Man, if you weren’t alive or don’t remember the Illinois basketball program in the 2000s, you don’t know what you are missing out on.
The stretch of basketball the Illini played from 2000-01 through the 2005-06 campaign was something incredible. I believe the Orange and Blue had the most wins, or up there with the most wins, of any team in the country during that time. It was pretty magical.
Toward the end of the 2000s, things started to drop off a bit, but there were some great players and some great runs throughout that decade. The hard part is trying to figure out the top three teams from this era.
There have been legendary players through this era too. Players like Cory Bradford and Frank Williams brought Illinois back to greatness after the program started struggling in the mid-1990s. They can’t be thanked enough for the resurgence of the Illini in the 2000s.
When I talk about the 2000s, I also think about players like Dee Brown and Brian Cook. These two put Illinois back on the national map with their insane playmaking abilities. They are two of the best to ever put on an Illinois jersey.
Each player and coach has helped make this program special. They helped form a great era of Illinois basketball.
Here are the top three Illini basketball teams of the 2000s.