At Illinois, it’s reasonable to expect the men’s basketball team to make the NCAA tournament.Barring extreme circumstances and an occasional rebuilding season, that expectation was solidified and instilled...
It was truly a magical season: a 29-0 start, a No. 1 ranking for 15 straight weeks, a Big Ten championship and a Final Four appearance.
Illinois fans still want to talk about the 2004-05 Illini. Luther...
It has been an eventful 10 years since the 2004-05 Illinois men’s basketball team made it to the NCAA championship game. Much has changed at Illinois in those 10 years. But what have the players and...
Despite being young at the time, former Champaign Centennial stars and now Illinois basketball players Rayvonte Rice and Michael Finke remember the 2004-05 basketball season like it was yesterday.
While...
When you’re young, you rarely think long-term.
I grew up in a golden era of Illinois basketball in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when Big Ten titles and NCAA tournament appearances were the norm. I...
Illinois’ 53-43 loss to Nebraska on Sunday night was ugly enough offensively to give Illini fans flashbacks.
John Groce’s team lost 48-39 to Ohio State and 49-43 to Northwestern last season in similarly...
It’s only December, so it’s too early in Illinois’ basketball season for a true must-win game.
But a loss to Oregon on Saturday at United Center in Chicago would hurt, and it would hurt badly.
It...
Illinois head coach John Groce didn’t recruit Nnanna Egwu to Champaign.
Groce was the head man at Ohio when Egwu committed to former Illini coach Bruce Weber in 2009. But now, Groce, beginning his third...
