Louis Boudreau, nicknamed "Old Shufflefoot", "Handsome Lou", and "the Good Kid", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons, primarily as a shortstop on the Cleveland Indians, and managed four teams for 15 seasons including 10 seasons as a player-manager. He was also a radio announcer for the Chicago Cubs and in college was a dual-sport athlete in baseball and basketball, earning All-American honors in basketball for the University of Illinois.
Brian Joshua Cook is an American former professional basketball player. He was drafted out of the University of Illinois with the 24th overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.
John Graham Kerr, also known as Red Kerr, was an American basketball player, coach, executive and broadcaster who devoted six decades to the sport at all levels. The affable 6'9", 230-pound center starred for the University of Illinois (1951–1954) before he became a three-time All-Star and one-time league champion in the NBA (1954–66), primarily as a member of the Syracuse Nationals.
Nelison "Nick" Anderson is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, and Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Thomas Dwight "Dike" Eddleman was an American athlete who was generally considered the greatest athlete in the history of athletics at the University of Illinois. Eddleman participated on the university's basketball, track and field, and football teams between the years of 1942 and 1949. Eddleman earned a combined 11 varsity letters in his career at the university, during which he also became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Eddleman was born in Centralia, Illinois, and attended Centralia High School. On October 24, 2008, Eddleman was named a Distinguished Alumni of Centralia High school. He, along with five others, including James Brady, were the first to be named Distinguished Alumni. His wife, Teddy Eddleman, accepted his award.
Kendall Cedric Gill is an American former professional basketball player who now works as a television basketball analyst. Throughout his NBA career he was known as “Cold World” for his ice cold demeanor on the court.
Daniel "Dee" Brown is an American former professional basketball player and current college coach. Brown played at the University of Illinois from 2002 to 2006, receiving numerous awards and accolades, including the 2005 Sporting News National Player of the Year. Brown was selected in the second round of the 2006 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. Brown played for several international basketball teams from 2007 to 2015.
Stephen Dean Bardo is an American retired professional basketball player who played 3 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently a college basketball analyst.
Bruce Douglas is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'3" guard, he played varsity basketball for Quincy Senior High School four years, and was a four-year starter at the University of Illinois. He also briefly played professionally with the Sacramento Kings and in the CBA.
Deon La velle Thomas is an American-Israeli former basketball player. As a high school player, he led his team to the Chicago Public League title, and was named Illinois Mr. Basketball. As a college player at the University of Illinois, he finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in Fighting Illini history. Selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the 28th selection of the 1994 NBA draft, he opted to play professional basketball in Europe and Israel.
Kenneth Darnel Norman is an American former professional basketball player. After graduating from Crane High School in Chicago, Kenny was an outstanding forward for the Illinois Fighting Illini who was selected 19th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers of the 1987 NBA draft. Norman was elected to the "Illinois Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004. He earned the nickname, "Snake", that he kept throughout his college and professional careers, as a youth playing basketball at Touhy-Herbert Park, on Chicago's West Side.
Marcus Liberty is an American former professional basketball player. He played four seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Liberty played college basketball for the University of Illinois.
Kenneth R. Battle is an American former professional basketball player.
The Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Big Ten Conference, that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Home games are played at the State Farm Center, located on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's campus in Champaign. Illinois has one pre-tournament national championship and one non-NCAA tournament national championship in 1915 and 1943, awarded by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. Illinois has appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 34 times, and has competed in 5 Final Fours, 10 Elite Eights, and has won 18 Big Ten regular season championships, and 4 Big Ten Tournament Championships.
Don J. Sunderlage was an American basketball player.
Ronald Yngve Bontemps was an American basketball player who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics. He was born in Taylorville, Illinois, and attended Beloit College. He was a captain of the United States men's basketball team, which won the gold medal in the 1952 Olympic Games. He played in all eight games. Bontemps died on May 13, 2017, in Peoria, Illinois, aged 90.
Charles Roslyn Carney was an American football and basketball player.
Walton Kirk Jr. was an American professional basketball player.
Rayvonte Rice is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is a guard from Champaign, Illinois who completed his college career at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He previously played at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa from 2010–2012 and transferred after his sophomore season.
William D. Ridley was an American college basketball player. He was an All-American and All-Big Ten player for the Illinois Fighting Illini.
