One would think it wouldn’t be difficult to put together a top five list of Illinois basketball players to ever wear the No. 13.
Those people would be wrong, though. This was a tremendously difficult list to put together considering the history of No. 13 wearers isn’t long, and most of the players who donned the jersey didn’t put up good numbers.
For the most part, the Illinois player who wore the No. 13 averaged below 2.0 points per game. Some of the names on the outside looking in (OLI) are names most Illini fans are familiar with. The list would include Crandall Head (1.2 PPG), Jeff Jordan (1.2 PPG), Doug Clarida (0.5 PPG), and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk (1.3 PPG).
But I wanted to push forward. It is Friday the 13th, and I wanted to honor the unlucky weird day with the best of the best who wore the No. 13 for the Orange and Blue. I ended up landing on five players who had respectable numbers during their time with the Illini.
Here are the top five Illinois basketball players to ever wear the No. 13.
5. Wally Osterkorn
- Best: 15.1 Pts
- 1 NCAA, 1 Final 4
Ah yes, let’s start off with a name everyone is familiar with. We all remember watching Walt (Wally) Osterkorn. The classic 6-foot-4, 202-pound center. Who can forget his silky-smooth moves and ability to dominate the paint?
Obviously, I am kidding. Osterkorn played for Illinois from 1947-48 through 1949-50. It was difficult to put Osterkorn on this list for the pure fact there isn’t much on him, but unless I missed an obvious No. 13, this former “big man” checks in at No. 5 on the list.
Osterkorn had a successful run with the Illini. During his final season with the program, he averaged 15.1 points per game. He was also able to make the NCAA tournament one time and the team made the Final 4 that season.