2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Regular season

In May 2000, Lon Kruger left Illinois to become head coach of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. Bill Self was named Illinois’ 15th head men’s basketball coach on June 9, 2000. Self came to Illinois from Tulsa where he had led the Golden Hurricane to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including a 32–5 record and Tournament run to the Elite Eight in 2000. Self ’s first season at Illinois was memorable. The Illini were ranked in the Top 10 the entire season and tied for the Big Ten Championship with Michigan State. The Illini defeated Purdue in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament but fell to Indiana in the semifinals.

The Illini received an at-large as a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. Easy wins over Northwestern State and Charlotte led to a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. The Illini defeated Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to the Elite Eight. However, the Illini run ended in the Elite Eight to eventual national runner-up Arizona, the third meeting between the two schools on the season. Sophomore Frank Williams became the first Illini player to earn Big Ten Player of the Year honors since 1967 and was named to several postseason All-America squads. Junior Cory Bradford set an NCAA record by making a three-point field goal in 88 consecutive games.

Roster

• Bill Self (Oklahoma State) (1st year)
• Rob Judson (University of Illinois) (5th year)
• Billy Gillispie (Southwest Texas State) (1st year)
• Norm Roberts (Queens College) (1st year)

Schedule and results

|- !colspan=12 style="background:#; color:#;"|Exhibition |- !colspan=12 style="background:#; color:#;"|Non-conference regular season |- !colspan=9 style="background:#"|Big Ten regular season |- !colspan=9 style="background:#"|Big Ten tournament |- !colspan=9 style="background:#"|NCAA tournament Source

Player stats

Awards and honors

• Frank Williams
  • Big Ten Player of the Year
  • Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award
  • Wooden 1st team All-American
  • National Association of Basketball Coaches 2nd team All-American
  • Associated Press 3rd team All-American
  • Team Most Valuable Player
  • Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
• Brian Cook
  • Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
• Cory Bradford
  • Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American

Rankings

Main article: 2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

References

1. (June 9, 2000). "Illini Hires Self As Hoops Coach".
2. "Northwestern State vs. Illinois Box Score, March 16, 2001 {{!}} College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com".
3. (March 2019). "2001 Illinois vs. Charlotte Round of 32".
4. "Kansas vs. Illinois Box Score, March 23, 2001 {{!}} College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com".
5. "NCAA Men's Basketball - Arizona vs. Illinois".
6. "2000-01 Illinois Fighting Illini Roster and Stats".
7. "Season Stats pg. 125".
8. "Season Stats pg. 125".
9. "Season Stats pg. 125".
10. "Season Stats pg. 125".
11. "Season Stats pg. 125".
12. "Season Stats pg. 125".
13. "Season Stats pg. 125".
14. "Season Stats pg. 125".
15. "Season Stats pg. 125".
16. "List of MVPs".
17. "2000-01 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results".