2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by first year head coach Bill Self, the Illini played their home games at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Illinois and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season with a record of 27–8, 13–3 in Big Ten play to win a share of the Big Ten regular season title with Michigan State. They lost in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament to Indiana. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. They advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Arizona.

2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Big Ten Regular Season Co-Champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 4
Record	27–8 (13–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bill Self (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Rob Judson (5th season) Norm Roberts (1st season) Billy Gillispie (1st season)
MVP	Frank Williams
Captains	Sergio McClain Marcus Griffin
Home arena	Assembly Hall
Seasons ← 1999–2000 2001–02 →

2000–01 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Illinois	13	–	3		.813			27	–	8		.771
No. 3 Michigan State	13	–	3		.813			28	–	5		.848
No. 20 Indiana	10	–	6		.625			21	–	13		.618
No. 25 Wisconsin	9	–	7		.563			18	–	11		.621
No. 24 Iowa †	7	–	9		.438			23	–	12		.657
Penn State	7	–	9		.438			21	–	12		.636
Purdue	6	–	10		.375			17	–	15		.531
Minnesota	5	–	11		.313			18	–	14		.563
Michigan	4	–	12		.250			10	–	18		.357
Northwestern	3	–	13		.188			11	–	19		.367
Ohio State*	0	–	0		–			0	–	0		–
† 2001 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll *Ohio State: 30 reg. season games; 1 NCAA Tourn. game vacated due to sanctions against the program Disputed record: Ohio State-(20-11)(11-5)

Regular season

In May 2000, Lon Kruger left Illinois to become head coach of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. Bill Self was named Illinois’ 15th head men’s basketball coach on June 9, 2000.^[1] Self came to Illinois from Tulsa where he had led the Golden Hurricane to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including a 32–5 record and Tournament run to the Elite Eight in 2000. Self ’s first season at Illinois was memorable. The Illini were ranked in the Top 10 the entire season and tied for the Big Ten Championship with Michigan State. The Illini defeated Purdue in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament but fell to Indiana in the semifinals.

The Illini received an at-large as a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. Easy wins over Northwestern State^[2] and Charlotte^[3] led to a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. The Illini defeated Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to the Elite Eight.^[4] However, the Illini run ended in the Elite Eight to eventual national runner-up Arizona, the third meeting between the two schools on the season.^[5] Sophomore Frank Williams became the first Illini player to earn Big Ten Player of the Year honors since 1967 and was named to several postseason All-America squads. Junior Cory Bradford set an NCAA record by making a three-point field goal in 88 consecutive games.

Roster

2000–01 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 00 Brett Melton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Mahomet-Seymour High School Mahomet, Illinois G 5 Nate Mast 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Champaign Central High School Champaign, Illinois G 12 Joe Cross 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Carbondale Community High School Carbondale, Illinois G 13 Cory Bradford 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Raleigh Egypt High School Memphis, Tennessee F/C 21 Robert Archibald 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Jr Lafayette High School Ballwin, Missouri F 22 Lucas Johnson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Maine West High School Des Plaines, Illinois G 24 Sean Harrington 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Elgin High School Bartlett, Illinois G 25 Jerrance Howard 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Fr Peoria High School Peoria, Illinois G 30 Frank Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 212 lb (96 kg) RS So Manual High School Peoria, Illinois F 33 Damir Krupalija 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Rockford Boylan High School Rockford, Illinois F 34 Brian Cook 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Lincoln Community High School Lincoln, Illinois F 40 Sergio McClain (C) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Manual High School Peoria, Illinois F 42 Clayton Thomas (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Larkin High School Elgin, Illinois C 45 Nick Smith  7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Bloomingdale High School Valrico, Florida F 52 Marcus Griffin (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Manual High School/Lincoln College Peoria, Illinois	Head coach Bill Self (Oklahoma State) (1st year) Assistant coach(es) Rob Judson (University of Illinois) (5th year) Billy Gillispie (Southwest Texas State) (1st year) Norm Roberts (Queens College) (1st year) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 6, 2000* 6:40 pm		Athletes in Action	W 91-56		Assembly Hall  Champaign, IL
Nov 10, 2000* 7:00 pm		NBC Thunder	W 76-57		Assembly Hall  Champaign, IL
Non-conference regular season
11/17/2000*	No. 8	Maine	W 86–57	1–0	Assembly Hall (13,044) Champaign, IL
11/20/2000*	No. 8	vs. UNLV Maui Invitational Tournament	W 74–69	2–0	Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI
11/21/2000*	No. 8	vs. No. 6 Maryland Maui Invitational Tournament	W 90–80	3–0	Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI
11/22/2000*	No. 8	vs. No. 1 Arizona Maui Invitational Tournament Championship	L 76–79	3–1	Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI
11/26/2000*	No. 8	Texas Southern	W 86–67	4–1	Assembly Hall (12,970) Champaign, IL
11/28/2000*	No. 9	vs. No. 1 Duke Big Ten-ACC Challenge	L 77–78	4–2	Greensboro Coliseum (17,966) Greensboro, NC
12/2/2000*	No. 9	at Kansas State	W 76–56	5–2	Bramlage Coliseum (6,415) Manhattan, KS
12/6/2000*	No. 9	Wisconsin-Milwaukee	W 85–44	6–2	Assembly Hall (12,312) Champaign, IL
12/9/2000* 2:00, CBS	No. 9	No. 7 Seton Hall	W 87–79	7–2	Assembly Hall (16,683) Champaign, IL
12/16/2000*	No. 5	vs. No. 7 Arizona	W 81–73	8–2	United Center (21,885) Chicago, IL
12/21/2000*	No. 5	vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 86–81 OT	9–2	Scottrade Center (22,089) St. Louis, MO
12/23/2000*	No. 5	at Texas	L 64–72	9–3	Frank Erwin Center (11,916) Austin, TX
12/29/2000*	No. 9	vs. Illinois-Chicago	W 77–64	10–3	Rosemont Horizon (9,152) Rosemont, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/3/2001	No. 9	Minnesota	W 80–64	11–3 (1–0)	Assembly Hall (13,840) Champaign, IL
1/6/2001	No. 9	Ohio State	W 83–68	12–3 (2–0)	Assembly Hall (16,683) Champaign, IL
1/11/2001	No. 7	at Iowa Rivalry	L 62–78	12–4 (2–1)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA
1/13/2001	No. 7	Michigan	W 80–51	13–4 (3–1)	Assembly Hall (16,683) Champaign, IL
1/17/2001	No. 11	at Northwestern Rivalry	W 63–49	14–4 (4–1)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL
1/20/2001	No. 11	Penn State	W 92–60	15–4 (5–1)	Assembly Hall (16,683) Champaign, IL
1/25/2001	No. 7	at Michigan	W 55–51	16–4 (6–1)	Crisler Arena (11,092) Ann Arbor, MI
1/31/2001	No. 6	at Penn State	L 95–98 OT	16–5 (6–2)	Bryce Jordan Center (8,953) University Park, PA
2/3/2001	No. 6	Northwestern Rivalry	W 84–59	17–5 (7–2)	Assembly Hall (16,683) Champaign, IL
2/6/2001	No. 7	No. 4 Michigan State	W 77–66	18–5 (8–2)	Assembly Hall (16,683) Champaign, IL
2/10/2001	No. 7	at Purdue	W 82–61	19–5 (9–2)	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
2/13/2001	No. 4	No. 19 Wisconsin	W 68–67	20–5 (10–2)	Assembly Hall (16,683) Champaign, IL
2/17/2001	No. 4	at Indiana Rivalry	W 67–61	21–5 (11–2)	Assembly Hall (17,460) Bloomington, IN
2/22/2001	No. 3	at Ohio State	L 61–63	21–6 (11–3)	Value City Arena (19,200) Columbus, OH
2/24/2001	No. 3	Iowa Rivalry	W 89–63	22–6 (12–3)	Assembly Hall (16,683) Champaign, IL
3/4/2001 4:00, CBS	No. 5	at Minnesota	W 67–59	23–6 (13–3)	Williams Arena (14,329) Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten tournament
3/9/2001	(1) No. 4	vs. (8) Purdue quarterfinals	W 83–66	24–6	United Center (22,679) Chicago, IL
3/10/2001	(1) No. 4	vs. (4) Indiana semifinals	L 56–58	24–7	United Center (23,418) Chicago, IL
NCAA tournament
3/16/2001* CBS	(1 MW) No. 4	vs. (16 MW) Northwestern State First Round	W 96–54	25–7	University of Dayton Arena (13,007) Dayton, OH
3/18/2001* CBS	(1 MW) No. 4	vs. (9 MW) Charlotte Second Round	W 79–61	26–7	University of Dayton Arena (13,159) Dayton, OH
3/23/2001* CBS	(1 MW) No. 4	vs. (4 MW) No. 12 Kansas Sweet Sixteen	W 80–64	27–7	Alamodome (28,962) San Antonio, TX
3/25/2001* CBS	(1 MW) No. 4	vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Arizona Elite Eight	L 81–87	27–8	Alamodome (30,212) San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[6]

Player stats

Player	Games Played	2 pt. Field Goals	3 pt. Field Goals	Free Throws	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	Points
Frank Williams[7]	34	129	39	133	126	148	9	67	508
Brian Cook[8]	35	119	28	69	212	43	45	21	391
Marcus Griffin[9]	34	154	0	77	203	34	44	29	385
Cory Bradford[10]	35	41	72	47	89	63	3	23	345
Sergio McClain[11]	35	69	18	69	194	102	7	46	261
Robert Archibald[12]	34	77	0	90	154	22	26	12	244
Sean Harrington[13]	35	10	51	27	49	41	1	27	200
Lucas Johnson[14]	35	30	18	62	116	59	5	20	176
Damir Krupalija[15]	27	36	7	36	105	18	4	16	129
Brett Melton	28	7	8	5	23	7	1	3	43
Joe Cross	17	5	2	2	12	1	0	4	18
Nate Mast	20	1	4	1	12	2	0	1	15
Jerrance Howard	25	4	0	2	9	10	1	0	10

Awards and honors

• Frank Williams
  • Big Ten Player of the Year
  • Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award
  • Wooden 1st team All-American
  • National Association of Basketball Coaches 2nd team All-American
  • Associated Press 3rd team All-American
  • Team Most Valuable Player ^[16]
  • Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
• Brian Cook
  • Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
• Cory Bradford
  • Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American

Rankings

Main article: 2000–01 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked.

Poll	Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Final
AP[17]	8	8	8	9	9	5	9	9	7	11	7	6	7	4	3	5	4	4