Basketball earns scholarship contribution

By Joel Hattis

The Illini men’s basketball team earned the school a $100,000 general scholarship contribution Monday by winning Pontiac’s Game Changing Performance for the NCAA tournament.

The award was given to what the majority of online voters considered the most important moment in the first four rounds of the tournament.

The moment nominated for the Illini was their miraculous comeback in the waning minutes against Arizona in the Chicago regional final. The sequence was highlighted by a Luther Head breakaway lay-up and was capped off by a Deron Williams 3-pointer.

The voting was broken into five separate rounds. Each round of the tournament provided four separate nominations, the winner of which went onto the final round of voting.

Other moments considered in the final vote were Vermont’s upset of Syracuse in the first round, West Virginia beating Wake Forest in double overtime in the second round, and Arizona’s Salim Stoudamire’s winning jumper over Oklahoma State in the Sweet Sixteen.

Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!

  • Catch the latest on University of Illinois news, sports, and more. Delivered every weekday.
  • Stay up to date on all things Illini sports. Delivered every Monday.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Thank you for subscribing!