The 2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by first year head coach Bill Self, the Illini played their home games at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Illinois and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season with a record of 27–8, 13–3 in Big Ten play to win a share of the Big Ten regular season title with Michigan State. They lost in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament to Indiana. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. They advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Arizona.
Regular season In May 2000, Lon Kruger left Illinois to become head coach of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. Bill Self was named Illinois’ 15th head men’s basketball coach on June 9, 2000. Self came to Illinois from Tulsa where he had led the Golden Hurricane to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including a 32–5 record and Tournament run to the Elite Eight in 2000. Self ’s first season at Illinois was memorable. The Illini were ranked in the Top 10 the entire season and tied for the Big Ten Championship with Michigan State. The Illini defeated Purdue in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament but fell to Indiana in the semifinals.
The Illini received an at-large as a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. Easy wins over Northwestern State and Charlotte led to a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. The Illini defeated Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to the Elite Eight. However, the Illini run ended in the Elite Eight to eventual national runner-up Arizona, the third meeting between the two schools on the season. Sophomore Frank Williams became the first Illini player to earn Big Ten Player of the Year honors since 1967 and was named to several postseason All-America squads. Junior Cory Bradford set an NCAA record by making a three-point field goal in 88 consecutive games.
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style="background:#; color:#;"|Exhibition
!colspan=12 style="background:#; color:#;"|Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#"|Big Ten regular season
!colspan=9 style="background:#"|Big Ten tournament
!colspan=9 style="background:#"|NCAA tournament
Source
Player stats PlayerGames Played2 pt. Field Goals3 pt. Field GoalsFree ThrowsReboundsAssistsBlocksStealsPointsFrank Williams3412939133126148967508Brian Cook351192869212434521391Marcus Griffin34154077203344429385Cory Bradford 354172478963323345Sergio McClain35691869194102746261Robert Archibald3477090154222612244Sean Harrington 351051274941127200Lucas Johnson 3530186211659520176Damir Krupalija 273673610518416129Brett Melton 287852371343Joe Cross 175221210418Nate Mast 201411220115Jerrance Howard 254029101010
Awards and honors Frank Williams Big Ten Player of the Year Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award Wooden 1st team All-American National Association of Basketball Coaches 2nd team All-American Associated Press 3rd team All-American Team Most Valuable Player Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Brian Cook Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Cory Bradford Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American
Rankings
+ Ranking movementLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked. Poll Pre Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 Final AP 8 8 8 9 9 5 9 9 7 11 7 6 7 4 3 5 4 4
References