Illinois Basketball: Who belongs on the Mount Rushmore?

Dee Brown (Player 2002-2006)

The era of Illinois basketball between 2002 and 2006 was something Illini fans may never see again. This group of great players was led by Dee Brown. He is the next member of the Mount Rushmore.

Purely looking at Brown’s stats from the start of his run with the Illini until he finished up as a senior, he was impressive every single year. He averaged 12 points per game as a freshman and increased that number to 13.3 PPG his sophomore year, 13.3 PPG his junior year and 14.2 PPG his senior year.

In addition to the great scoring, Brown also added a career average of 3.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Those are tremendous numbers that are extremely difficult to match.

Getting past Brown’s numbers, his accomplishments sent him over the top as a member of the Illinois basketball Mount Rushmore. He was a two-time consensus All-American. In 2005 he made the first team and in 2006 he was on the second team.

In the four years that Brown donned the Orange and Blue, the team was extremely successful as well. They made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament during his first season. They went to the Sweet 16 in year two. Illinois made it to the national title in year three. And then Brown got the team back to the second round of the postseason in year four.

The numbers are there, the accolades are there and the success on the court is there for Brown to have earned a spot on the Illinois basketball Mount Rushmore.