Illinois basketball was on hard times when Lou Henson took over in 1976. The Illini hadn’t made the Final Four since 1952 and had only been sporadically good in the ensuing quarter century, bottoming out at 13-36 over the final two years before Henson arrived in Champaign. By 1979, Henson had won 19 games. By […]
The 2005 NCAA Tournament was one of the best in the modern era. It produced a rarity, a championship game between the two teams clearly acknowledged as the best in the country, and its regional final weekend produced The Greatest Eight Ever.
Illinois was coming off a strong basketball season in 2004, having finished second to Wisconsin in the Big Ten race and then making the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 2005 Illinois basketball team was poised for more right from the outset.