1993–94 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1993–94 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1993–94 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Illini Classic, Champion
NCAA men's Division I tournament, first round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	17–11 (10–8 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lou Henson;
Assistant coaches	Dick Nagy; Jimmy Collins; Mark Coomes;
MVP	Deon Thomas
Captain	Tom Michael; Deon Thomas; T.J. Wheeler
Home arena	Assembly Hall
	Seasons ← 1992–93 1994–95 →

1993–94 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Purdue	14	–	4	.778	29	–	5	.853
No. 11 Michigan	13	–	5	.722	24	–	8	.750
No. 18 Indiana	12	–	6	.667	21	–	9	.700
No. 23 Minnesota	10	–	8	.556	21	–	12	.636
Michigan State	10	–	8	.556	20	–	12	.625
Illinois	10	–	8	.556	17	–	11	.607
Wisconsin	8	–	10	.444	18	–	11	.621
Penn State	6	–	12	.333	13	–	14	.481
Ohio State	6	–	12	.333	13	–	16	.448
Northwestern	5	–	13	.278	15	–	14	.517
Iowa	5	–	13	.278	11	–	16	.407

Rankings from AP Poll *Minnesota vacated all NCAA tournament games due to sanctions against the program. Disputed record (22-13)

The 1993–94 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1993-94 season saw Illinois again advance to the NCAA tournament and in the process, senior Deon Thomas broke a 13-year-old record and became the school’s all-time leading scorer. Thomas scored his record-breaking 1,693rd point in the championship game of the Illini/Pepsi Classic against American University and he went on to finish his career with 2,129 points. Also during this season, a young upstart freshman, Kiwane Garris, would begin his assault on the all-time scoring list. He notched 446 points as a freshman and would be the catalyst on the Illini team over the next few years.

Roster

1993–94 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	22	Kiwane Garris	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Westinghouse High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	24	Richard Keene	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Collinsville High School	Collinsville, Illinois
F/C	25	Deon Thomas (C)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	RS Sr	Simeon High School	Chicago, Illinois
F	30	Robert Bennett	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Julian High School	Chicago, Illinois
C	31	Brett Robisch	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	RS Fr	Calvary Academy	Springfield, Illinois
F	32	Tom Michael (C)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	RS Sr	Carlyle High School	Hoffman, Illinois
F	34	Brian Johnson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	RS Fr	Maine West High School	Des Plaines, Illinois
F/C	35	Shelly Clark	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	Jr	South Shore High School	Chicago, Illinois
F	40	Jerry Hester	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Manual High School	Peoria, Illinois
G	42	Gene Cross	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Rich Central High School	Olympia Fields, Illinois
G	44	T.J. Wheeler (C)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Christopher High School	Buckner, Illinois
F	45	Chris Gandy	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	RS Fr	Bradley-Bourbonnais High School	Kankakee, Illinois
C	52	Steve Roth	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Jr	East High School	Belleville, Illinois

Head coach

Lou Henson (New Mexico A&M) (19th year)

Assistant coach(es)

Dick Nagy (New Mexico State University) (15th year)
Jimmy Collins (New Mexico State University) (11th year)
Mark Coomes (New Mexico State University) (9th year)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

All-Time Illini Rosters Roster

Source^[1]

Schedule

Source^[2]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/1/1993* no, no	No. 16	vs. LaSalle	W 99-73	1-0	Assembly Hall (12,831) Champaign, IL
12/4/1993* no, no	No. 16	vs. Illinois-Chicago	W 101-80	2-0	Assembly Hall (16,321) Champaign, IL
12/7/1993* no, no	No. 16	@ Marquette	L 65-74	2-1	Bradley Center (14,195) Milwaukee, WI
12/10/1993* no, no	No. 16	vs. Morehead State Illini Classic	W 110-75	3-1	Assembly Hall (13,914) Champaign, IL
12/11/1993* no, no	No. 16	vs. American Illini Classic	W 108-84	4-1	Assembly Hall (14,523) Champaign, IL
12/18/1993* no, no	No. 19	vs. Chicago State	W 121-52	5-1	Assembly Hall (14,023) Champaign, IL
12/20/1993* no, no	No. 19	vs. Jackson State	W 79-63	6-1	Assembly Hall (11,997) Champaign, IL
12/22/1993* no, no	No. 19	vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights	L 107-108 ^3ot	6-2	St. Louis Arena (18,273) St. Louis, MO
1/2/1994* no, no	No. 22	vs. Texas	W 83-78	7-2	Assembly Hall (16,129) Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/8/1994 no, no	No. 21	@ Michigan State	L 74-79	7-3 (0-1)	Breslin Student Events Center (12,118) East Lansing, MI
1/12/1994 no, no	No. NR	vs. Northwestern	W 81-53	8-3 (1-1)	Assembly Hall (14,229) Champaign, IL
1/15/1994 no, no	No. NR	@ Ohio State	W 83-75	9-3 (2-1)	St. John Arena (13,276) Columbus, OH
1/19/1994 no, no	No. NR	vs. Iowa Rivalry	W 105-90	10-3 (3-1)	Assembly Hall (16,011) Champaign, IL
1/23/1994 no, no	No. NR	vs. #15 Michigan	L 70-74	10-4 (3-2)	Assembly Hall (16,321) Champaign, IL
1/25/1994 no, no	No. NR	@ #16 Wisconsin	L 56-66	10-5 (3-3)	Wisconsin Field House (11,500) Madison, WI
1/30/1994 no, no	No. NR	vs. #11 Indiana Rivalry	W 88-81	11-5 (4-3)	Assembly Hall (16,321) Champaign, IL
2/2/1994 no, no	No. NR	@ Penn State	W 83-65	12-5 (5-3)	Rec Hall (7,103) University Park, PA
2/9/1994 no, no	No. 24	vs. Michigan State	W 72-64	13-5 (6-3)	Assembly Hall (14,676) Champaign, IL
2/12/1994 no, no	No. 24	@ Northwestern	L 68-79	13-6 (6-4)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL
2/15/1994 no, no	No. NR	vs. Ohio State	W 80-68	14-6 (7-4)	Assembly Hall (15,096) Champaign, IL
2/19/1994 no, no	No. NR	@ Iowa Rivalry	L 69-83	14-7 (7-5)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA
2/22/1994 no, no	No. NR	@ #3 Michigan	L 70-79	14-8 (7-6)	Crisler Arena (13,548) Ann Arbor, MI
2/27/1994 no, no	No. NR	vs. Wisconsin	W 76-65	15-8 (8-6)	Assembly Hall (16,321) Champaign, IL
3/1/1994 no, no	No. NR	@ #17 Indiana Rivalry	L 77-82	15-9 (8-7)	Assembly Hall (17,066) Bloomington, IN
3/5/1994 no, no	No. NR	vs. Penn State	W 84-59	16-9 (9-7)	Assembly Hall (16,321) Champaign, IL
3/9/1994 no, no	No. NR	@ #20 Minnesota	W 90-75	17-9 (10-7)	Williams Arena (15,267) Minneapolis, MN
3/13/1994 no, no	No. NR	@ #6 Purdue	L 77-87	17-10 (10-8)	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
NCAA tournament^[3]
3/18/1994* no, no	No. 18	vs. Georgetown first round	L 77-84	17-11	Myriad Gardens (13,336) Oklahoma City, OK
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player	Games Played	2 pt. Field Goals	3 pt. Field Goals	Free Throws	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	Points
Deon Thomas^[4]	28	206	1	133	194	43	37	23	548
Kiwane Garris^[5]	28	104	29	151	98	107	1	33	446
T.J. Wheeler^[6]	26	69	30	61	119	97	3	22	289
Shelly Clark^[7]	26	97	0	54	166	33	6	15	248
Jerry Hester^[8]	28	66	21	32	111	43	6	19	227
Richard Keene^[9]	28	33	48	14	97	113	4	30	224
Robert Bennett^[10]	28	49	0	43	103	10	6	16	141
Tom Michael^[11]	26	11	30	11	45	21	4	4	123
Chris Gandy	19	23	1	15	36	5	8	3	64
Steve Roth	16	10	0	5	25	2	4	3	25
Gene Cross	15	1	2	5	3	5	0	2	13

Awards and honors

Deon Thomas
- Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[12]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Deon Thomas	Dallas Mavericks	2	1

^[13]

Rankings

References

^ FightingIllini.com
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1993-94 Archived 2014-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
^ 1994 NCAA Tournament
^ "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
^ "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
^ "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
^ "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
^ "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
^ "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
^ "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
^ "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2013-01-15.
^ 1994 NBA draft Archived 2012-02-09 at the Wayback Machine

[1] FightingIllini.com

[2] University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1993-94 Archived 2014-02-21 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com

[3] 1994 NCAA Tournament

[4] "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.

[5] "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.

[6] "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.

[7] "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.

[8] "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.

[9] "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.

[10] "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.

[11] "Season Stats pg. 123" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.

[12] "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2013-01-15.

[13] 1994 NBA draft Archived 2012-02-09 at the Wayback Machine

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v t e Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)
Rivalries	Indiana Iowa Missouri Northwestern
Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics