1999-2000 Fighting Illini Men's Basketball Outlook
October 29, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 29, 1999
1999 Big Ten Tournament Runner-Up ... A perfect 7-0 in Australia in May 1999 ... Returning all five starters and eight letterwinners ... Adding three McDonald?s High School All-Americans.
After a disappointing 14-18 season last year, there?s plenty of reason for the Illini to be excited about the 1999-2000 season.
The Fighting Illini grabbed the attention of the nation in March when the 11th seeded team did the unthinkable?beat three straight ranked teams and advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship game. Although Illinois fell shy of the Cinderella trip to the NCAA Tournament with the loss to Michigan State in the finals, the team got a look at its future. Finally, after losing close game after close game in January and February, everything fell into place the first week of March. Now, riding on that wave of success, Illinois enters the 1999-2000 season with an air of confidence not seen throughout most of last season.
?Last year we had a very young club that gained valuable experience because the young players saw a lot of minutes on the floor,? Illini head coach Lon Kruger said. ? That, coupled with the opportunity to travel to Australia in the spring, has given this team a chance to really grow up.
?This group really handled last season very well. They came close in so many games and made progress throughout the season and then that hard work paid off in the Big Ten Tournament.?
In May, Illinois players had the opportunity to travel to Australia for a seven game foreign tour. The team swept through the continent with a perfect 7-0 record and a new found scoring attack. The Illini averaged 96.4 points and six players averaged in double figures.
With all but two players returning from the 1999 season, the cupboard is looking well stocked for the upcoming year. In addition, Lon Kruger welcomes four newcomers that make up one of the nation?s highest ranked recruiting classes and a high school All-American in Frank Williams, who sat out the 1999 season as a partial qualifier.
Joining the Illini squad are Marcus Griffin, the 1999 National Junior College Division II Player of the Year, Brian Cook, the 1999 Illinois Mr. Basketball and a McDonald?s All-American, Sean Harrington, a finalist for Mr. Basketball in the state of Illinois who averaged 22.1 points as a senior and Jerrance Howard, a point guard who helped lead Peoria High School to a 23-4 record while dishing out 7.8 assists per game. Howard is currently a part-time student at Illinois and will join the team after he scores a qualifying mark on the A.C.T.
?This freshman class is loaded with potential, but potential is the operative word,? Kruger said. ?There are plenty of high school players who come to the college level with a lot of potential but what matters is doing the necessary things to be successful at the college level.?
These players will join an Illini squad which returns 86 percent of the team?s scoring and 82 percent of the rebounding. The Illini leaders in points, rebounds, assists, and steals all return for the 1999-2000 season.
?We have good balance inside and outside and we will have strong competition for playing time,? Kruger said. ?That is very healthy because it will make all the players push each other to become better.
?Our depth really allows and encourages us to push the ball up the floor offensively and play pressure defense. Our depth and level of athleticism will dictate what we are able to do.?
Leading the backcourt attack are a freshman and sophomore guard combo in Cory Bradford and Frank Williams. Williams got his first playing action in Australia where he averaged 14.4 ppg and 3.0 assists in seven games. Bradford was the team?s leading scorer a year ago while playing the point and this year he can slide back to his natural two-guard position.
In addition to Bradford and Williams, Kruger has the services of all-stater Harrington, junior Nate Mast, and walk-on Joe Cross, a transfer from Florida International and the younger brother of Dan Cross who played for Kruger at Florida. Cross is eligible after the first semester.
The Illini have depth and size at the small forward position. Sergio McClain started 28 of 31 games and Lucas Johnson ended the season in the starting lineup and took opponents by surprise in the Big Ten Tournament by averaging 12.5 points in four games after going through the season as a 3.1 ppg scorer. McClain was the team?s third highest scorer and he was second in the Big Ten in steals with 2.29 per game. He benefited greatly from the seven games in Australia where he really found what Kruger refers to as a, ?comfort zone.? He averaged 11.9 points and 3.5 rebounds and made big improvements at the free-throw line where he shot 77 percent, a big improvement from the 61 percent he shot during the season.
Cleotis Brown saw action in the starting lineup and was the team?s second leading scorer last year. He is one of only two seniors on the squad.
The Illini frontcourt has experience, depth and talent. Victor Chukwudebe, at 6-7, found his comfort zone while playing down low last year and started the final 14 games of the year at center. Never really counted on as a scorer, Chukwudebe proved he can play on both ends of the court last year. He just needs to shoot the ball more. In 97 games he has taken 10 or more shots only six times, all in 1998-99. In those six games he averaged 11.0 ppg and when he shot the ball well he also rebounded strong, averaging 8.7 rebounds in those games.
Two sophomores who saw considerable action as freshman are Damir Krupalija, a 12 game starter, and Robert Archibald, an eight game starter. Krupalija, who began the season as a red-shirt, was called into action in December and proved himself extremely valuable as the top rebounder on the team. He averaged 5.5 boards in 24 games. In three games against Indiana he averaged 12.7 rpg with a season high 16 against the Hoosiers in Bloomington to open the Big Ten schedule. Offensively he came into his own at the end of the year improving his 2.4 ppg average to 8.7 ppg over the last seven games of the year, including a season-high 19 points against Indiana in the final regular season game.
Archibald averaged 14.3 minutes and 3.1 points as a freshman, but the best is yet to come from this 6-11 forward. In the time from March-May he hit the weight room hard and added about 10 pounds to his frame. The dividends paid off in Australia where he averaged 11.7 ppg in six outings and shot 57 percent from the floor and a team-high 82 percent from the line.
Illinois adds two tremendous talents in Cook and Griffin to the frontcourt. Cook, the 1999 Illinois Mr. Basketball and a McDonald?s All-American, averaged 21.7 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.2 blocks as a senior. Griffin, who signed with Illinois out of high school then attended junior college, was the 1999 National Junior College Division II Player of the Year.
?This group of players is the start of a good foundation at Illinois. We have consistency in our classes which is a change from the last couple of years where we lost seven seniors in 1998 and then only had one senior last year,? Kruger said.
