The Illinois Fighting Illini undeniably earned their place in the Final Four, finally getting over the hurdle that had stood in their way for over two decades (and in head coach Brad Underwood's way for his entire career).
Their opponent, the UConn Huskies, did as well, pulling off a miraculous 15-point comeback victory over the Duke Blue Devils.
However, an old photo of Duke head coach Jon Scheyer may have had the Blue Devils doomed from the start of his tenure as their leader.
Scheyer, who was a top-rated prospect out of Illinois in the early 2000s, was obviously recruited by his home-state teams, including the Fighting Illini. A photo of him attending the Final Four the last time Illinois was playing in it, 2005, had him pulling for a team other than his future team.
In fact, it had him in a bright orange Illinois crewneck.
Old Jon Scheyer photo has Duke head coach in Illinois sweatshirt
If that doesn't point to the Illini's destiny to make it back to the Final Four and for the Blue Devils to fall short, once again, of reaching the ultimate prize, the National Championship, then I don't know what is.
The Tribune went back into the archives to find some photos of Murray at the 2005 Final Four. And look who’s next to him, over his right shoulder, when he was 17 and being heavily recruited by the Illini: pic.twitter.com/RdTOocvUXZ
— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) April 4, 2026
You can see Scheyer, looking in Murray's direction, with the orange and blue Illinois long-sleeve shirt on and dog tags dangling down from his neck.
While the point of the image search may have been to find classic pictures of legendary actor Bill Murray, it resulted in a picture of a young Scheyer rooting for Illinois going viral instead.
What a hilarious image to surface while Scheyer is enjoying his offseason and actual Illinois head coach Underwood is leading the Fighting Illini through the Final Four.
Of course, Scheyer was recruited by programs all over the country and ended up playing college ball for the Blue Devils. However, what a full-circle moment for the Illinois basketball program and its journeys through March Madness.