1998–99 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1998–99 Illinois Fighting Illini Fighting Illini logo.svg 175px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 14–18 3–13 Lon Kruger Robert McCullum Rob Judson Steve Henson 3rd 3rd 3rd 2nd Victor Chukwudebe Cory Bradford Assembly Hall The 1998–99 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season The Illini closed out the 1998–99 season with an amazing run at the Big Ten tournament title. After entering the tournament as the 11th-seeded team, Illinois reeled off three straight victories over Top 25-ranked teams before losing in the championship game to second-ranked Michigan State. Illini freshman Cory Bradford was the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year and was also selected to the All-Tournament team. Roster 1998 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Victor Chukwudebe 00 F 6 7 230 JR Springfield, Illinois Lanphier High School n C Arias Davis 3 G 6 2 180 SR Waycross, Georgia Ware County High School n Fess Hawkins 4 C 6 10 270 SO yes Pine Bluff, Arkansas Dollarway High School/Westark Community College n Nate Mast 5 G 5 10 160 SO Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School n Joe Cross 12 G 6 2 205 SO Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale Community High School n Cory Bradford 13 G 6 2 200 FR Yes Memphis, Tennessee Raleigh Egypt High School y Robert Archibald 21 F/C 6 10 215 FR Ballwin, Missouri Lafayette High School y Lucas Johnson 22 F 6 7 215 FR Des Plaines, Illinois Maine West High School n Frank Williams 30 G 6 3 190 FR Peoria, Illinois Manual High School y Frank Williams (basketball) Cleotis Brown 32 F 6 4 220 JR Pittsview, Alabama Russell County School District n Damir Krupalija 33 F 6 8 215 FR Rockford, Illinois Rockford Boylan High School y Carvell Ammons 35 F 6 6 205 SO yes Champaign, Illinois Champaign Centennial High School n Sergio McClain 40 G/F 6 3 215 SO Peoria, Illinois Manual High School y Rich Beyers 44 F 6 8 230 SO Shelbyville, Illinois Shelbyville High School n Lon Kruger (Kansas State) (3rd year) Rob Judson (University of Illinois) (3rd year) Robert McCullum (Seminole State) (3rd year) Steve Henson (Kansas State) (2nd year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1998-99 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1998-99 https://web.archive.org/web/20140222013603/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1998.html 2014-02-22 , FightingIllini.com yes yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 11/10/1998 yes yes 1998 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Wake Forest Madison Square Garden New York, NY Coaches Cancer Classic 73-75 ot 13,239 0-1 11/11/1998 yes yes Georgetown Madison Square Garden New York, NY Coaches Cancer Classic 65-50 12,589 1-1 11/17/1998 yes George Washington Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 58-64 10,683 1-2 11/20/1998 yes 1998 Saint Louis Billikens St. Louis Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 70-65 12,586 2-2 11/23/1998 yes 1998 Tennessee–Martin Skyhawks Tennessee-Martin Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 71-35 10,496 3-2 11/28/1998 yes yes 1998 Texas–Pan American Broncs Texas-Pan American UTPA Fieldhouse Edinburg, TX 71-56 2,463 4-2 11/30/1998 yes Valparaiso Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 53-49 10,842 5-2 12/5/1998 yes yes 1998 Bradley Braves Bradley United Center Chicago, IL 53-48 11,084 6-2 12/12/1998 yes 1998 Eastern Illinois Panthers Eastern Illinois Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 70-67 12,273 7-2 12/19/1998 yes 13 yes Kansas Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO 55-65 13,728 7-3 12/22/1998 yes 15 yes Missouri Scottrade Center St. Louis, MO Braggin' Rights 62-67 22,471 7-4 12/29/1998 yes 14 yes Clemson Bi-Lo Center Greenville, SC 67-50 14,687 8-4 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/3/1999 8 yes Indiana Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN Rivalry 53-62 7,249 8-5 0-1 1/7/1999 17 yes Iowa Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA Rivalry 62-84 14,301 8-6 0-2 1/9/1999 1998 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 46-59 12,255 8-7 0-3 1/13/1999 13 yes Purdue Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN 54-63 14,123 8-8 0-4 1/16/1999 14 Michigan State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 49-51 15,428 8-9 0-5 1/20/1999 15 yes Wisconsin Kohl Center Madison, WI 53-75 16,112 8-10 0-6 1/23/1999 1998 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 61-65 12,552 8-11 0-7 1/28/1999 yes Michigan Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI 61-59 10,784 9-11 1-7 1/30/1999 15 Ohio State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 61-64 13,756 9-12 1-8 2/3/1999 18 yes Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 63-75 14,792 9-13 1-9 2/6/1999 11 Wisconsin Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 53-51 14,062 10-13 2-9 2/11/1999 5 yes Michigan State Breslin Student Events Center East Lansing, MI 44-61 14,659 10-14 2-10 2/13/1999 21 Purdue Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 56-63 15,473 10-15 2-11 2/17/1999 yes Northwestern Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL Rivalry 69-63 7,314 11-15 3-11 2/21/1999 20 Iowa Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 72-78 16,450 11-16 3-12 2/24/1999 20 Indiana Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 64-70 ot 16,450 11-17 3-13 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|Big Ten tournament 3/4/1999 yes 23 yes 11 6 Minnesota United Center Chicago, IL Opening Round 67-64 18,641 12-17 3/5/1999 yes 17 yes 11 3 Indiana United Center Chicago, IL Quarterfinals 82-66 20,297 13-17 3/6/1999 yes 11 yes 11 2 Ohio State United Center Chicago, IL Semifinals 79-77 20,695 14-17 3/7/1999 yes 2 yes 11 1 Michigan State United Center Chicago, IL Championship 50-67 19,581 14-18 |- Central Time Player stats PlayerGames Played2 pt. Field Goals3 pt. Field GoalsFree ThrowsReboundsAssistsBlocksStealsPointsCory Bradfordhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 125 2011-03-18 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 328985618462125494Cleotis Brownhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 125 2011-03-18 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 32872061152441352295Sergio McClainhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 125 2011-03-18 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 319266510681371267Fess Hawkinshttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 125 2011-03-18 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 3277047162193624201Victor Chukwudebehttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 125 2011-03-18 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 3278022158162022178Lucas Johnsonhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 125 2011-03-18 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 312215469645412135Damir Krupalijahttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 125 2011-03-18 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 2429634132251315110Robert Archibaldhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 125 2011-03-18 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 323203110026101095Arias Davishttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 125 2011-03-18 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 251118620102982Nate Mast 3191114173601465Rich Beyers 111341520105743Carvell Ammons 210021002 Awards and honors Cory Bradford Big Ten Freshman of the Year 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 Frank Williams Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team