37 wins \u2013 the most in program history.<\/p>\n
A couple future NBA players.<\/p>\n
Outright Big Ten champs \u2013 along with the season before and 1952.<\/p>\n
The 2004-2005 Illinois Fighting Illini basketball team was historic.<\/p>\n
And a couple plays away from a flawless 39-0 record \u2013 and more importantly, the program\u2019s first NCAA Tournament title — the program claims two titles in 1915 and 1943. <\/p>\n
However, they lost in the national title game by five points to a favorite North Carolina team in St. Louis.<\/p>\n
Illinois, a prolific three point shooting team, had a dreadful day from deep. But center James Augustine only playing nine minutes because of five quick fouls on UNC center Sean May stings most.<\/p>\n
On Friday, former Illini head basketball coach Bruce Weber was asked, \u201cDoes Illinois win a best of seven series?\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we were the better team,\u201d Weber said during the 2005 reunion at Illinois football\u2019s season opener. \u201cI wish James wasn\u2019t in foul trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weber doesn\u2019t like to blame the refs for the loss. But he shared a hilarious story.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cI got thousands of letters and emails and all that, and I opened up a big envelope, and there was a picture of a toilet. And I just like, “What the heck is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
“She wrote, look closer! There’s a gold plaque with the officials’ names on it. Each time I have to go… I think of them!” he laughed.<\/p>\n
A game that still stings, as it would\u2019ve booked the Illini its first national title, and cemented 2004-2005 as one of the sport\u2019s greatest teams ever.<\/p>\n
On Friday, nearly the entire 2004-2005 team was back on campus. From James Augustine, Roger Powell, Deron Williams and fan favorite Dee Brown.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a blessing to be there, man, and if we talk about that game again. I don’t want to be sad today,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be as happy as I can because, again, we wanted it that bad. People don’t let that die down. They want to keep drilling you on it, and keep telling you, and keep reminding you, which is fine. You had a chance to win, win the national championship, so that was a blessing,\u201d Brown finished.<\/p>\n
The entire season was surreal. Coming off a Big Ten title and Sweet 16 the prior season, Illinois started No. 5 in the AP Poll. After smacking Wake Forest and Chris Paul at home, Illinois jumped to No. 1 and kept that position until the final poll.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s hard for people to understand what we went through, the scrutiny that we had because we were undefeated. After we were 3-3 in the Big Ten (to start the year before) we then went 51-4,\u201d said Weber.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just took the state of Illinois. Everyone loved them,\u201d said Weber. He added, they had to hide from the public at times because they were so popular.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went in elevators from hotels that were for the service people. We had to go underground in elevators. Movies, we tried to sneak them in. They got a standing ovation at Northwestern in a movie theater,\u201d said Weber.<\/p>\n
Amid its championship chase, Illinois became American\u2019s team. When they stormed back from a 15-point deficit with just four minutes left v. Arizona in the Elite 8 in Rosemont, Illinois, movie star Bill Murray was showing up to games dressed in Illini gear.<\/p>\n
In St. Louis, orange and blue packed the Final Four site. It was impossible to get a ticket, and Weber told me this Summer, he even struggled to find tickets for friends.<\/p>\n
After routing Louisville and Rick Pitino in the Final Four, they advanced to the final v. UNC and Roy Williams, who was gunning for his first title.<\/p>\n
Tied 70-70 with under a minute and without Augustine, Illinois missed multiple three pointers, and lost 75-50.<\/p>\n
Williams, who left Illinois after the season was the No. 3 overall pick before a long NBA career, misses the bond developed during his collegiate career.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cJust talking sh– to Dee and Luther. Playing cards with those guys. It’s just fun, man. It’s not only on the court that was fun, but off the court was just as much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s reunion was the first time the entire team was together since 2005.<\/p>\n
The Aftermath<\/strong><\/p>\n On Friday, the team showed off its back-to-back Big Ten titles and national runner up trophy \u2013 the program\u2019s greatest two-year stretch in modern history. And a high the program is still chasing.<\/p>\n The year after, in 2005-2006, Illinois lost Luther Head and Williams to the NBA, but returned Weber, Augustine and Brown.<\/p>\n Illinois still won 26 games, and made the NCAA Tournament. A four-seed, they lost to five-seed Washington in the Round of 32, ending Brown\u2019s historic career.<\/p>\n And it began an 18-year Sweet 16 drought.<\/p>\n In 2006-2007, Illinois was a 12-seed in the NCAA Tournament. In Weber\u2019s last five seasons, they missed the NCAA Tournament three times before being fired.<\/p>\n During that time, Illinois missed on key recruits, such as Eric Gordon, who shockingly signed with Indiana hours before signing day despite being an Illinois commit.<\/p>\n His replacement, John Groce, made just one tournament in five years and was fired. He was replaced by Brad Underwood, who\u2019s turned Illinois into the winningest Big Ten program over the last six seasons and regularly recruits top talent. The only thing missing is more deep runs in March Madness.<\/p>\n What happened to the coach and players?<\/strong><\/p>\n After being fired, Bruce Weber was quickly hired by Kansas State, leading them to an Elite 8 and two Big 12 titles before being let go after nearly a decade. He\u2019s now an analyst for the Big Ten Network.<\/p>\n Williams had a decade-plus career in the NBA and made three All-Star games.<\/p>\n Luther Head played several years in the NBA.<\/p>\n Rich McBride is an assistant coach for Eastern Illinois.<\/p>\n And Dee Brown played a season in the NBA, and several overseas. He\u2019s currently the head coach of Roosevelt University, a Division II school.<\/p>\n \u201cI never thought I was that talented. I wasn\u2019t the most talented guy. I just didn’t let people out work me. My work ethic is what made me who I am,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n Brown added on coaching, \u201c’I started at the NAIA level. Now going D-II, it’s always been a climb. It’s always been a grind for me. And I never run from it, I just embrace it.\u201d<\/p>\n Could 2004-2005 happen in today’s game?<\/strong><\/p>\n The national runner-up year became pre-NIL and transfer portal. Illinois was built with three-to-four year veterans.<\/p>\n When Bill Self, the coach who recruited most of the players, left for Kansas, all the players stayed in Champaign under Weber. <\/p>\n In today’s age, could Illinois afford to all pay Head, Williams and Brown top dollar? <\/p>\n “Can you imagine the NIL for Brown? He was a walking commercial!” Weber told me this Summer. <\/p>\n Illinois’ current basketball team has several transfer portal players, and has regular roster turnover — like a vast majority of college basketball programs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"37 wins \u2013 the most in program history. A couple future NBA players. Outright Big Ten champs \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":195874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[1339,3257,108926,1818,108927,108925,1317,1337,1338,24020,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-195873","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-big-ten","10":"tag-bruce-weber","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-james-augustine","13":"tag-national-title","14":"tag-ncaa","15":"tag-ncaa-basketball","16":"tag-ncaabasketball","17":"tag-reunion","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115138430605113449","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}