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Illinois Basketball: Best Illini 3-on-3 basketball teams

By Rees Woodcock

Dec 21, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders run on the court before a basketball game against the Missouri Tigers at Scottrade Center. Illinois won 75-66. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 21, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders run on the court before a basketball game against the Missouri Tigers at Scottrade Center. Illinois won 75-66. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 31, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; View of a game ball on the court at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 31, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; View of a game ball on the court at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Team 9: Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle, Lowell Hamilton

The teams of Bruce Douglas and Efrem Winters were special in the early 1980’s, and they laid the groundwork for the teams of the late 1980’s. These teams were extremely successful and consisted of talented players who made NCAA tournaments and even the Final Four.

This 3-on-3 team has three of those talented players from that era on it. Nick Anderson is leading the way for this team. He spent two great seasons with the Illini and was spectacular. He put up 15.9 points and 6.6 rebounds his freshman season. He then followed that up with an 18 point and 17.9 rebound average the following year.

Another electric scorer to go along with Anderson is Kenny Battle. Battle was a great scorer with Northern Illinois before transferring to Illinois to have some special seasons. He only played two years in Champaign but he was amazing. He averaged 15.6 points and 5.5 rebounds his junior year and 16.6 points and 4.8 rebounds his senior season. The combination of Anderson and Battle would be deadly in a 3-on-3 tournament.

But, then you can even add in Lowell Hamilton to the mix and this team wouldn’t be able to be stopped on the offensive side of the ball. Hamilton averaged 13.6 points and 5.7 rebounds his senior campaign. He also managed to average at least 10 points per game in three of his four seasons with the Illini.

This team would be great but the only issue is no primary ball handler and the tallest guy is 6-foot-7. But, when you score every time you have the ball, does it matter if you don’t have the best defense in the world?

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