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
Schedule
SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1995-96 , FightingIllini.com
!colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season
!colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|National Invitation Tournament
Player stats PlayerGames Played2 pt. Field Goals3 pt. Field GoalsFree ThrowsReboundsAssistsBlocksStealsPointsKiwane Garris2580381128698042386Bryant Notree31105176619030532327Richard Keene31386934116162840317Jerry Hester 2874384611135916308Jarrod Gee 31115035190163317265Chris Gandy3172433126141614189Matt Heldman312330332943111175Kevin Turner 314025154954317170Ryan Blackwell 3033634862369118Brett Robisch 1414332261240Brian Johnson 20130323171329Herb Caldwell 14307911113Jeff Lindenmeyer 1240080018
Awards and honors Kiwane Garris Team Most Valuable Player
Team players drafted into the NBA PlayerNBA ClubRoundPick
Rankings
References