The Illini and the Final Four
Before the NCAA Tournament existed, Illinois was named the 1915 men’s basketball national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation. The NCAA championship tournament did not begin until 1939.
Including this season, Illinois has now appeared in six Final Fours across 36 NCAA Tournament berths over the past 86 years.
Coach Harry Combes led Illinois to three Final Fours—in 1949, 1951, and 1952. In 1949, the tournament field included only eight teams; in 1951 and 1952, it expanded to 16. The Illini fell
in the semifinal each year—twice to Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky teams and once to St. John’s—but captured the third‑place trophy all three times. (The NCAA eliminated the third‑place game in 1981.)
In 1989, Lou Henson led his “Flyin’ Illini,” (as they had been dubbed), to Seattle, Washington, for the Final Four, where they were knocked out in the semifinal game by Michigan.
16 years and three coaches later, Bruce Webber led Illinois to St Louis for the Final Four and were knocked out in the Championship game by North Carolina.
This year, Brad Underwood guided Illinois to the Final Four. He joins coach Lou Henson as the only two coaches in Illini history to make at least six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (Henson had eight). At times, the Illini faithful had their doubts. Four overtime losses, losing games after double-digit leads. They were bounced from the B1G tournament in the quarterfinals after qualifying for the triple-bye. They were seeded number three and placed in the South Region with heavyweights like Houston and Florida. After dominating the #14 Penn Quakers, they did the same to the #11 VCU Rams, who had upset #6, North Carolina. They were thrust into the fire, playing the 2-seed Houston in Houston. They won by 10 and held Houston to its lowest point total of the season. Then, playing 9-seed Iowa, which upset 1-seed Florida. The Illini used a big second half to dispatch the Hawkeyes by 12. Fans started to believe, and the run was impressive; in the first four games, Illinois outscored opponents by 19.45 points per game. The Illini out-rebounded opponents by +16.25. They averaged 28 defensive rebounds to their opponents’ 27.25 TOTAL rebounds. They outscored opponents in the paint by 14 and in second-chance points by 6.75 points. Defensively, they held opponents to an average of 59.75 points per game.
The end of the run
The semi-final game vs. the 2-seed UConn had a sense of revenge, given the recent losses in the 2024 Elite Eight and earlier this season.
Illinois never looked in sync the entire game. The Illini had one assist in the first half and only three for the game. Illinois was ineffective from the arc. But the majority of shots missed were just misses; they were neither bad nor forced. Illinois was able to get drive penetration, scoring 22 points in the paint, and won the rebounding battle 44-37, but only scored six second-chance points off 12 offensive rebounds. Also, what seemed to be missing was the crisp passing and movement we normally see from the Illini offensively. They reverted to a lot of one-on-one play. Meanwhile, UConn hit 11 3-pointers and forced eight Illinois turnovers while only committing three themselves. The Illini shot 33.3% from the field but only 23.1% form the arc.
The Illini started out slow and found themselves down 18-9 at the 13:21 mark of the first half. After a timeout by Coach Underwood, the Illini went on a 13-3 run, taking a 22-21 lead at the 7:54 mark. Both teams went scoreless for the next 3:10 until Tarris Reed Jr. hit a jumper in the paint to put UConn back in front, and that was where they stayed, eventually taking an eight-point lead at the half. In the second half, UConn tried to put Illinois in the rear-view mirror. They went up by 14 at the 9:44 mark. The Illini came back, cutting the lead to four points at the 5:02 mark with some good inside play by Tomislav Ivisic. That would be as close as they get. Down the stretch, free throws, turnovers and poor shot selection would doom Illinois to a final score of 71-62.
What the future holds
Now, as we wait for the inevitable news of NBA declarations and transfers, fans are anxious for next season. If Coach Underwood can keep a solid core around with guys like Andrej Stojakovic, David Mirkovic, the Ivisic brothers and Jake Davis, with recruits coming and redshirts like Jason Jakstys, Ty Rodgers and Toni Bilic, and possibly a portal pickup or two, it would not be hard to make another deep run next season; how far remains to be seen. In this day of NIL and a wild, wild west transfer portal, staying relevant is more of a struggle than it once was. But Underwood has shown he is not afraid to take chances and can build a team around one player or a group of players. This year has shown, and as many analysts have said all year, don’t sleep on Illinois.
That’s all for now, expect some recruiting news soon, it could be an interesting summer!
Go ILLINI!
