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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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CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 05: Dee Brown /

No. 2 Dee Brown

Hands down, Dee Brown is the most exciting player the Illinois basketball program has had come through Assembly Hall and the State Farm Center. He was electric as a college player, and it all started with his great freshman campaign.

Many people see Deron Williams and the NBA career he had and think he was the best player on the Illinois basketball team. That wasn’t the case at all. Brown was a better college player. He came in with more hype as well.

From the jump, Brown showed why he was a five-star recruit. He put up 12 points, 5 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game as a freshman. These impressive stats enabled Brown to make the Big Ten All-Freshman team. He would also help lead his team to great heights.

Illinois would finish the regular season with a record of 25-7, and they also finished second in the Big Ten with a record of 11-5. The Illini would then win the Big Ten Tournament and head to the postseason as a No. 4 seed. Brown would help get the program to the second round that season.

Bill Self had an extremely young team on his hands during the 2002-03 campaign. As a freshman, Brown led the program in assists, was second on the team in scoring and was third on the team in rebounds. He was only 6-foot tall.

I had a hard time not putting Brown No. 1 on the top five all-time Illini freshman seasons list. He had a great first year with the program, but No. 1 was the most impressive in my eyes.

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