Let's continue with my countdown of my 30 favorite Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players of my fandom, spanning from the 1996-97 season until present day. Here are numbers 30-6.  

• #30 Morez Johnson Jr. 
• #29 Marcus Arnold. 
• #28 Matthew Mayer. 
• #27 Kevin Turner. 
• #26 Mike Davis. 
• #25 Trent Frazier. 
• #24 D.J. Richardson.
• #23 Tyler Griffey. 
• #22 Will Riley. 
• #21 Dain Dainja. 
• #20 Jack Ingram. 
• #19 Marcus Domask. 
• #18 Tomislav Ivisic. 
• #17 Robert Archibald. 
• #16 Brandon Paul. 
• #15 Frankie Williams. 
• #14 Marcus Griffin. 
• #13 Sergio McClain. 
• #12 Alfonso Plummer. 
• #11 Lucas Johnson. 
• #10 David Mirkovic. 
• #9 Damir Krupalija. 
• #8 Terrence Shannon Jr. 
• #7 Keaton Wagler. 
• #6 James Augustine. 

After finishing 3-13 in the Big Ten during the 1998-99 season, the Illinois men's basketball team made an improbable run to the conference's postseason tournament championship game, ultimately losing to a Michigan State team that would make the Final Four. 

In a losing effort, Illinois redshirt freshman Cory Bradford, my fifth favorite Illinois men's basketball player of my 30-year fandom, scored 21 points, finishing off an incredible season during which he was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. 

At the conclusion of his redshirt freshman season, Bradford looked to me like he would be a superstar by the time his college career was over. 

During his first two seasons under Head Coach Lon Kruger, Bradford played a lot with the ball in his hands, able to attack off the bounce and take difficult shots while proving to be a marksmen from deep. During that rough freshman season, Bradford was one of the few bright spots and constants for a very young Illini team, averaging 15.4 points and nearly 3 made threes per game (2.7 to be exact).  

As reinforcements came to Champaign his sophomore season, including Frank Williams, Marcus Griffin and Brian Cook, Bradford still carried himself as the go-to-guy on the Illini. Though playing more off ball, Bradford still proved to be an explosive scorer with the ball in or out of his hands. As a sophomore Bradford averaged 15.3 points and 3 made threes per game. 
 
Through his first two seasons, Bradford made a three-pointer in every game he played, with none bigger than the last-second corner trey he hit to knock Indiana out of the 2000 Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals. 

By his junior season, Bradford set the NCAA record for most consecutive games making a three pointer, 74, during a contentious victory against Arizona at the United Center. Eventually, Bradford's three-point record began to feel like a bit of an albatross, with it eventually being snapped at 88 games during a last-second home victory against Wisconsin made famous by a Marcus Griffin layup with under a second remaining. 

During his last two seasons with the Illini, Bradford played a different role under new Head Coach Bill Self, who turned the offense over to Williams. While not as explosive of a scorer, Bradford settled in and usually came up big when the Illini needed him most. 

During an Elite Eight loss to Arizona in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, Bradford hit six threes to finish with 22 points, second behind a surprising 25-point performance from Robert Archibald. The prior NCAA Tournament Bradford scored 27 points, including hitting 5 out of 10 threes, during a second round loss to Florida. 

As a senior Bradford seemed to have lost some lift on his shot from a knee injury that bugged him throughout his junior season. Still he bounced back to score 11.6 points per game as a senior after dropping to 9.9 as a junior. 

Ultimately, Bradford never became the superstar I thought he would be, though he was a rock for the Illini during four seasons. With the exception of playing one game off the bench during the 1997-98 season before deciding to redshirt, Bradford started in every Illinois game from his redshirt freshman to his senior seasons, 134 games to be exact! 

While Williams may have been an iceman for Illinois when taking a shot with the game on the line, Bradford was always someone I thought was going to make his next shot. 

From unflappable scorer to veteran role player, Bradford defined durability and stability, always playing with a big heart and calm demeanor as Illinois soared to new heights as a basketball program. 

It's a damn shame that Bradford never got to play in a Final Four with that deep and talented crew of Williams, Griffin, Cook, Archibald, Sergio McClain, Damir Krupalija and Sean Harrington.

Before the Assembly Hall was serenaded with the drawn-out "That's a three......Dee......Brown," there was nothing better than hearing the much more concise, "That's a three...Cory Bradford!" 

Let's continue with my countdown of my 30 favorite Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players of my fandom, spanning from the 1996-97 season until present day. Here are numbers 30-20. 

• #30 Morez Johnson Jr. 
• #29 Marcus Arnold. 
• #28 Matthew Mayer. 
• #27 Kevin Turner. 
• #26 Mike Davis. 
• #25 Trent Frazier. 
• #24 D.J. Richardson.
• #23 Tyler Griffey. 
• #22 Will Riley. 
• #21 Dain Dainja. 
• #20: Jack Ingram. 

After securing highly-regarded transfers Matthew Mayer and Terrence Shannon Jr. following the 2022-23 season but not necessarily having the best results en route to a first-round exit during the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Illinois Head Coach Brad Underwood changed his approach to bringing in players from other programs. 

Rather than focusing upon stars, Underwood signed veteran role players whom he thought would fit in with the 2023-24 team, including Utah Valley's Justin Harmon, Oregon's Quincy Guerrier and Southern Illinois' Marcus Domask, my 19th favorite player of my Illinois fandom. 

While playing just one season in Champaign, Domask certainly maximized his time in the Orange and Blue, teaming up with Shannon to lead Illinois to the second weekend of the 2024 NCAA Tournament for the first time since the glorious 2004-05 season when the Illini advanced to the national title game. A shrewd, under-the-radar addition, Domask was a perfect teammate who helped steady the team while Shannon dealt with unfortunate legal issues. 

Of course, Domask broke out early during the 2023-24 season, having his coming out party on the biggest stage of all, at Madison Square Garden against Florida Atlantic, a program that reached the Final Four the prior tournament. On that glorious Tuesday night, Domask scored a career-high 33 points on an amazing 14-for-21 from the field.

In the second half of that game, Domask employed what Illinois fans would affectionately call "Booty Ball," posting up smaller opponents and going to work with his back-down and fadeaway game. Getting on as impressive of a heater as any Illinois player has had in recent memory, with the exception of Keaton Wagler's 46 point performance at Purdue this past season, Domask elevated the Illini that night and the rest of the season. 

Low maintenance and all about the team, the talented Domask was a revelation at Illinois after playing four seasons in the Missouri Valley Conference, scoring: 

• 26 points at #1 Purdue. 
• 32 points at Northwestern. 
• 31 points at Wisconsin (in his home state). 
• 20 points during a home loss against #3 Purdue.

Of course, Domask saved his best for the postseason, scoring 26 points against Wisconsin in the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament, earning a triple double (12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists) against Morehead State during the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, and posting 22 points during a second-round victory against Duquense.

In my opinion, Domask's most important game was his performance against Iowa State during the Sweet Sixteen . Against Iowa State's blitzing and trapping defense, Domask kept his cool, being strong with the ball, stepping through double teams and not turning the ball over. His final stat line of 7 points, 6 rebounds and team-high 5 assists do not speak enough about how great Domask played in the half court that night. On a team that did not have a true point guard, Domask's ability to sustain and initiate offense was a big reason why the Illini upset the Cyclones. 

While Illinois would lose big to UCONN during the Elite Eight, Domask acquitted himself quite well, scoring a team-high 17 points. At one point, Illinois had the game tied at 23 with about five minutes left in the first half, with Domask accounting for much of the Illini offense. 

All in all, as the season went on, Domask just got better and better, a model of consistency, someone Illinois fans could count on every single night.  

While Shannon may have been the superstar on the 2023-24 team, Domask was a very close second, far exceeding his expectations when arriving from Southern Illinois. 

Ultimately, Domask is a great reminder of how finding the right guys, rather than just getting the highest-rated players, is so important in today's transfer portal era. From day one on campus, Domask was grateful to be at Illinois and proved that he more than belonged at this level. 

Domask's lone season in Champaign was so impressive that he will first and foremost be remembered as an Illinois Fighting Illini despite playing four seasons at Southern Illinois and being Mr. Basketball in the state of Wisconsin! 

In my humble opinion Domask is the most impressive portal find of the Underwood era, a player who set a high bar that will be hard to reach by future underrated Illini transfers who wow more with their game than their name. 

I am a notoriously bad sleeper, someone who gets in funks where I cannot sleep at night. 

Such was the case last Friday night when I fell asleep for about 30 minutes only to be up until six in the morning. 

Facing another night of insomnia, I decided to do something I was dreading: I rewatched the Final Four game between the Illini and UCONN Huskies. 

I tried to watch this game the Sunday morning immediately after the Illini's Final Four loss, but I could only get a few minutes into the game, with the Illini trailing 3-1 as Kylan Boswell shot a second free throw. The pain was too fresh as I felt like Illinois let a golden opportunity slip through its hands when losing to the Huskies. 

Nearly a month later, I came away from the rewatch with some similar feelings I had during the original game's last 14 seconds, when I had to leave the room and be alone to collect my thoughts. 

Here are five things that stood out to me upon a second viewing of the Final Four loss. 

1) It was exciting during the actual moment but bittersweet during the rewatch when seeing Tomislav Ivisic hit a three to put Illinois up 22-21. That would be the Illini's only lead of the game. Knowing that in retrospect was a bit hard to stomach as Illinois was in the midst of holding UCONN scoreless and had several possessions to extend the lead. Andrej Stojakovic missed two free throws during this stretch, and before we knew it, UCONN was back up nine at the end of the half. 

2) Watching this loss was like deja vu as an Illini fan. I had seen this game so many times in the NCAA Tournament, where Illinois is not playing well but hangs in only to lose. Even when Illinois got the game to 55-51 with about five minutes to go in the second half, I didn't feel the Illini were going to pull it out. By no means was I trying to be pessimistic; rather, it was just one of those familiar gut feelings. Granted, Illinois had some bad luck on the rim and UCONN had some incredibly lucky bounces. Braylon Mullins banked in a three during the first half and Solo Ball had two shots die on the back rim and fall in during the second half. After such a great tournament run, losing to UCONN that way  was a tough pill to swallow. If only someone could have sparked us a bit earlier. It just wasn't meant to be, I guess. Still, to wait 21 years to get back to the Final Four, only to lose in a fugue state of a game, was a bit disappointing and leaves me even more hungry for next season to get here. 

3) One reason it wasn't meant to be was Illinois did not push the tempo in the second half. While Illinois played at a slow pace all season, the Illini were doing a great job of holding UCONN scoreless. However, Illinois chose to walk the ball up way too much in the second half. With the game 57-51, it was time to push the ball. Hopefully, Illinois can learn next season to increase the tempo when behind because UCONN's slim lead felt much larger as a result of not having enough offensive urgency. I felt like Illinois fell into this same trap during the second half of the Elite Eight game against Iowa. While we were bigger and better than the Hawkeyes, UCONN was fine playing that type of game as the Huskies got better shots and just needed to hit a basket here and there to keep us at bay. Additionally, our offense needs to move the ball much better as we were way too much isolation dependent against UCONN. 

4) I was encouraged by our defensive effort throughout the tournament, especially against UCONN. Illinois really locked in after getting down early in the first half and did the same in the second half. It's a shame the offense couldn't match because Illinois did what it needed to do defensively and on the glass. While defense figures to be a concern next season, Illinois can clearly guard when it applies itself. Fingers crossed that Stojakovic comes back and serves as a defensive catalyst next season. 

5) I felt that UCONN's experience in the Final Four was the deciding factor. UCONN looked like a program that had been there before, even though only one of its starters, Alex Karaban, started on the national title team from two seasons ago. At no point did UCONN believe it was going to lose. Honestly, the moment seemed a little big for the Illini, which sometimes happens when getting to a Final Four. While scoring a quiet 20 points, Keaton Wagler looked uncomfortable and even tired all night. It's a shame his Illini career had to end that way, but what a season Keaton and this Illini team provided. Hopefully this loss will be fuel for Illinois to develop more of a killer instinct and make a deep tournament run next season. 

With next season's return game with UCONN announced for Friday, December 4, 2026, at the United Center, I badly want a win. It's time for Illinois to beat UCONN and Dan Hurley, whom I think is the best coach in all of a college basketball but is such an insufferable jerk that I have a hard time respecting his greatness.  

Still, for Illinois to prove it's legitimate, the Illini need to defeat the Huskies this season. That might seem like an overreaction on my part, but I feel it's true. After losing three times to UCONN in three seasons, Illinois needs to get over the hump early next season. 

It's obvious the talent is there for the Illini; it's time to send a message with a big early-season win against UCONN, the best program in all of college basketball.