Illinois Basketball: Top 3 Illini point guards of all-time

Honorable Mention – Frank Williams

Frank Williams was a sensational player during his time with the Illinois basketball team. Williams had some individual awards and had success during his college career. But there was a certain reason I kept him out of my top three.

Before I get to that reason, I want to list Williams’ career averages. For his career, he averaged 14.3 points, 4.3 assists, 4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. He shot 39-percent from the field and 32-percent from three-point range.

The best season in Champaign saw Williams average 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. He also shot 39-percent from the field and 34-percent from three-point range that year.

Williams earned Big Ten Player of the Year for the 2000-01 season. He was named to the All-Big Ten team twice. Williams ranks seventh all-time in Illini assists per game with 4.3. He also ranks fourth in totals steals with 412. He made the NCAA tournament all three years of his Illinois career as well, with his deepest run being the Elite Eight in his sophomore season.

The reason I didn’t have Williams in the top three is that his shooting percentages weren’t as good as the other players. During his freshman season, he shot 38-percent from the field and 31-percent from three-point range. In his sophomore season, he shot 41-percent from the field which is good but shot 32-percent from distance And then during his junior season, he shot 39-percent from the field and 34-percent from three-point range. Those aren’t great shooting percentages. But he is still honorable mention on this list.