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When coming up with my 30 favorite Illinois men's basketball players of my fandom, I decided to focus from the start of the 1996-97 season, when my fandom for the Illini really developed.
Of course, growing up in Chicago as a kid, I was familiar with Illini basketball. To this day, I still remember Illinois coming back on Easter Sunday to beat Syracuse in the Elite Eight of the 1989 NCAA Tournament. I also remember a tough tournament loss to Vanderbilt during the second round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament, an amazing victory at Duke at the start of the 1995-96 season, and the controversial decision to move on from Lou Henson prior to the end of that same season.
Honestly, I learned a lot about Illinois men's basketball by reading the backs of NBA Hoops Basketball Cards, specifically from the 1990-91 season. Those cards were an early portal into which players went to Illinois.
With that in mind, I used these basketball cards not only to learn which players went to Illinois and DePaul (my favorite college basketball program as a kid) but to decide whom I should be rooting for beyond my beloved Chicago Bulls of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, John Paxson, Bill Cartwright and others.
Of course, growing up in Chicago as a kid, I was familiar with Illini basketball. To this day, I still remember Illinois coming back on Easter Sunday to beat Syracuse in the Elite Eight of the 1989 NCAA Tournament. I also remember a tough tournament loss to Vanderbilt during the second round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament, an amazing victory at Duke at the start of the 1995-96 season, and the controversial decision to move on from Lou Henson prior to the end of that same season.
Honestly, I learned a lot about Illinois men's basketball by reading the backs of NBA Hoops Basketball Cards, specifically from the 1990-91 season. Those cards were an early portal into which players went to Illinois.
With that in mind, I used these basketball cards not only to learn which players went to Illinois and DePaul (my favorite college basketball program as a kid) but to decide whom I should be rooting for beyond my beloved Chicago Bulls of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, John Paxson, Bill Cartwright and others.
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Here's who were my favorite Illinois basketball players in the pros when I was a kid.
#1: Kendall GillI'll never forget Gill collapsing to the court, with blood on his uniform and teammates swarming him, right after Illinois completed the Syracuse comeback to advance to the 1989 NCAA Final Four. Drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, Gill was one of my favorite non-Bulls because of his allegiances to the Illini. Gill also got bonus points for his cool flattop and |  |  |
fade, and the fact he was on the Charlotte Hornets, probably the most popular fashion team for kid fans of the NBA at the time. For some reason, young me always equated Gill with Michael Jordan, probably because the former Illini was also a shooting guard. Gill never became a superstar in the NBA, though he was a very solid starter for the Hornets and Seattle SuperSonics before finishing his career with the New Jersey Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves and even the Bulls!
 |  | #2 Nick AndersonWhile young me didn't remember much about Anderson at Illinois, my Dad would always tell me how awesome Nick was in the Orange and Blue. Like Gill, Anderson was a favorite because of attending Illinois and playing for another cool expansion team, the Orlando Magic. Unfortunately, Anderson had to be a bit of an enemy as the Magic got good and became a rival |
of the Chicago Bulls during the mid-1990s. Anderson and the Magic got the upper hand during Michael Jordan's return in the 1995 NBA Playoffs, with Nick making the mistake of saying "Jordan was not the same player he used to be." Jordan and the Bulls would exact revenge against Anderson and the Magic with a four-game sweep during the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals. After Orlando lost Shaq and became less of a factor, I began to root for Anderson again, especially when he joined the Sacramento Kings prior to the 1999-2000 season. By that time, Anderson was on his way out of the league. By the way I absolutely loved Anderson's 1990-91 NBA Hoops Rookie card with the "Rookie" logo in the upper right-hand corner. Rookie cards were all the rage during the early 90s, and third-grade me was sure Anderson's card was going to be worth a lot of money when I grew up. :-)
#3 Derek HarperWhile I never really got to see the former Illini Harper play on the Dallas Mavericks, I was always amazed by the statistics on the back of his basketball cards. To me, Harper was a very good player based upon his scoring average. Like Anderson, I got to see a lot of Harper as he joined the New York Knicks during the heyday of the |  |  |
team's rivalry against the Bulls. I'll never forget Harper getting into a nasty fight with Bulls' reserve Jo Jo English during Game Three of the 1994 second round series between the two teams. As a kid, I always wondered how Harper, who was from Florida, ended up at Illinois. Whatever the case, Harper was an incredible player for the Knicks, a huge upgrade over Doc Rivers, as New York finally took down the Bulls during the first playoffs without Michael Jordan.
 |  | #4 Eddie Johnson I absolutely loved Eddie Johnson, especially when he was on the 1993 Seattle SuperSonics, as a three-point shooting sixth man. While I knew very little about Johnson's career at Illinois, I was often told by my Uncle Larry about the game-winning shot against Magic Johnson and eventual national champion Michigan State at the |
Assembly Hall during the 1978-79 regular season. In the pros my favorite Johnson moment was when he hit a buzzer-beating three for the Houston Rockets to even the 1997 Western Conference Finals against the Utah Jazz at two games apiece. My least favorite Johnson moment was when Michael Jordan was called for a controversial foul on Eddie during the second-to-last game of Chicago's incredible 1995-96 regular season. Jordan and the Bulls argued that the hand was part of the ball as MJ was called for a foul on EJ, who hit two free throws to deny Chicago of going 40-1 at home that season, matching the record of the 1985-86 Boston Celtics.
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#5 Ken NormanI absolutely loved the 1990-91 NBA Hoops card of Norman, who just looked like a badass. While I didn't get to see much of Norman play with the Clippers, I remember him joining the Hawks later in his career. Known as "The Snake," Norman had to be a great Illini if he was playing in the NBA, young me surmised. |  |  |
 |  | #6 Marcus Liberty Whenever I thought of the Flyin' Illini as a kid, I always thought of Kendall Gill first, Nick Anderson second, and Marcus Liberty third. Now I immediately think of Kenny Battle first. As a kid, Liberty was the guy I thought would eventually become a star because he went to Illinois. That didn't prove to be the case for the product of King High |
School, whom I loved anyways. I remember rooting for the 1994 Denver Nuggets, an eight seed that beat the one-seed Seattle Supersonics and took the Utah Jazz to seven games in the second round of the NBA Playoffs, in large part due to Liberty being on the roster.
#7 Kenny BattleAs a kid, I always wondered why Battle wasn't a star with the Phoenix Suns. In many ways he seemed to be the face of the 1989 Flyin' Illini, kind of like Dee Brown was for the 2005 team. While Battle didn't play too long in the NBA, I realized his importance as an Illini great when the 2004-05 Illini were making its regular-season run, evoking comparisons |  |  |
to the Flyin' Illini. Man, how I wish I could remember more of the 1989 Flyin' Illini as I was only in first grade!
 |  | #8 Johnny "Red" Kerr Of course, I was far too young to remember Kerr as an Illini, though I was familiar that he played basketball for Illinois as part of his duties as a legendary color commentator for the Chicago Bulls. In my opinion Kerr was |
always an entertaining figure when listening to Bulls' games. Jim Durham, Wayne Larrivee and he were the voices of my youth watching the Bulls on WGN!
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