The 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 2005, and ended with the championship game on April 4 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
Rashad Dion McCants is an American former professional basketball player who has played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as well as overseas. He played for Trilogy in the BIG3 three-on-three league.
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.
Mount Carmel High School is an all-boys, Catholic high school in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, the school has been operated by the Carmelite order of priests and brothers since 1900. Several priests and brothers who teach at the school live in the nearby Saint Cyril Priory, though most of the staff consists of lay teachers.
Leo Catholic High School is a private all-male, Catholic high school in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located in the Archdiocese of Chicago and home to a predominantly African–American student body. The school is named in honor of Pope Leo XIII.
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.
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.
St. Patrick High School is an all-boys college preparatory Catholic high school located in the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois. Opened in 1861, it is among the oldest continuously open high schools in the Chicago area.
The Chicago Catholic League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. All of the schools are part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports. While some of the schools are coeducational institutions, the conference only supports athletics for male teams.
The State Farm Holiday Classic, named after the title sponsor State Farm Insurance, is one of the largest co-ed, high school holiday basketball tournaments in the United States, with 64 teams. Held annually for four days following Christmas and dubbed "The Best Basketball This Side of March", the Classic is held at numerous college and high-school venues throughout Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. In 2017 the tournament will be played December 27–30.
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.
John Marshall Metropolitan High School is a public 4–year high school located in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the west side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1895, Marshall is operated by the Chicago Public Schools district. Marshall is named in honor of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Marshall serves the students of the East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park, North Lawndale and Humboldt Park neighborhoods.
The Chicago Public High School Athletic Association, commonly known as the Chicago Public League (CPL), is the interscholastic competition arm of the Chicago Public Schools. The governance of the CPL is set through the Department of Sports Administration and Facilities of CPS.
Bloom High School is a public school in Chicago Heights, Illinois. It is part of Bloom Township High School District 206.
The UIC Flames are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Chicago, located in Chicago, Illinois, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) since the 2022–23 academic year. The Flames previously competed in the D-I Horizon League from 1994–95 to 2021–22; in the D-I Mid-Continent Conference from 1982–83 to 1993–94; as an NCAA D-I Independent during the 1981–82 school year; and in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1949–50 to about 1980–81. Michael Lipitz joined UIC in October 2019 as the athletic director.
Rico Hill is an American former professional basketball player. He played at the small forward and power forward positions.
Sergio McClain is a former professional basketball player and NJCAA coach. He was the 1997 winner of the Illinois Mr. Basketball award.
The Illinois High School Boys Basketball Championship is a single elimination tournament held each spring in the United States. It is organized by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).
Edward McCants is an American basketball player. He is best known for his All-American college career at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he led the Panthers to the school's first Sweet 16 appearance in the 2005 NCAA basketball tournament.
The 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the final game of the 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and it determined the national champion for the 2004-05 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The game was played on April 4, 2005, at Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri and featured the Chicago Regional Champion, overall #1-seed Illinois and Syracuse Regional Champion, #1-seeded North Carolina. This was the first championship game since 1999 that was played between two #1 seeds.
