Aug. 7, 2008

Former Illinois All-Americans Dee Brown and Luther Head are the next Fighting Illini basketball legends to be recognized and have their jerseys honored and hung in the rafters of the Assembly Hall.

Illinois is honoring its most decorated basketball players by hanging a banner with their name and number from the roof of the Assembly Hall. Players selected to have their jerseys hung at the Assembly Hall must have achieved one of the following criteria: 1) National Player of the Year; 2) Enshrined in the National Basketball Hall of Fame; 3) U.S. Olympian; 4) Big Ten Player of the Year; 5) Consensus First or Second Team All-American. A total of 20 men's players and one women's player have earned a spot on the list and will be honored Sept. 13 at the Night of Legends' alumni game.

Brown and Head join former Illini teammate Deron Williams as honorees from the 2005 Fighting Illini squad that was ranked No. 1 in the nation for 15 weeks and finished as the national runner-up.

Brown earned National Player of the Year, Big Ten Player of the Year and consensus First-Team All-America honors following the 2005 season and consensus Second-Team All-America honors in 2006. He is currently under contract with the Washington Wizards. Brown finished his Illinois career with 1,812 points, third on the career scoring list, and played in a school-record 114 wins during his four year career.

Head earned consensus Second-Team All-America honors in 2005 after leading the team in scoring with an average of 15.9 points per game. He finished his Illini career with 1,295 points, 20th on the school career-scoring list. Head is currently under contract with the Houston Rockets.

The remaining players to be honored will be released over the coming weeks.