Top 10 Illinois basketball players who would have cashed in from new NCAA rules

2. Frank Williams (1999-02)

So many special players have come through the Illinois basketball program, but it isn’t every year that you get someone from just down the road.

Frank Williams would have earned life-changing money at Illinois if he had been able to make a salary. He was a Parade All-American coming out of Manuel in Peoria. He picked Illinois as his landing spot, and he would have had a bidding war for his services.

Being a two-time All-Big Ten player, a Big Ten Player of the Year, and an NBA prospect would have garnered a ton of money too. Those accolades would have brought in a ton of money for Williams.

Illinois saw a resurgence with Williams leading the way. He averaged over 11 points per game in all three seasons with the program. We made an Elite 8 and two Sweet 16s with Williams as our leading scorer. He was electric on the court and known as one of the best players in college basketball. His earnings would have been through the roof.

I don’t see any devaluing of his potential earnings either. Illinois had great teams, but there weren’t huge stars. Williams was that star.

1. Dee Brown (2002-06)

The most entertaining and electric player to ever suit up for the Illinois basketball team was Dee Brown. I couldn’t even imagine what his potential earnings would have been in today’s college basketball.

Brown was a top 20 recruit in the class of 2002. He could have gone anywhere, but he stayed home and played for the Illini. Being that highly ranked, Brown would have cashed in.

During his time in Champaign, Brown was a two-time consensus All-American. He was the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2005. All of those accolades would have earned him a lot more money.

Brown averaged at least 12 points per game all four seasons with the Illini. He was the leader of an Illinois team that made it to the national championship. That alone would have earned him a lot of money. Brown then returned for one more season, and I imagine he would have made a killing as a senior.

I would argue Brown was the most marketable Illinois player in program history. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and Dicky V called him the one-man fastbreak. Brown had it all, and he would have earned an incredible amount of money playing the college game.