1996–97 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1996–97 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Illini Classic, Champion
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. 24
AP No. 19
1996–97 record 22–10 (11–7 Big Ten)
Head coach Lon Kruger
Assistant coach Robert McCullum
Assistant coach Rob Judson
Assistant coach Mike Shepherd
MVP Kiwane Garris
Captain Herb Caldwell
Kiwane Garris
Chris Gandy
Home arena Assembly Hall
1996–97 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#3 Minnesota* 16 2   .889     31 4   .886
Iowa 12 6   .667     22 10   .688
Purdue 12 6   .667     18 12   .600
#19 Illinois 11 7   .611     22 10   .688
Wisconsin 11 7   .611     18 10   .643
Indiana 9 9   .500     22 11   .667
Michigan State 9 9   .500     17 12   .586
Ohio State 5 13   .278     10 17   .370
Penn State 3 15   .167     10 17   .370
Northwestern 2 16   .111     7 22   .241
Michigan* 0 9   .000     0 11   .000
Rankings from AP Poll
*Michigan: 24 games vacated; including NIT champ. vacated due to sanctions against the program
*Minnesota: 5G NCAA Tourn. vacated due to sanctions against the program
Disputed records: Michigan-(24-11)(9-9); Minnesota-(35-5)(16-2)

The 1996–97 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

On March 21, 1996, a new era in Illinois basketball began when Director of Athletics Ron Guenther introduced Lon Kruger as the University’s 14th men’s basketball coach. Kruger came to Illinois from the University of Florida and carried a list of impressive credentials, including guiding Florida to the Final Four in 1994. In his first year at Illinois, Kruger guided Illinois to a 22-10 record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Over the course of the season, Illinois defeated five ranked opponents, including No. 7 Minnesota, 96-90, at the Assembly Hall. Illinois also traveled to Bloomington and handed Indiana a 78-74 loss, the first win for Illinois at Assembly Hall in Bloomington since 1990. During the course of the year, Kiwane Garris etched his name in the Illinois record book with one of the best season performances by any Illini player in history. He finished his career second on the all-time scoring list with 1,948 points and set the single-season record for free throws made and attempted. Garris averaged 19.4 points and missed being the Big Ten’s leading scorer by three one-hundredths of a point.

Team

No. Player Hometown High School Class Position
00 Victor Chukwudebe Springfield, Illinois Lanphier High School Fr. Forward
4 Fess Hawkins Pine Bluff, Arkansas Dollarway High School Fr. Center
5 Halim Abdullah Jersey City, New Jersey St. Anthony High School Jr. Guard
21 Matt Heldman Libertyville, Illinois Libertyville High School Jr. Guard
22 Kiwane Garris (captain) Chicago, Illinois Westinghouse High School Sr. Guard
25 Bryant Notree Chicago, Illinois Simeon High School Jr. Guard
32 Jerry Gee Chicago, Illinois St. Martin de Porres High School Jr. Forward
33 Kevin Turner Chicago, Illinois Simeon High School Jr. Guard
34 Brian Johnson Des Plaines, Illinois Maine West High School Jr. Forward
35 Carvell Ammons Champaign, Illinois Centennial High School So. Forward
40 Jerry Hester Peoria, Illinois Manual High School Sr. Forward
42 Herb Caldwell (captain) Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville High School Sr. Forward
45 Chris Gandy (captain) Kankakee, Illinois Bradley Bourbonnais High School Sr. Forward

Schedule

Source[2]

Date
Time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (Attendance)
City, State
Regular Season

11/22/1996*
no, no
@ Illinois-Chicago W 68-63  1-0
UIC Pavilion (8,715)
Chicago, IL

11/25/1996*
no, no
vs. Delaware State W 92-51  2-0
Assembly Hall (10,993)
Champaign, IL

11/29/1996*
no, no
vs. TCU
Big Island Invitational
W 73-67  3-0
UHH Gymnasium (1,000)
Hilo, HI

11/30/1996*
no, no
vs. Louisville
Big Island Invitational
L 60-70  3-1
UHH Gymnasium (1,000)
Hilo, HI

12/1/1996*
no, no
vs. Virginia Tech
Big Island Invitational
W 92-68  4-1
UHH Gymnasium (1,000)
Hilo, HI

12/3/1996*
no, no
@ California L 88-89 2ot 4-2
Haas Pavilion (6,578)
Berkeley, CA

12/6/1996*
no, no
vs. Columbia
Illini Classic
W 84-59  5-2
Assembly Hall (11,847)
Champaign, IL

12/7/1996*
no, no
vs. Tennessee State
Illini Classic
W 86-73  6-2
Assembly Hall (12,160)
Champaign, IL

12/11/1996*
no, no
No. 12 vs. Chicago State W 94-57  7-2
Assembly Hall (8,757)
Champaign, IL

12/14/1996*
no, no
vs. Coppin State W 91-55  8-2
Assembly Hall (14,269)
Champaign, IL

12/21/1996*
no, no
vs. #24 UCLA W 79-63  9-2
United Center (15,331)
Chicago, IL

12/28/1996*
no, no
vs. Missouri
Braggin' Rights
W 85-69  10-2
Scottrade Center (22,371)
St. Louis, MO

1/2/1997
no, no
No. 24 vs. Purdue L 69-75  10-3 (0-1)
Assembly Hall (15,364)
Champaign, IL

1/4/1997
no, no
No. 24 @ Ohio State W 72-64  11-3 (1-1)
St. John Arena (10,503)
Columbus, OH

1/9/1996
no, no
No. 25 @ #16 Michigan L 74-88  11-4 (1-2)
Crisler Arena (13,265)
Ann Arbor, MI

1/11/1997
no, no
No. 25 vs. Penn State W 85-70  12-4 (2-2)
Assembly Hall (14,251)
Champaign, IL

1/14/1997
no, no
vs. #7 Minnesota W 96-90  13-4 (3-2)
Assembly Hall (12,326)
Champaign, IL

1/22/1997
no, no
@ Michigan State W 66-63  14-4 (4-2)
Breslin Student Events Center (12,975)
East Lansing, MI

1/25/1997
no, no
vs. Wisconsin L 56-73  14-5 (4-3)
Assembly Hall (15,448)
Champaign, IL

1/29/1997
no, no
@ Iowa L 65-82  14-6 (4-4)
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500)
Iowa City, IA

2/2/1997
no, no
@ #17 Indiana W 78-74  15-6 (5-4)
Assembly Hall (17,341)
Bloomington, IN

2/5/1997
no, no
vs. Northwestern W 70-58  16-6 (6-4)
Assembly Hall (12,430)
Champaign, IL

2/9/1997
no, no
vs. #25 Iowa W 66-51  17-6 (7-4)
Assembly Hall (16,450)
Champaign, IL

2/12/1997
no, no
No. 20 @ Wisconsin L 45-62  17-7 (7-5)
Wisconsin Field House (11,500)
Madison, WI

2/15/1997
no, no
No. 20 vs. Michigan State W 79-68  18-7 (8-5)
Assembly Hall (16,450)
Champaign, IL

2/22/1997
no, no
No. 23 @ #2 Minnesota L 66-67  18-8 (8-6)
Williams Arena (14,554)
Minneapolis, MN

2/25/1997
no, no
No. 21 @ Penn State W 87-65  19-8 (9-6)
Bryce Jordan Center (12,697)
University Park, PA

3/2/1997
no, no
No. 21 vs. #24 Michigan W 70-51  20-8 (10-6)
Assembly Hall (16,450)
Champaign, IL

3/5/1997
no, no
No. 15 vs. Ohio State W 90-83  21-8 (11-6)
St. John Arena (13,702)
Columbus, OH

3/8/1997
no, no
No. 15 @ Purdue L 69-77  21-9 (11-7)
Mackey Arena (14,123)
West Lafayette, IN
NCAA Tournament

3/14/1997*
no, no
No. 19 vs. Southern California
NCAA Tournament
W 90-77  22-9
Charlotte Coliseum (11,206)
Charlotte, NC

3/16/1997*
no, no
No. 19 vs. UT Chattanooga
NCAA Tournament
L 63-75  22-10
Charlotte Coliseum (14,864)
Charlotte, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Three Pointers Free Throws Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Points
Kiwane Garris[3]3016173181108163252576
Chris Gandy[4]301191268174161927318
Matt Heldman[5]3099614510460141304
Kevin Turner[6] 3011359166863131301
Brian Notree[7]3090105811241121248
Jerry Gee[8] 3083022117211013188
Brian Johnson[9] 30553149119611320160
Victor Chukwudebe[10]3032012654121176

NCAA basketball tournament

[11]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round Pick Player NBA Club

[13]

Rankings

References

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