underwood to continue to do well for himself as he was able to secure a contract extension after a very solid year.

Top Players

Illinois has had many outstanding players over their history, and they have had twelve players reach the 1,500 point mark in their career. The Illinois all-time leading scorer is Deon Thomas, with 2,129 points in his outstanding career. Cory Bradford is the career leader in 3-pointers made with 327 over his four years. James Augustine leads Illinois in career rebounds as he pulled down 1,023 in his career.

One player was recognized in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame as Andy Phillip was inducted into both.

Illinois has had four former players play at the Olympic level as Jens Kujawa represented Germany in 1992. Robert Archibald represented Great Britain in 2012, while Deron Williams played for the United States in 2008 and 2012.

Bill Hapac, Andy Phillip, Walt Kirk, Rod Fletcher, Dee Brown, and Ayo Dosunmu are the only players recognized as consensus first-team All-Americans. Phillip won the honor twice in back-to-back years.

The Fighting Illini have had 15 players drafted in the first round of the NBA draft. The highest pick they have had was Deron Williams in 2005, as he went #3 overall.

Luther Head was also selected in the first round that season. 2002 was the other year that the Fighting Illini had two players selected in the first round as Brian Cook went #24 overall and Frank Williams was #25. Let’s hope they shine in this years March Madness.

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