2002–03 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team American college basketball season
The 2002–03 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the 2002-03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . This was head coach Bill Self 's third (and final) season at Illinois.
Season
The 2003 squad started three freshmen, a sophomore and one senior, and still finished with a 25-7 record and second-place finish in the Big Ten . Brian Cook earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors and the Illini won the Big Ten tournament championship for the first time.
Roster
2002–03 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
F/C
1
Aaron Spears
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
250 lb (113 kg)
Fr
Dunbar High School
Chicago, IL
G
4
Luther Head
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
So
Manley High School
Chicago, IL
G
5
Deron Williams
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
Fr
The Colony High School
The Colony, TX
G
11
Dee Brown
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Fr
Proviso East High School
Maywood, IL
F
23
Blandon Ferguson
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Sr
St. Joseph Notre Dame High School
Oakland, CA
G
24
Sean Harrington (C)
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
Sr
Elgin High School
Bartlett, IL
G
25
Jerrance Howard (C)
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
RS Jr
Peoria High School
Peoria, IL
G
31
Nick Huge
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
215 lb (98 kg)
RS Jr
Christian High School /Appalachian State University
Charlotte, NC
F
32
Kyle Wilson
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
230 lb (104 kg)
Fr
Dallas Jesuit High School
Plano, TX
F
34
Brian Cook (C)
6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
Sr
Lincoln Community High School
Lincoln, IL
F
40
James Augustine
6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
Fr
Lincoln-Way Central High School
Mokena, IL
F
42
Clayton Thomas (W)
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
Sr
Larkin High School
Elgin, IL
F
43
Roger Powell
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
So
Joliet Central High School
Joliet, IL
C
45
Nick Smith
7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
RS So
Bloomingdale High School
Valrico, FL
F/C
50
Jack Ingram
6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
230 lb (104 kg)
Jr
Marshall High School /University of Tulsa
San Antonio, TX
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Roster
Schedule
Source[ 1]
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/24/2002 *no, no
Lehigh
W 90–56
1–0
Assembly Hall (11,758)Champaign, IL
11/27/2002 *no, no
Arkansas–Pine Bluff
W 96–43
2–0
Assembly Hall (11,733)Champaign, IL
12/1/2002 *no, no
Western Illinois
W 85–56
3–0
Assembly Hall (14,224)Champaign, IL
12/7/2002 *no, no
No. 25
No. 12 North Carolina Big Ten-ACC Challenge
W 92–65
4–0
Assembly Hall (16,500)Champaign, IL
12/7/2002 *no, no
No. 25
vs. Arkansas
W 62–58
5–0
Alltel Arena (9,756)North Little Rock, AR
12/10/2002 *no, no
No. 15
Eastern Illinois
W 80–68
6–0
Assembly Hall (13,828)Champaign, IL
12/14/2002 *no, no
No. 15
vs. Temple
W 70–54
7–0
United Center (13,361)Chicago, IL
12/21/2002 *no, no
No. 12
vs. No. 11 Missouri Braggin' Rights
W 85–70
8–0
Scottrade Center (22,153)St. Louis, MO
12/28/2002 *no, no
No. 7
at Memphis
L 74–77
8–1
The Pyramid (19,837)Memphis, TN
12/28/2002 *no, no
No. 11
Coppin State
W 63–37
9–1
Assembly Hall (13,923)Champaign, IL
1/4/2002 *no, no
No. 5
Oakland
W 88–53
10–1
Assembly Hall (14,837)Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/7/2003 no, no
No. 10
at Minnesota
W 76–70
11–1 (1–0)
Williams Arena (13,548)Minneapolis, MN
1/11/2003 no, no
No. 10
Wisconsin
W 69–63
12–1 (2–0)
Assembly Hall (16,500)Champaign, IL
1/15/2003 no, no
No. 8
at Iowa Rivalry
L 61–68
12–2 (2–1)
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,232)Iowa City, IA
1/18/2003 no, CBS
No. 8
at No. 18 Indiana Rivalry
L 66–74
12–3 (2–2)
Assembly Hall (17,456)Bloomington, IN
1/22/2003 no, no
No. 18
Purdue
W 75–62
13–3 (3–2)
Assembly Hall (16,500)Champaign, IL
1/25/2003 no, no
No. 18
at Penn State
W 75–63
14–3 (4–2)
Bryce Jordan Center (9,601)University Park, PA
1/29/2003 no, no
No. 13
Michigan
W 67–60
15–3 (5–2)
Assembly Hall (16,500)Champaign, IL
2/2/2003 no, CBS
No. 13
at Michigan State
L 65–68
15–4 (5–3)
Breslin Student Events Center (14,759)East Lansing, MI
2/9/2003 no, CBS
No. 16
Ohio State
W 76–57
16–4 (6–3)
Assembly Hall (16,500)Champaign, IL
2/15/2003 no, no
No. 14
at Purdue
L 61–70
16–5 (6–4)
Mackey Arena (14,123)West Lafayette, IN
2/18/2003 no, no
No. 20
Michigan State
W 70–40
17–5 (7–4)
Assembly Hall (16,500)Champaign, IL
2/22/2003 no, CBS
No. 20
vs. Northwestern Rivalry
W 73–61
18–5 (8–4)
United Center (15,429)Chicago, IL
2/25/2003 no, no
No. 18
Indiana Rivalry
W 80–54
19–5 (9–4)
Assembly Hall (16,500)Champaign, IL
3/1/2003 no, no
No. 18
at Michigan
W 82–79
20–5 (10–4)
Crisler Arena (13,057)Ann Arbor, MI
3/5/2003 no, no
No. 14
at No. 24 Wisconsin
L 59–60
20–6 (10–5)
Kohl Center (17,142)Madison, WI
3/9/2003 no, CBS
No. 14
Minnesota
W 84–60
21–6 (11–5)
Assembly Hall (16,500)Champaign, IL
Big Ten tournament
3/14/2003 no, no
(2) No. 13
vs. (10) Northwestern Quarterfinals / Rivalry
W 94–65
22–6
United Center (18,895)Chicago, IL
3/15/2003 no, CBS
(2) No. 13
vs. (6) Indiana Semifinals
W 73–72
23–6
United Center (20,248)Chicago, IL
3/16/2003 no, CBS
(2) No. 13
vs. (8) Ohio State Big Ten tournament Championship
W 72–59
24–6
United Center (17,007)Chicago, IL
NCAA tournament
3/20/2003 12:10 pm, CBS
(4 W) No. 11
vs. (13 W) Western Kentucky First Round
W 65–60
25–6
RCA Dome (21,250)Indianapolis, IN
3/22/2003 6:10 pm, CBS
(4 W) No. 11
vs. (5 W) No. 22 Notre Dame Second Round
L 60–68
25–7
RCA Dome (25,767)Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Central Time .
Season Statistics
Final Individual Statistics [ 2]
Minutes
Scoring
Total FGs
3-point FGs
Free-Throws
Rebounds
Player
GP
GS
Tot
Avg
Pts
Avg
FG
FGA
Pct
3FG
3FA
Pct
FT
FTA
Pct
Off
Def
Tot
Avg
A
TO
Blk
Stl
Cook, Brian
30
30
940
31.3
599
20.0
202
422
.479
27
89
.303
168
205
.820
44
183
227
7.6
60
83
13
20
Brown, Dee
32
31
1090
34.1
384
12.0
142
327
.434
51
155
.329
49
72
.681
35
84
119
3.7
159
62
0
57
Powell, Roger
30
19
558
18.6
261
8.7
104
176
.591
20
49
.408
33
57
.579
40
61
101
3.4
12
24
12
9
Harrington, Sean
32
6
718
22.4
235
7.3
76
171
.444
64
144
.444
19
30
.633
2
71
73
2.3
65
25
0
29
Augustine, James
32
29
697
21.8
225
7.0
94
162
.580
5
14
.357
32
45
.711
64
122
186
5.8
25
45
27
20
Williams, Deron
32
30
868
27.1
202
6.3
75
176
.426
28
79
.354
24
45
.533
15
80
95
3.0
145
59
5
46
Head, Luther
25
8
509
20.4
198
7.9
68
131
.519
28
66
.424
34
46
.739
23
48
71
2.8
42
40
3
27
Smith, Nick
31
5
539
17.4
163
5.3
60
121
.496
5
11
.455
38
44
.864
23
69
92
3.0
26
42
38
11
Wilson, Kyle
18
0
118
6.6
46
2.6
14
37
.378
4
16
.250
14
18
.778
13
16
29
1.6
8
5
1
4
Ferguson, Blandon
24
1
218
9.1
40
1.7
11
33
.333
0
3
.000
18
26
.692
11
21
32
1.3
20
20
0
3
Spears, Aaron
6
0
55
9.2
19
3.2
8
12
.667
0
0
.000
3
7
.429
4
5
9
1.5
6
5
1
1
Howard, Jerrance
14
1
52
3.7
9
0.6
4
16
.250
1
6
.167
0
0
.000
0
3
3
0.2
7
2
0
0
Huge, Nick
8
0
17
2.1
4
0.5
0
3
.000
0
3
.000
4
4
1.000
0
1
1
0.1
0
1
0
0
Thomas, Clayton
9
0
21
2.3
3
0.3
1
6
.167
0
1
.000
1
4
.250
1
3
4
0.4
0
2
0
0
Team
42
49
91
3
Total
32
6400
2388
74.6
859
1793
.479
233
636
.366
437
603
.725
317
816
1133
35.4
575
418
100
227
Opponents
32
6400
1970
61.6
657
1741
.377
192
655
.293
464
655
.708
356
686
1042
32.6
353
469
84
182
NCAA basketball tournament
West regional
Illinois 65, Western Kentucky 60
Notre Dame 68, Illinois 60
[ 3]
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
Player
NBA Club
Round
Pick
Brian Cook
Los Angeles Lakers
1
24
[ 5]
Rankings
References
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics