Ill 1 ILLINOIS HI. A ^n y Sl$aff» .•* ' 5*i>> ASKETBALL ILLINOIS 121 All-Time Results THIS IS ILLINOIS 62 Newcomers CREDITS BASKETBALL 65 Player Game-by-Game 138 Records vs. Opponents Statistics 140 Year-by-Year Individual The 1997 Illinois Leaders 4 Academics Media Guide is THE OPPONENTS 142 Year-by-Year Team Basketball 5 NCAA Highlights Statistics a publication of the 6 Facilities Illinois Sports 70 Puerto Rico Shootout 8 Television Exposure Information Office, 72 Bradley 9 Media Exposure Clemson written to assist the 10 Travel 73 74 Georgia Southern media in their coverage 11 Campus Life Illinois-Chicago 12 News and Notes 75 of Illinois athletics. 76 Indiana 14 Community Service 77 Iowa Executive Editor: 78 Maine THE UNIVERSITY Barbara Butler 79 Michigan OF ILLINOIS 80 Michigan State Interior Design: 81 Minnesota Arner 16 The University 82 Missouri Cassie 151 Top 50 Career Scorers 18 Board of Trustees 83 Northwestern 156 Varsity Records 19 Administration 84 Ohio State Cover Design: 165 Assembly Hall Records 20 TheDIA 85 Penn State Melissa Le Zotte Postseason 21 Advisoty Board 86 Purdue 168 Illinois in the 22 Director of Athletics 87 Saint Louis Editorial Assistance: 23 DIA Administration Texas BASKETBALL 88 Dave Johnson 27 Fight Songs 89 Texas-Pan American TRADITION Julie Herman 28 Cheif Illiniwek 90 UCLA Michelle Warner 91 Wisconsin 170 History Dave Brauer 92 Big Ten Conference 176 AU-Americans 94 All-Time Series Scores 177 Academic Ail-Americans 178 All-Big Ten Photography: 1 996-97 IN 180 Illini Honors Mark Jones, REVIEW 1 82 Illini in the Pros Gary Anderson 184 All-time Letterwinners 100 Season in Review Cover Photos: 102 1996-97 Statistics COVERING THE Mark Jones 104 Highs and Lows FIGHTING ILLINI 105 Big Ten Statistics Printed by: 1 08 Game-bv-Game Recaps 194 Media Information Multi-Ad Printing 197 Illini Sports Network COACHING STAFF Services, Peoria, III. 198 NCAA Tournament Bracket 30 Head Coach Lon Kruger 199 Media Calender 34 Assistant Coaches 204 Radio/TV Roster 38 Support Staff THE 1997-98 ON THE COVER: It's Game Time! Illinois seniors FIGHTING ILLINI (L-R) Brian Johnson. Jerry Hester. Kevin Turner. Jarrod 42 1997-98 Outlook Gee and Matt Heldman, and 45 Roster members of the band, cheerleaders and lllinettes are 46 Jelani Boline ready to tip off the 1997-98 48 Victor Chukwudebe THE RECORD season and create an exciting 50 David Freeman BOOK atmosphere in Assembly Hall. 52 Jarrod Gee 54 Matt Heldman 120 Year-by-Year Records 56 Jerry Hester 120 Coaching Records 58 Brian Johnson 60 Kevin Turner mm RJV DIA DIRECTORY ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF DIA HEAD COACHES (all area codes 21 7 except as noted) Basketball Trainer (all area codes 217) Director of Athletics Rod Cardinal .333-6718 Baseball Ron Guenther 333-3630 Team Physicians Richard "Itch" Jones 244-8138 Associate Director of Athletics Dr. Roberr Gurrler Women's Basketball Dana Brenner 333-3630 Dr. Stephen Soboroff 333-6718 Theresa Grentz 333-8612 Associate Director of Athletics Strength & Conditioning Coordinator Women's Cross Country/Track & Field Terr>' Cole 333-2240 Leo Ward 244-5989 Gary Winckler 333-7970 Associate Director of Athletics Equipment Manager Men's Cross Country/Track & Field Kami Kahrs 333-0171 Andv Dixon 333-2063 Gary Wieneke 333-7968 Associate Director of Athletics Basketball Equipment Football Tom Porter 244-0016 Jesse Ratliff 333-1926 Ron Turner 333-1400 Associate Director of Athletics Academic Counselor Men's Golf Bill Yonan 333-5892 Tom Michael 333-9530 Ed Beard 333-8604 Assistant Director of Athletics/Compliance Food Administrator/Varsity Room Women's Golf Rick Allen 333-5731 Barb Ward 333-01 17 Paula Smith 333-8610 Assistant Director of Athletics/Business Manager Men's Gymnastics Tim Tracy 333-3630 BASKETBALL STAFF Yoshi Hayasaki 333-7973 Assistant Director of Athletics Office 333-3400 Women's Gymnastics LouHenson 244-7061 Lynn Brueckman 333-1683 FAX (217) 333-2120 Assistant Director of Athletics Women's Soccer Warren Hood 333-2474 Head Coach Lon Kruger Jillian Ellis 333-0004 Director of Facilities Women's Swimming & Diving Allen Heinze 333-2303 Assistant Coaches Robert McCullum Jim Lutz 333-7670 Director of Development, FISF Rob Judson Men's Tennis Ken Zimmerman 333-6595 Mike Shepherd Craig Tiley 333-7971 Director of Development, FISF Administrative Assistant Women's Tennis Steve Greene (708) 916-2400 J eft Guin Jennifer Roberts 333-8622 Executive Director Varsity "I" Secretary Volleyball Shawn Wax 244-9277 Cindy Butkovich Don Hardin 333-8606 Ticket Manager Janice Revell Wrestling Mike Hatfield 333-3470 Mailing Address Mark Johnson 244-9722 Head Trainer Bielteldt Athletic Administration Building Al Martindale 333-6718 1700 South Fourrh Street Champaign, IL 61820 SPORTS INFORMATION STAFF QUICK FACTS Office (217) 333-1391 Founded: 1867 Opened: March 2, 1868 Fax (217) 333-5540 Mike Mandujano Location: Urbana-Champaign Press Row (217)333-1227 Graduate Assistant Enrollment: 36,000 Scott Chipman Associate Director of Communications Stukel President: James J. Secretary Dave Johnson .... (home) 352-2477 Chancellor: Michael T. Aiken Marsha Coldenstein Assistant Director for Basketball Conference: Big Ten Mailing Address Barbara Butler .... (home) 359-5244 Arena: Assembly Hall (16,450) Bielfeldt Athletic Administration Building Nickname: Fighting lllini Assistant Directors 1700 South Fourth Street School Song: "Illinois Loyalty" .... (home) 359-5910 Champaign, IL 61820 Colors: Orange & Blue .... (home) 356-6821 General Mailing Address ... (home) 356-9434 Building Erich Bacher (home) TBA 1700 South Fourth St. Champaign, IL 61820 1997-98 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BASKETBALL THIS IS , ^.-nnjAWj *e^^l l#|y^ a <T f m M .* *m*~- lMu> J ? J ' *• 4i: |v*r" ' m BASKETBALL ZSX mmhjv ACADEMICS Illinois and Academics When it comes to the overall package of athletics and academics, the University of ILLINOIS attracts students-athletes who excel at both. In 1997, ILLINOIS won 22 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Two months later four of the Illini on that successful team received their diplomas from the University. Lon Kruger and his staff are committed to every student- athlete receiving a quality education while also achieving the highest level of success on the basketball court. The University of ILLINOIS library Money magazine's 1996 guide to nationally in the, "America's Best has the largest public university colleges ranks ILLINOIS 23rd in a list Colleges," issue. ILLINOIS is also collection in the world. of the top 100 schools providing the listed as the 12th best public university best education for the money. in the country. Grainger Engineering Library- Information Center is the largest library Undergraduate and graduate For anyone desiring to major in in the country and one of the world's accounting programs at the University advertising, the University ofILLINOIS most technologically advanced of ILLINOIS were rated first and is a smart choice. A recent poll of information management and retrieval second in the nation respectively, in a advertising educators ranked Illinois' centers. 1995 Public Accounting Report survey undergraduate advertising program the of college accounting professors and best of 84 advertising programs More than 90% of seniors seeking department heads. nationwide. employment obtain positions within The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund lists eight months of graduation from the According to rankings in the U.S. News the University of ILLINOIS among University of ILLINOIS. & World Report in 1996: The University an elite group ofseven universities: the of ILLINOIS College of Commerce and Each year, more than 200 University "journalism ivys." Business Administration is tied for fifth of ILLINOIS graduates are accepted in undergraduate business education. UI's Six University of ILLINOIS College to medical school and more than 400 accountancy department undergraduate of Communications graduates have are accepted to law school. program is tops nationally and the won the Pulitzer Prize — including graduate program is rated third best in film critic Roger Ebert. 1996 Fiske Guide to Colleges calls the country. ILLINOIS, "a giant among academic The University of ILLINOIS institutions, ranking the world's among According to rankings in the U.S. News consistently ranks with Ohio State and great universities," and awards it a & World Report in 1997: The Wisconsin as one of the nation's top five-star ranking in academics. University of ILLINOIS ranks 45th three education programs. 1997-98 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BASKETBALL 1 m NCAA HIGHLIGHTS h_>i The University of ILLINOIS' tradition in the NCAA Wncwm Tournament dates back to 1942 when the Illini were I PvCAaf J/VCVWl Tnca among the eight teams to participate in the championship tournament. ILLINOIS returned to the NCAA field in 1 949 and advanced to the Final Four. ILLINOIS advanced f?g^i 1 to the Final Four again in 1951 and 1952. The Illini -<. ~ participated in the 1963 tourney, advancing to the second \ ^ 1JL MM J in the Mideast Region. round In 1 98 1 . the Illini began a stretch oftournament appearances ' ] Ms ' 1 "**• that ranks among the best in the nation. Over the last 17 7 - years, ILLINOIS is one of only 29 schools in the nation to make the NCAA field 10 or more times. The Illini have i earned an NCAA berth in 13 ofthe last 17 years. ILLINOIS' NCAA experience over the last two decades was highlighted IL^ ,„ by a trip to the Final Four in 1989. That year, Illinois Kiwaiie Garris and Orris Gandy field questions at a press conference during the NCAA defeated McNeese State (77-71), Ball State (72-60), Tournament List year in Charlotte, N. C. Louisville (83-69) and Syracuse (89-86) to advance to the Final Four. In the 1990s, ILLINOIS has earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament five times, with the latest appearance in 1997.