1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini 1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 18–13 7–11 Lou Henson Dick Nagy Jimmy Collins Mark Bial 21st 17th 13th 2nd Richard Keene Kiwane Garris Jerry Hester Kiwane Garris Assembly Hall Illini Classic, Champion National Invitation Tournament First Round The 1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season After advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 1994–95, Illinois extended its run on postseason play with a berth in the 1996 NIT. The Illini started the 1995–96 season 11–1 before losing Kiwane Garris to injury. Without its leader, the Illini dropped its first five Big Ten games. Garris returned, but was never 100 percent and junior forward Jerry Hester missed games with a severely sprained ankle. The Illini finished the 1996 season 18–13 overall, 7–11 in the Big Ten. But more importantly the 1996 season marked the end of the most successful era in Illinois basketball when Lou Henson announced his retirement before the end of the season. In his 21 years at Illinois, Henson notched 423 victories and guided the Illini to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Okay, Oklahoma native coached Illinois to 11, 20 win seasons and finished his career as the third winningest coach in Big Ten history with 214 league victories. Roster 1995 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Jeff Lindenmeyer 10 G 6 7 220 FR Arcola, Illinois Arcola High School n Matt Heldman 21 G 6 0 165 SO Libertyville, Illinois Libertyville High School n Kiwane Garris 22 G 6 2 185 JR Chicago, Illinois Westinghouse High School y C Richard Keene 24 G 6 6 205 SR Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville High School n C Bryant Notree 25 G 6 5 205 SO Chicago, Illinois Simeon High School y Brett Robisch 31 C 6 11 240 SO yes Springfield, Illinois Calvary Academy n Jarrod Gee 32 F 6 8 240 SO Chicago, Illinois St. Martin de Porres High School n Kevin Turner 33 G 6 2 160 SO Chicago, Illinois Simeon High School n Brian Johnson 34 F 6 6 195 SO yes Des Plaines, Illinois Maine West High School n Jerry Hester 40 F 6 6 210 JR Peoria, Illinois Manual High School n C Herb Caldwell 42 F 6 8 220 JR Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville High School n Ryan Blackwell 44 F 6 8 205 FR Pittsford, New York Pittsford Sutherland High School n Chris Gandy 45 F 6 9 205 JR yes Kankakee, Illinois Bradley-Bourbonnais High School n Lou Henson (New Mexico A&M) (21st year) Dick Nagy (New Mexico State University) (17th year) Jimmy Collins (New Mexico State University) (13th year) Mark Bial (University of Illinois) (2nd year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1995-96 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1995–96 https://web.archive.org/web/20140222010045/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1995.html 2014-02-22 , FightingIllini.com yes yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 11/25/1995 yes 1995 UTSA Roadrunners Texas-San Antonio Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 83–80 12,382 1–0 11/28/1995 yes 1995 Eastern Illinois Panthers Eastern Illinois Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 89–57 13,521 2–0 12/2/1995 yes 12 yes Duke Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC 75–65 9,314 3–0 12/4/1995 21 yes Kansas State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 82–56 13,814 4–0 12/8/1995 21 yes 1995 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks Southeast Missouri State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Illini Classic 89–70 14,611 5–0 12/9/1995 21 yes 1995 Ball State Cardinals Ball State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Illini Classic 97–53 14,920 6–0 12/16/1995 16 yes 1995 UIC Flames Illinois-Chicago Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 81–73 15,902 7–0 12/20/1995 14 yes 15 yes 1995 Missouri Tigers Missouri Scottrade Center St. Louis, MO Braggin' Rights 96–85 ot 21,901 8–0 12/23/1995 14 yes yes California United Center Chicago, IL 83–69 15,046 9–0 12/27/1995 12 yes 13 yes Syracuse Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI Rainbow Classic 64–75 8,757 9–1 12/29/1995 12 yes yes 1995 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Hawaii Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI Rainbow Classic 82–81 ot 7,827 10–1 12/30/1995 12 yes yes 1995 NC State Wolfpack North Carolina State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rainbow Classic 85–76 7,787 11–1 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/3/1996 13 yes 1995 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 64–69 14,221 11–2 0–1 1/6/1996 13 Michigan State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 58–68 16,413 11–3 0–2 2/26/1995 21 23 yes Michigan Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI 68–83 13,562 11–4 0–3 1/13/1996 21 Indiana Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 71–85 16,450 11–5 0–4 1/18/1996 16 yes Iowa Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA Rivalry 79–82 15,500 11–6 0–5 1/20/1996 17 yes Purdue Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN 71–67 14,123 12–6 1–5 1/24/1996 1995 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 77–46 14,862 13–6 2–5 1/27/1996 yes 1995 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL Rivalry 74–62 8,117 14–6 3–5 2/3/1996 Wisconsin Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 56–57 16,450 14–7 3–6 2/8/1996 10 yes 1995 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State Bryce Jordan Center University Park, PA 58–61 14,754 14–8 3–7 2/14/1996 Northwestern Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 93–62 13,560 15–8 4–7 2/17/1996 yes Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, OH 76–67 12,718 16–8 5–7 2/20/1996 7 Purdue Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 71–74 15,628 16–9 5–8 2/24/1996 18 Iowa Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 91–86 16,450 17–9 6–8 2/28/1996 yes Indiana Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN Rivalry 64–76 17,139 17–10 6–9 3/3/1996 Michigan Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 73–62 16,450 18–10 7–9 3/6/1996 yes Michigan State Breslin Student Events Center East Lansing, MI 67–77 13,187 18–11 7–10 3/9/1996 Minnesota Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 66–67 ot 16,206 18–12 7–11 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|National Invitation Tournament 3/13/1996 yes Alabama Assembly Hall Champaign, IL First Round 69–72 8,398 18–13 |- 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 2011-03-14 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 2580381128698042386Bryant Notreehttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 31105176619030532327Richard Keenehttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 31386934116162840317Jerry Hesterhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 2874384611135916308Jarrod Geehttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 31115035190163317265Chris Gandyhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 3172433126141614189Matt Heldmanhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 312330332943111175Kevin Turnerhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 124 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 314025154954317170Ryan Blackwell 3033634862369118Brett Robisch 1414332261240Brian Johnson 20130323171329Herb Caldwell 14307911113Jeff Lindenmeyer 1240080018 Awards and honors Kiwane Garris 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 ClubRoundPick1996 NBA Draft Rankings 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Illinois Category:1995 in sports in Illinois Category:1996 in sports in Illinois