2003–04 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 2003–04 Illinois Fighting Illini 2003–04 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 11 13 26–7 13–3 Bruce Weber 1st 3rd 1st 1st Wayne McClain Jay Price Chris Lowery Dee Brown Jerrance Howard Deron Williams Deron Williams Assembly Hall Big Ten Regular Season champions NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen The 2003–04 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented 98th season University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the 2003-04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Bruce Weber's first season at Illinois. Season Bill Self left the Fighting Illini in March, 2003 to take over as coach at Kansas, paving the way for Bruce Weber to be named the 16th Illinois head coach on April 30, 2003. Weber arrived in Champaign after directing the Southern Illinois Salukis for five seasons. Weber’s inaugural season directing the Orange and Blue was a success, as he became just the third coach in Big Ten history to win an outright conference championship in his first season. The Illini had to win its final 10 games of the regular season to clinch sole possession of the title, with six of those wins coming away from the Assembly Hall. Weber also guided Illinois to its first NCAA Tournament victory over a higher seeded team, when the No. 5 Illini defeated No. 4 Cincinnati in the second round of the tournament. The Illini finished the year with a record of 26–7 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Roster 2003 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Aaron Spears 1 F/C 6 9 250 FR Chicago, IL Dunbar High School n Luther Head 4 G 6 3 175 JR Chicago, IL Manley High School y Deron Williams 5 G 6 3 210 SO The Colony, TX The Colony High School y C Dee Brown 11 G 6 0 175 SO Maywood, IL Proviso East High School y Dee Brown (basketball, born 1984) C Jerrance Howard 25 G 6 1 200 SR y Peoria, IL Peoria High School y C Rich McBride 33 G 6 3 210 FR Springfield, IL Lanphier High School n Fred Nkemdi 34 F 6 6 220 JR North Riverside, IL Riverside Brookfield High School/Morton Junior College n W James Augustine 40 F 6 10 220 SO Mokena, IL Lincoln-Way Central High School y Warren Carter 41 F 6 9 205 FR Dallas, TX Lake Highlands High School y Warren Carter (basketball) Brian Randle 42 F 6 8 200 FR East Peoria, IL Peoria Notre Dame High School y Roger Powell 43 F 6 6 220 JR Joliet, IL Joliet Central High School y Roger Powell (basketball) Nick Smith 45 C 7 2 240 JR y Valrico, FL Bloomingdale High School n Jack Ingram 50 F/C 6 10 245 JR y San Antonio, TX Marshall High School/University of Tulsa n Bruce Weber (Wisconsin-Milwaukee) Wayne McClain (Illinois State) Jay Price (Kansas) Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/2003-04 Schedule yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Exhibition Sun, Nov 9, 2003 4:00 pm yes 12 Illinois All-Stars Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 91–66 14,325 Mon, Nov 17, 2003 7:00 pm yes 12 Spot-Lite Jammers Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 83–63 14,151 |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season Sat, Nov 22, 2003 7:00 pm yes 12 2003 Western Illinois Leathernecks Western Illinois Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 94–66 1–0 15,591 Wed, Nov 26, 2003 7:00 pm yes 12 2003 Mercer Bears Mercer Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 93–61 2–0 13,742 Sat, Nov 29, 2003 4:00 pm yes yes 12 Temple The Palestra Philadelphia, PA ESPN2 75–60 3–0 6,194 Tue, Dec 2, 2003 9:00 pm yes yes 11 North Carolina 10 Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC ESPN 81–88 3–1 16,211 Sat, Dec 6, 2003 11:00 am yes yes 11 Arkansas United Center Chicago, IL ESPN Plus 84–61 4–1 15,398 Tue, Dec 9, 2003 6:00 pm yes yes 14 Providence Jimmy V Classic Madison Square Garden New York, NY ESPN 51–70 4–2 7,665 Thu, Dec 11, 2003 7:00 pm yes 14 2003 Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks Maryland-Eastern Shore Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 85–43 5–2 14,751 Sat, Dec 13, 2003 8:00 pm yes 14 Memphis Assembly Hall Champaign, IL ESPN2 74–64 6–2 16,618 Tue, Dec 23, 2003 8:00 pm yes yes 21 2003 Missouri Tigers Missouri 11 Savvis Center St. Louis, MO Braggin' Rights ESPN2 71–70 7–2 22,153 Tue, Dec 30, 2003 7:00 pm yes yes 20 Illinois-Chicago United Center Chicago, IL WBBM 75–60 8–2 15,415 Sat, Jan 3, 2004 1:00 pm yes 20 Illinois State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL ESPN Plus 80–73 9–2 16,618 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season Wed, Jan 7, 2004 8:00 pm 19 2003 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL ESPN Plus 85–63 10–2 1–0 15,659 Sat, Jan 10, 2004 3:30 pm 19 2003 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue 24 Assembly Hall Champaign, IL ESPN Plus 54–58 10–3 1–1 16,618 Wed, Jan 14, 2004 7:00 pm yes 25 Rivalry 2003 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL ESPN Plus 60–70 10–4 1–2 8,117 Sat, Jan 17, 2004 11:00 am 25 Iowa Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry ESPN 88–82 11–4 2–2 16,618 Wed, Jan 21, 2004 8:00 pm 2003 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL ESPN Plus 80–37 12–4 3–2 16,248 Sat, Jan 24, 2004 1:35 pm yes Wisconsin 21 Kohl Center Madison, WI ESPN Plus 56–76 12–5 3–3 17,142 Sat, Jan 31, 2004 12:39 pm Michigan Assembly Hall Champaign, IL CBS 67–52 13–5 4–3 16,618 Tue, Feb 3, 2004 7:00 pm yes Indiana Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN Rivalry ESPN 51–49 14–5 5–3 17,306 Sun, Feb 8, 2004 12:00 pm yes 2003 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN CBS 79–69 15–5 6–3 13,404 Tue, Feb 10, 2004 8:00 pm Michigan State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL ESPN 75–51 16–5 7–3 16,618 Wed, Feb 18, 2004 7:00 pm Wisconsin 12 Assembly Hall Champaign, IL ESPN Plus 65–57 17–5 8–3 16,618 Sat, Feb 21, 2004 4:00 pm yes Penn State Bryce Jordan Center University Park, PA ESPN 66–58 18–5 9–3 10,008 Wed, Feb 25, 2004 6:05 pm yes 23 Iowa Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA Rivalry ESPN Plus 78–59 19–5 10–3 14,493 Sat, Feb 28, 2004 1:30 pm 23 Rivalry Northwestern Assembly Hall Champaign, IL ESPN Plus 66–56 20–5 11–3 16,618 Wed, Mar 3, 2004 7:00 pm yes 18 Purdue Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN ESPN Plus 81–79 OT 21–5 12–3 13,740 Sun, Mar 7, 2004 4:05 pm yes 18 Ohio State Value City Arena Columbus, OH CBS 64–63 22–5 13–3 16,445 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten tournament Fri, Mar 12, 2004 12:00 pm yes 12 1 Indiana 8 Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Quarterfinals ESPN 71–59 23–5 N/A Sat, Mar 13, 2004 12:40 pm yes 12 1 Michigan 5 Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Semifinals CBS 74–60 24–5 N/A Sun, Mar 14, 2004 2:40 pm yes 12 1 Wisconsin 10 2 Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Championship CBS 53–70 24–6 14,617 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA tournament2003 Tournament Fri, Mar 19, 2004 11:25 am yes yes 13 5 A Murray State 12 A Nationwide Arena Columbus, OH First round CBS 72–53 25–6 19,588 Sun, Mar 21, 2004 1:30 pm yes yes 13 5 A Cincinnati 11 4 A Nationwide Arena Columbus, OH Second round CBS 92–68 26–6 19,588 Fri, Mar 26, 2004 10:16 pm yes yes 13 5 A Duke 6 1 A Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA Sweet Sixteen CBS 62–72 26–7 24,533 Central Time Season Statistics Legend   GP  Games played   GS  Games started  Avg  Average per game   FG  Field-goals made  FGA  Field-goal attempts  Off  Offensive rebounds  Def  Defensive rebounds   A  Assists   TO Turnovers  Blk  Blocks  Stl  Steals  High  Team high + Individual Player StatisticsUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 2003-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20130227000752/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-2003.html 2013-02-27 , FightingIllini.com Minutes Scoring Total FGs 3-point FGs Free-Throws Rebounds Player GP GS Tot Avg Pts Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg A TO Blk Stl Brown, Dee 33 33 1153 34.9 440 13.3 160 389 .411 71 205 .346 49 73 .671 34 89 123 3.7 147 65 3 51 Williams, Deron 30 29 1017 33.9 420 14.0 147 360 .408 67 170 .394 59 75 .787 14 83 97 3.2 185 75 9 31 Powell, Roger 32 31 856 26.8 371 11.6 150 252 .595 4 12 .333 67 105 .638 75 85 160 5.0 22 40 14 21 Head, Luther 29 24 863 29.8 319 11.0 107 239 .448 49 143 .343 56 72 .778 25 85 110 3.8 75 45 6 30 Augustine, James 33 33 904 27.4 318 9.6 125 197 .635 0 2 .000 68 106 .642 93 149 242 7.3 21 41 42 38 Smith, Nick 33 6 552 16.7 223 6.8 81 178 .455 8 26 .308 53 66 .803 38 69 107 3.2 38 49 24 8 McBride, Rich 29 0 411 14.2 92 3.2 30 99 .303 24 74 .324 8 10 .800 16 20 36 1.2 31 13 0 14 Randle, Brian 32 9 354 11.1 86 2.7 35 62 .565 3 12 .250 13 28 .464 24 49 73 2.3 16 26 11 15 Ingram, Jack 33 0 293 8.9 73 2.2 32 75 .427 1 7 .143 8 12 .667 31 42 73 2.2 14 11 9 7 Spears, Aaron 20 0 97 4.9 21 1.1 9 19 .474 0 0 .000 3 8 .375 2 9 11 0.6 2 10 2 3 Carter, Warren 17 0 63 3.7 20 1.2 6 15 .400 0 0 .000 8 10 .800 1 9 10 0.6 5 4 1 1 Howard, Jerrance 18 0 78 4.3 19 1.1 5 14 .357 4 11 .364 5 6 .833 1 7 8 0.4 9 9 1 5 Nkemdi, Fred 6 0 9 1.5 0 0.0 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 0 3 3 0.5 0 0 0 0 Team 39 58 97 13 Total 33 6650 2402 72.8 887 1899 .467 231 662 .349 397 571 .695 393 757 1150 34.8 565 401 122 224 Opponents 33 6650 2077 62.9 733 1750 .419 183 540 .339 428 627 .683 372 692 1064 32.2 405 474 112 197 Awards and honors Dee Brown Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American Deron Williams Team Most Valuable Player http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf List of MVPs 2013-01-15 2014-10-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20141030004049/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf dead Team players drafted into the NBA PlayerNBA ClubRoundPick2004 NBA draft Rankings 2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Illinois Illinois Illinois