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Illinois Basketball: Top 5 Illini freshman seasons of all-time

By Rees Woodcock

CHICAGO - MARCH 26: Luther Head #4 of the Illinois Fighting Illini kisses teammate Dee Brown #11, L, as they celebrate victory over the Arizona Wildcats in the Chicago Regional Final in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship at the Allstate Arena on March 26, 2005 in Chicago, Illinois. Illinois defeated Arizona 90-89 in overtime. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)
CHICAGO - MARCH 26: Luther Head #4 of the Illinois Fighting Illini kisses teammate Dee Brown #11, L, as they celebrate victory over the Arizona Wildcats in the Chicago Regional Final in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship at the Allstate Arena on March 26, 2005 in Chicago, Illinois. Illinois defeated Arizona 90-89 in overtime. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) /
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21 Dec 1996: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Lon Kreuger confers with guard Kiwane Garris during a game against the UCLA Bruins at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Illinois won the game, 79-63.
21 Dec 1996: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Lon Kreuger confers with guard Kiwane Garris during a game against the UCLA Bruins at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Illinois won the game, 79-63. /

No. 4 Kiwane Garris

The 1993-94 Illini lost their second-leading scorer in Andy Kaufmann from the year before, so the program needed a pick-me-up from someone. That someone happened to be freshman sensation, Kiwane Garris.

Garris is someone in Illini lore who I feel gets overlooked due to the team not being great during his time in Champaign. He was able to put up some amazing numbers while with the Illini, and his freshman season goes down as one of the greatest ever.

As a freshman, Garris put up some eye-popping statistics. He averaged 15.9 points, 3.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per contest. His 15.9 points per game is a freshman record for a single-season as well. He was only second on the team that season in points and in assists. That is quite an accomplishment as a freshman.

The on-court accolades were solid as well. Illinois finished fourth in the Big Ten that season with a 10-8 record. They also managed to compile a 17-11 regular season record, which was good enough for an NCAA tournament berth.

Illinois would enter the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed. While they would end up falling in the first round to No. 9 Georgetown, the Illini put the country on notice that they had one of the best freshmen in the game with Garris.

Garris had a great run with Illinois, and it all started with a tremendous freshman campaign. His big numbers and NCAA tournament berth enabled Garris to crack the top five all-time Illini freshman seasons list at No. 4.

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