1996–97 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1996–97 Illinois Fighting Illini 1996–97 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 19 22–10 11–7 Lon Kruger Robert McCullum Rob Judson Mike Shepherd 1st 1st 1st 1st Herb Caldwell Kiwane Garris Chris Gandy Kiwane Garris Assembly Hall Illini Classic, Champion NCAA men's Division I tournament second round 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. Roster 1996 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Victor Chukwudebe 00 F 6 7 230 FR Springfield, Illinois Lanphier High School n Fess Hawkins 4 C 6 9 277 FR yes Pine Bluff, Arkansas Dollarway High School/Northwestern University n Halim Abdullah 5 G 5 9 155 JR Jersey City, New Jersey St. Anthony High School n Jelani Boline 10 G 5 10 170 SR Chicago, Illinois Whitney Young High School n Jeff Reichardt 12 G 6 1 185 SO Schaumburg, Illinois Schaumburg High School nMatt Heldman 21 G 6 0 165 JR Libertyville, Illinois Libertyville High School n Kiwane Garris 22 G 6 2 185 SR Chicago, Illinois Westinghouse High School y C Bryant Notree 25 G 6 5 205 JR Chicago, Illinois Simeon High School y David Freeman 31 G 6 4 205 JR Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School n Jarrod Gee 32 F 6 8 240 JR Chicago, Illinois St. Martin de Porres High School n Kevin Turner 33 G 6 3 170 JR Chicago, Illinois Simeon High School n Brian Johnson 34 F 6 7 215 JR yes Des Plaines, Illinois Maine West High School n Jerry Hester 40 F 6 6 210 SR yes y Peoria, Illinois Manual High School n Herb Caldwell 42 F 6 8 220 SR Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville High School n C Chris Gandy 45 F 6 9 205 SR yes Kankakee, Illinois Bradley-Bourbonnais High School n C Lon Kruger (Kansas State) (1st year) Rob Judson (University of Illinois) (1st year) Robert McCullum (Seminole State) (1st year) Mike Shepherd (Kansas State) (1st year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1996-97 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1996–97, FightingIllini.com yes yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 11/22/1996 yes yes 1996 UIC Flames Illinois-Chicago UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL 68–63 8,715 1–0 11/25/1996 yes 1996 Delaware State Hornets Delaware State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 92–51 10,993 2–0 11/29/1996 yes yes 1996 TCU Horned Frogs TCU Afook-Chinen Auditorium Hilo, HI Big Island Invitational 73–67 1,000 3–0 11/30/1996 yes yes Louisville Afook-Chinen Auditorium Hilo, HI Big Island Invitational 60–70 1,000 3–1 12/1/1996 yes yes 1996 Virginia Tech Hokies Virginia Tech Afook-Chinen Auditorium Hilo, HI Big Island Invitational 92–68 1,000 4–1 12/3/1996 yes yes California Harmon Gym Berkeley, CA 88–89 2ot 6,578 4–2 12/6/1996 yes 1996 Columbia Lions Columbia Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Illini Classic 84–59 11,847 5–2 12/7/1996 yes 1996 Tennessee State Tigers Tennessee State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Illini Classic 86–73 12,160 6–2 12/11/1996 12 yes 1996 Chicago State Cougars Chicago State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 94–57 8,757 7–2 12/14/1996 yes Coppin State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 91–55 14,269 8–2 12/21/1996 yes 24 yes UCLA United Center Chicago, IL 79–63 15,331 9–2 12/28/1996 yes yes Missouri Scottrade Center St. Louis, MO Braggin' Rights 85–69 22,371 10–2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/2/1997 24 Purdue Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 69–75 15,364 10–3 0–1 1/4/1997 24 yes 1996 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, OH 72–64 10,503 11–3 1–1 1/9/1996 25 16 yes Michigan Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI 74–88 13,265 11–4 1–2 1/11/1997 25 1996 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 85–70 14,251 12–4 2–2 1/14/1997 7 Minnesota Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 96–90 12,326 13–4 3–2 1/22/1997 yes Michigan State Breslin Student Events Center East Lansing, MI 66–63 12,975 14–4 4–2 1/25/1997 Wisconsin Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 56–73 15,448 14–5 4–3 1/29/1997 yes Iowa Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA Rivalry 65–82 15,500 14–6 4–4 2/2/1997 17 yes Indiana Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN Rivalry 78–74 17,341 15–6 5–4 2/5/1997 1996 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 70–58 12,430 16–6 6–4 2/9/1997 25 Iowa Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 66–51 16,450 17–6 7–4 2/12/1997 20 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 45–62 11,500 17–7 7–5 2/15/1997 20 Michigan State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 79–68 16,450 18–7 8–5 2/22/1997 23 2 yes Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 66–67 14,554 18–8 8–6 2/25/1997 21 yes Penn State Bryce Jordan Center University Park, PA 87–65 12,697 19–8 9–6 3/2/1997 21 24 Michigan Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 70–51 16,450 20–8 10–6 3/5/1997 15 Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, OH 90–83 13,702 21–8 11–6 3/8/1997 15 yes Purdue Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN 69–77 14,123 21–9 11–7 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA tournament 3/14/1997 19 yes yes Southern California Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC First Round 6 S 11 S 90–77 11,206 22–9 3/16/1997 19 yes yes UT Chattanooga 6 S 14 S Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC Second Round 63–75 14,864 22–10 |- Central Time Player stats PlayerGames Played2 pt. Field Goals3 pt. Field GoalsFree ThrowsReboundsAssistsBlocksStealsPointsKiwane Garrishttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 329576204113180252622Chris Gandyhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 321201469181182128352Kevin Turnerhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 325862217566132323Matt Heldmanhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 3242644711066141322Bryant Notreehttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 3282105811842122252Jarrod Geehttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 3286023123211014195Brian Johnsonhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 3258153121641420172Victor Chukwudebehttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 3237012695121286Jerry Hester 52061328130471Halim Abdullah 2655862501633Herb Caldwell 1720591009David Freeman 1740075148Jelani Boline 1500179041Jeff Reichardt 200020000 NCAA basketball tournament Southeast regional Illinois 90, Southern Cal 77 Tennessee-Chattanooga 75, Illinois 63 1997 NCAA Tournament Awards and honors Kiwane Garris Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention 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 ClubRoundPick1997 NBA draft Rankings 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Illinois Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:1996 in sports in Illinois Category:1997 in sports in Illinois