1998–99 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1998–99 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	14–18 (3–13 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lon Kruger (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Robert McCullum (3rd season) Rob Judson (3rd season) Steve Henson (2nd season)
MVP	Cory Bradford
Captain	Victor Chukwudebe
Home arena	Assembly Hall
Seasons← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

1998–99 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 Michigan State†	15	–	1	.938	33	–	5	.868
No. 19 Indiana	9	–	7	.563	23	–	11	.676
No. 18 Wisconsin	9	–	7	.563	22	–	10	.688
No. 21 Iowa	9	–	7	.563	20	–	10	.667
Purdue	7	–	9	.438	21	–	13	.618
Northwestern	6	–	10	.375	15	–	14	.517
Penn State	5	–	11	.313	13	–	14	.481
Illinois	3	–	13	.188	14	–	18	.438
No. 14 Ohio State**	1	–	1	.500	1	–	1	.500
Minnesota***	0	–	8	.000	0	–	11	.000
Michigan*	0	–	11	.000	0	–	19	.000

† 1999 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll Michigan: 12 games vacated due to sanctions against the program Ohio State: 34 games including 5 NCAA Tourn. games vacated due to sanctions against the program ** Minnesota vacated 17 games including 1 NCAA Tourn. game due to sanctions against the program Disputed records: Michigan: 12–19, 5–11; Ohio State: 27–9, 12–4; Minnesota: 17–11, 8–8

The 1998–99 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The Illini closed out the 1998-99 season with an amazing run at the Big Ten tournament title. After entering the tournament as the 11th-seeded team, Illinois reeled off three straight victories over Top 25-ranked teams before losing in the championship game to second-ranked Michigan State. Illini freshman Cory Bradford was the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year and was also selected to the All-Tournament team.

Roster

1998–99 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	00	Victor Chukwudebe (C)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	Lanphier High School	Springfield, Illinois
G	3	Arias Davis	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Ware County High School	Waycross, Georgia
C	4	Fess Hawkins	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	270 lb (122 kg)	RS So	Dollarway High School/Westark Community College	Pine Bluff, Arkansas
G	5	Nate Mast	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	So	Champaign Central High School	Champaign, Illinois
G	12	Joe Cross	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Carbondale Community High School	Carbondale, Illinois
G	13	Cory Bradford	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Fr	Raleigh Egypt High School	Memphis, Tennessee
F/C	21	Robert Archibald	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Lafayette High School	Ballwin, Missouri
F	22	Lucas Johnson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Maine West High School	Des Plaines, Illinois
G	30	Frank Williams	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Manual High School	Peoria, Illinois
F	32	Cleotis Brown	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Russell County School District	Pittsview, Alabama
F	33	Damir Krupalija	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Rockford Boylan High School	Rockford, Illinois
F	35	Carvell Ammons	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	RS So	Centennial High School	Champaign, Illinois
G/F	40	Sergio McClain	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Manual High School	Peoria, Illinois
F	44	Rich Beyers	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	So	Shelbyville High School	Shelbyville, Illinois

Head coach

Lon Kruger (Kansas State) (3rd year)

Assistant coach(es)

Rob Judson (University of Illinois) (3rd year)
Robert McCullum (Seminole State) (3rd year)
Steve Henson (Kansas State) (2nd year)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule

Source

Date time, TV	Rank	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/10/1998* no, no		vs. Wake Forest Coaches Cancer Classic	L 73-75	0-1	Madison Square Garden (13,239) New York, NY
11/11/1998* no, no		vs. Georgetown Coaches Cancer Classic	W 65-50	1-1	Madison Square Garden (12,589) New York, NY
11/17/1998* no, no		George Washington	L 58-64	1-2	Assembly Hall (10,683) Champaign, IL
11/20/1998* no, no		St. Louis	W 70-65	2-2	Assembly Hall (12,586) Champaign, IL
11/23/1998* no, no		Tennessee-Martin	W 71-35	3-2	Assembly Hall (10,496) Champaign, IL
11/28/1998* no, no		at Texas-Pan American	W 71-56	4-2	UTPA Fieldhouse (2,463) Edinburg, TX
11/30/1998* no, no		Valparaiso	W 53-49	5-2	Assembly Hall (10,842) Champaign, IL
12/5/1998* no, no		vs. Bradley	W 53-48	6-2	United Center (11,084) Chicago, IL
12/12/1998* no, no		Eastern Illinois	W 70-67	7-2	Assembly Hall (12,273) Champaign, IL
12/19/1998* no, no		vs. No. 13 Kansas	L 55-65	7-3	Kemper Arena (13,728) Kansas City, MO
12/22/1998* no, no		vs. No. 15 Missouri Braggin' Rights	L 62-67	7-4	Scottrade Center (22,471) St. Louis, MO
12/29/1998* no, no		vs. No. 14 Clemson	W 67-50	8-4	Bi-Lo Center (14,687) Greenville, SC
Big Ten regular season
1/3/1999 no, no		at No. 8 Indiana Rivalry	L 53-62	8-5 (0-1)	Assembly Hall (7,249) Bloomington, IN
1/7/1999 no, no		at No. 17 Iowa Rivalry	L 62-84	8-6 (0-2)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,301) Iowa City, IA
1/9/1999 no, no		Northwestern Rivalry	L 46-59	8-7 (0-3)	Assembly Hall (12,255) Champaign, IL
1/13/1999 no, no		at No. 13 Purdue	L 54-63	8-8 (0-4)	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
1/16/1999 no, no		No. 14 Michigan State	L 49-51	8-9 (0-5)	Assembly Hall (15,428) Champaign, IL
1/20/1999 no, no		at No. 15 Wisconsin	L 53-75	8-10 (0-6)	Kohl Center (16,112) Madison, WI
1/23/1999 no, no		Penn State	L 61-65	8-11 (0-7)	Assembly Hall (12,552) Champaign, IL
1/28/1999 no, no		at Michigan	W 61-59	9-11 (1-7)	Crisler Arena (10,784) Ann Arbor, MI
1/30/1999 no, no		No. 15 Ohio State	L 61-64	9-12 (1-8)	Assembly Hall (13,756) Champaign, IL
2/3/1999 no, no		at No. 18 Minnesota	L 63-75	9-13 (1-9)	Williams Arena (14,792) Minneapolis, MN
2/6/1999 no, no		No. 11 Wisconsin	W 53-51	10-13 (2-9)	Assembly Hall (14,062) Champaign, IL
2/11/1999 no, no		at No. 5 Michigan State	L 44-61	10-14 (2-10)	Breslin Student Events Center (14,659) East Lansing, MI
2/13/1999 no, no		No. 21 Purdue	L 56-63	10-15 (2-11)	Assembly Hall (15,473) Champaign, IL
2/17/1999 no, no		at Northwestern Rivalry	W 69-63	11-15 (3-11)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,314) Evanston, IL
2/21/1999 no, no		No. 20 Iowa Rivalry	L 72-78	11-16 (3-12)	Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL
2/24/1999 no, no		No. 20 Indiana Rivalry	L 64-70	11-17 (3-13)	Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL
Big Ten tournament
3/4/1999* no, no	(11)	vs. (6) No. 23 Minnesota Opening Round	W 67-64	12-17	United Center (18,641) Chicago, IL
3/5/1999* no, no	(11)	vs. (3) No. 17 Indiana Quarterfinals	W 82-66	13-17	United Center (20,297) Chicago, IL
3/6/1999* no, no	(11)	vs. (2) No. 11 Ohio State Semifinals	W 79-77	14-17	United Center (20,695) Chicago, IL
3/7/1999* no, no	(11)	vs. (1) No. 2 Michigan State Championship	L 50-67	14-18	United Center (19,581) Chicago, IL
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player	Games Played	2 pt. Field Goals	3 pt. Field Goals	Free Throws	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	Points
Cory Bradford	32	89	85	61	84	62	1	25	494
Cleotis Brown	32	87	20	61	152	44	13	52	295
Sergio McClain	31	92	6	65	106	81	3	71	267
Fess Hawkins	32	77	0	47	162	19	36	24	201
Victor Chukwudebe	32	78	0	22	158	16	20	22	178
Lucas Johnson	31	22	15	46	96	45	4	12	135
Damir Krupalija	24	29	6	34	132	25	13	15	110
Robert Archibald	32	32	0	31	100	26	10	10	95
Arias Davis	25	11	18	6	20	10	2	9	82
Nate Mast	31	9	11	14	17	36	0	14	65
Rich Beyers	11	13	4	15	20	10	5	7	43
Carvell Ammons	2	1	0	0	2	1	0	0	2

Awards and honors

Cory Bradford
- Big Ten Freshman of the Year
- Team Most Valuable Player
Frank Williams
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

References

"Forfeits and Vacated Games". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1998-99 Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
"Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
"Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
"Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
"Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
"Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
"Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
"Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
"Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
"Season Stats pg. 125" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
"List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.

v t e Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)
Rivalries	Indiana Iowa Missouri Northwestern
Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

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