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 32 times, and has competed in 5 Final Fours, 9 Elite Eights, and has won 18 Big Ten regular season championships.
The team is currently coached by Brad Underwood, who was hired on March 18, 2017. Through the end of the 2017–18 season, Illinois ranks 12th all-time in winning percentage and 15th all-time in wins among all NCAA Division I men's college basketball programs.
Eras of Illini Basketball
Early years
The Fighting Illini began play in 1906 with Elwood Brown as their first coach. In 1915, Illinois won their first ever Big Ten title, going 16–0 (and 12–0 in Big Ten play) under coach Ralph Jones. They were retroactively declared champion of that season by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. They won two more Big Ten titles in the next nine years, both shared titles. In 1935, they won the Big Ten once again, sharing it with Purdue. They won the Big Ten title five years later in 1942, their first unanimous Big Ten title since 1915.
When duty calls
Prior to World War II breaking out, the Fighting Illini men's basketball program had achieved a status which it had never seen prior. Under the direction of head coach and athletic director Douglas R. Mills, the Illini grouped a team of players, all around 6' 3", into a nearly undefeatable lineup later to be known as "The Whiz Kids". As freshman and sophomores, the 1941–42 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team dominated the Big Ten conference basketball season by posting a 13–2 record, overall finishing with 18 wins and only 5 losses. A starting lineup of freshman and sophomores, Arthur "Jack" Smiley, Ken Menke, Andy Phillip, Ellis "Gene" Vance, Victor Wukovits and Art Mathisen, developed a winning attitude that would maintain for the next 15 years, a time period where the Illini would finish no less than third in the conference for 13 of them. Despite being ranked No. 1 in the nation, the 1943 Illinois men's basketball squad opted not to play in the NCAA Tournament when three of its five 'Whiz Kids' were called to duty in World War II.
Harry Combes era (1947–1967) Champaign High School basketball coach Harry Combes was hired to succeed Doug Mills as Mills left the position to focus on his duties as the athletic director. Through his first five seasons as head coach, Combes led the Fighting Illini to three NCAA Final Four appearances in 1949, 1951, and 1952. During his tenure as coach, Combes increased the Fighting Illini's offensive output by changing their style of play. Combes implemented Full-court press defense, causing turnovers at a high rate which translated into Fast break points.
In 1951, Combes signed the first black player to don an Illinois uniform, 3x All-State point guard Walt Moore of Mount Vernon. Along with teammate and future Illinois standout Max Hooper, Moore led the Rams to back-to-back state championship titles, culminating with a perfect 33–0 record in 1950.
During the 1957–58 season, Mannie Jackson and Govoner Vaughn were inserted into the starting lineup as the first two African-Americans to start and letter in basketball at Illinois. Combes also oversaw the Illini's move from Huff Hall to Assembly Hall in 1963 and during that same season the Illini won a fourth Big Ten Conference championship under Combes. However, the Illini lost to eventual national champion Loyola (Chicago) in the Elite Eight of the 1963 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The following 1964–65 season, saw several upset victories over defending national champion UCLA Bruins and national powerhouse Kentucky Wildcats at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.
Lou Henson era (1975–1996)