Nov. 26, 2002
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Series History - Arkansas-Pine Bluff
First meeting between the two schools in men's basketball.
Freshmen Bask In Season Opener
For the first time in school history Illinois
opened the season with three freshmen in
the starting lineup when James Augustine,
Dee Brown and Deron Williams were on the
floor for the opening tip. Two sophomores,
Roger Powell and Nick Smith, rounded out
the starting lineup as the youngest in school
history. The last time Illinois started three
freshmen in any game was Feb. 20, 1991
when Rennie Clemons, Scott Pierce, and
Tom Michael started vs. Ohio State.
Last Time Out --
Illinois 90, Lehigh 56
Illinois opened the season with a 90-56 victory
over Lehigh. The Illini had three freshmen
and two sophomores in the starting
lineup, as first-year players Dee B rown (14),
Kyle Wilson (14) and Deron Williams (13)
joined soph Roger Powell (15) in double fig-ures.
Illinois shot 56 percent from the field
and held Lehigh to just 37 percent shooting
in the win.
Fresh Faces;
Five Freshmen Give Illini New Look
Five freshmen will give an entirely new look
to the Fighting Illini beginning with the
2002-03 season. The Illini recruiting class
was a consensus Top 10 group and includes
McDonald's All-American Dee Brown, a 6-
foot guard from Proviso East High School in
Maywood, Ill., Deron Williams, a 6-3 guard
from The Colony, Texas, Kyle Wilson, a 6-8
f o rw a rd from Plano, Texas, Ja m e s
Augustine, a 6-10 forward from Lincoln-Way
Central High School in New Lenox,
Ill., and Aaron Spears, a 6-9 post player
from Chicago Dunbar High School.
Jankovich Added to UIStaff
Bi l l Self added veteran coach Ti m
Jankovich to the Illinois coaching staff Nov.
20, replacing Billy Gillispie who moved to
UTEP as head coach on Nov. 2. Jankovich,
a former head coach at North Texas, has
worked as associate head coach the last three
seasons at Vanderbilt. He served on the same
Oklahoma State staff with Self in the early
1990s.
Cook, Howard to Sit First Two Games
Senior forward Brian Cook and junior
guard Jerrance Howard will have to sit out
the first two regular-season games of the sea-son
after participating in an unsanctioned
summer tournament. Both players can
return to the court following games against
Lehigh (Nov. 24) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff
(Nov. 27).
Tip-Ins...
Illinois' 26 wins in 2002 tied as the third-winningest
season in school history ... The
2001-02 season was the second time in
school history that the Illini posted back-to-back
26 win seasons. The last time was in
1984 and 1985 ... After starting the 2002
season with five straight road losses, Illinois
finished with five straight road wins, includ-ing
four straight Big Ten road victories ...
The last time Illinois won four straight Big
Ten road games in the same season was in
1956 ... Illinois' nine-game winning streak
to end the 2002 regular season was its
longest since opening the 1995-96 season
with a 9-0 record ... Illinois won at least 10
games in conference play for the third
straight season, and fifth of the last six years
... Brian Cook made 50 of his last 52 free
throws over the span of the last 18 games of
the 2002 season ... In Big Ten play, Cook
ranked first in free thr ow percentage at 92.0
percent (46-of-50) ... Illinois led the Big
Ten in scoring in all games (77.3 ppg) for the
second year in a row ... The Illinois bench
averaged 21.5 (753 total) points per game in
2002, while opponent reserves averaged 18.8
(657 total) points per game.
Back-To-Back Titles
During the 2001 and 2002 seasons,
Illinois won back-to-back Big Ten titles for
the first time in 50 years (since 1951-52)
and for just the third time in school history.
The Whiz Kids posted back-to-back titles in
1942 and 1943. Illinois has never won three
straight Big Ten titles.
Self Wins Second Big Ten Title in Tw o
Years
Bill Self became just the second Big Ten
coach in conference history, and first since
Wisconsin's Walter Meanwell did so his first
three seasons from 1912-14, to win Big Ten
basketball titles in his first two seasons in the
league.
Last season, Bill Self became the first
coach in 22 years, just the ninth all-time in
the Big Ten, and second Illini coach to win Big Ten championship in his first season as
coach at a conference school.
League rookies earning hard w a re are
Wi s c o n s i n's Me a n well in 1912, Gu Lowman in 1918 and Harold Foster in
1935, Iowa's Sam Barry in 1923, Michigan's
George Veekner in 1929, Il l i n o i s' Do u Mills in 1937, Minnesota's Bill Musselman
in 1972, Purdue's Lee Rose in 1979, Self in
2001 and Wisconsin's Bo Ryan in 2002.
Williams, Archibald move to the League
Frank Williams became Illinois' first,
