1993–94 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1993–94 Illinois Fighting Illini 1993–94 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 17–11 10–8 Lou Henson Dick Nagy Jimmy Collins Mark Coomes 19th 15th 11th 9th Tom Michael Deon Thomas T.J. Wheeler Deon Thomas Assembly Hall Illini Classic, Champion NCAA men's Division I tournament first round The 1993–94 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season The 1993–94 season saw Illinois again advance to the NCAA tournament and in the process, senior Deon Thomas broke a 13-year-old record and became the school's all-time leading scorer. Thomas scored his record-breaking 1,693rd point in the championship game of the Illini/Pepsi Classic against American University and he went on to finish his career with 2,129 points. Also during this season, a young upstart freshman, Kiwane Garris, would begin his assault on the all-time scoring list. He notched 446 points as a freshman and would be the catalyst on the Illini team over the next few years. Roster 1993 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Greg Phillips 3 G 6 3 180 FR Aurora, Illinois Aurora Christian High School n Kiwane Garris 22 G 6 2 175 FR Chicago, Illinois Westinghouse High School y Richard Keene 24 G 6 6 200 SO Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville High School n Deon Thomas 25 F/C 6 9 240 SR y Chicago, Illinois Simeon High School y C Robert Bennett 30 F 6 6 210 JR Chicago, Illinois Julian High School n Brett Robisch 31 C 6 11 225 FR yes Springfield, Illinois Calvary Academy n Tom Michael 32 F 6 8 220 SR y Hoffman, Illinois Carlyle High School n C Brian Johnson 34 F 6 6 190 FR yes Des Plaines, Illinois Maine West High School n Shelly Clark 35 F/C 6 9 260 JR Chicago, Illinois South Shore High School n Jerry Hester 40 F 6 6 190 FR Peoria, Illinois Manual High School n Gene Cross 42 G 6 3 180 SR Olympia Fields, Illinois Rich Central High School y T.J. Wheeler 44 G 6 4 200 SR Buckner, Illinois Christopher High School n C Chris Gandy 45 F 6 9 205 FR yes Kankakee, Illinois Bradley-Bourbonnais High School n Steve Roth 52 C 6 10 255 JR Belleville, Illinois East High School n Lou Henson (New Mexico A&M) (19th year) Dick Nagy (New Mexico State University) (15th year) Jimmy Collins (New Mexico State University) (11th year) Mark Coomes (New Mexico State University) (9th year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1993-94 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1993–94 https://web.archive.org/web/20140221102454/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1993.html 2014-02-21 , FightingIllini.com yes yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/1/1993 16 yes 1993 La Salle Explorers LaSalle Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 99–73 12,831 1–0 12/4/1993 16 yes 1993 UIC Flames Illinois-Chicago Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 101–80 16,321 2–0 12/7/1993 16 yes yes Marquette Bradley Center Milwaukee, WI 65–74 14,195 2–1 12/10/1993 16 yes 1993 Morehead State Eagles Morehead State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Illini Classic 110–75 13,914 3–1 12/11/1993 16 yes 1993 American Eagles American Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Illini Classic 108–84 14,523 4–1 12/18/1993 19 yes 1993 Chicago State Cougars Chicago State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 121–52 14,023 5–1 12/20/1993 19 yes 1993 Jackson State Tigers Jackson State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 79–63 11,997 6–1 12/22/1993 19 yes yes Missouri St. Louis Arena St. Louis, MO Braggin' Rights 107–108 3ot 18,273 6–2 1/2/1994 22 yes Texas Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 83–78 16,129 7–2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/8/1994 21 yes Michigan State Breslin Student Events Center East Lansing, MI 74–79 12,118 7–3 0–1 1/12/1994 1993 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 81–53 14,229 8–3 1–1 1/15/1994 yes 1993 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, OH 83–75 13,276 9–3 2–1 1/19/1994 Iowa Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 105–90 16,011 10–3 3–1 1/23/1994 15 Michigan Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 70–74 16,321 10–4 3–2 1/25/1994 16 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 56–66 11,500 10–5 3–3 1/30/1994 11 Indiana Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 88–81 16,321 11–5 4–3 2/2/1994 yes 1993 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State Rec Hall University Park, PA 83–65 7,103 12–5 5–3 2/9/1994 24 Michigan State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 72–64 14,676 13–5 6–3 2/12/1994 24 yes Northwestern Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL Rivalry 68–79 8,117 13–6 6–4 2/15/1994 Ohio State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 80–68 15,096 14–6 7–4 2/19/1994 yes Iowa Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA Rivalry 69–83 15,500 14–7 7–5 2/22/1994 3 yes Michigan Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI 70–79 13,548 14–8 7–6 2/27/1994 Wisconsin Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 76–65 16,321 15–8 8–6 3/1/1994 17 yes Indiana Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN Rivalry 77–82 17,066 15–9 8–7 3/5/1994 Penn State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 84–59 16,321 16–9 9–7 3/9/1994 20 yes Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 90–75 15,267 17–9 10–7 3/13/1994 6 yes Purdue Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN 77–87 14,123 17–10 10–8 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA tournament 3/18/1994 18 yes yes Georgetown 8 MW 9 MW Myriad Gardens Oklahoma City, OK First Round 77–84 13,336 17–11 |- Central Time Player stats PlayerGames Played2 pt. Field Goals3 pt. Field GoalsFree ThrowsReboundsAssistsBlocksStealsPointsDeon Thomashttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 123 2011-03-14 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 282061133194433723548Kiwane Garrishttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 123 2011-03-14 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 281042915198107133446T.J. Wheelerhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 123 2011-03-14 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 2669306111997322289Shelly Clarkhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 123 2011-03-14 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 269705416633615248Jerry Hesterhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 123 2011-03-14 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 2866213211143619227Richard Keenehttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 123 2011-03-14 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 2833481497113430224Robert Bennetthttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 123 2011-03-14 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 284904310310616141Tom Michaelhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 123 2011-03-14 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 26113011452144123Chris Gandy 19231153658364Steve Roth 1610052524325Gene Cross 15125350213 Awards and honors Deon Thomas Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) 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 ClubRoundPickDeon ThomasDallas Mavericks2 11994 NBA draft Rankings 1993–94 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Illinois Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:1993 in sports in Illinois Category:1994 in sports in Illinois