1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Illini Classic, Champion
National Invitation Tournament, First Round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	18–13 (7–11 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lou Henson
Assistant coaches	Dick Nagy Jimmy Collins Mark Bial
MVP	Kiwane Garris
Captain	Richard Keene Kiwane Garris Jerry Hester
Home arena	Assembly Hall
Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 →

1995–96 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Indiana^[a]	13	–	5		.722			20	–	11		.645
No. 18 Penn State	12	–	6		.667			21	–	7		.750
No. 21 Iowa^[b]	12	–	6		.667			24	–	8		.750
Minnesota^[c]	11	–	7		.611			20	–	10		.667
Wisconsin^[d]	9	–	9		.500			18	–	14		.563
Michigan State	9	–	9		.500			16	–	16		.500
Illinois	7	–	11		.389			18	–	13		.581
No. 4 Purdue^[e]	6	–	12		.333			7	–	23		.233
Ohio State^[f]	5	–	13		.278			12	–	15		.444
Northwestern^[g]	4	–	14		.222			9	–	18		.333
Michigan^[h]	1	–	8		.111			1	–	10		.091
Rankings from AP Poll Records above are after NCAA sanctions against Minnesota, Purdue, and Michigan as noted:^[1] Indiana adjusted from 12–6, 19–12 Iowa adjusted from 11–7, 23–9 Minnesota adjusted from 10–8, 19–13 (vacated 2 games) Wisconsin adjusted from 8–10, 17–15 Purdue adjusted from 15–3, 26–6 (forfeit 18 wins, vacated 2 games) Ohio State adjusted from 3–15, 10–17 Northwestern adjusted from 2–16, 7–20 Michigan adjusted from 10–8/21–11 (vacated 21 games)

"1995-96 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"

Regular season

After advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 1994-95, Illinois extended its run on postseason play with a berth in the 1996 NIT. The Illini started the 1995-96 season 11-1 before losing Kiwane Garris to injury. Without its leader, the Illini dropped its first five Big Ten games. Garris returned, but was never 100 percent and junior forward Jerry Hester missed games with a severely sprained ankle. The Illini finished the 1996 season 18-13 overall, 7-11 in the Big Ten. But more importantly the 1996 season marked the end of the most successful era in Illinois basketball when Lou Henson announced his retirement before the end of the season. In his 21 years at Illinois, Henson notched 423 victories and guided the Illini to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Okay, Oklahoma native coached Illinois to 11, 20-win seasons and finished his career as the third winningest coach in Big Ten history with 214 league victories.

Roster

1995–96 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 10 Jeff Lindenmeyer 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Arcola High School Arcola, Illinois G 21 Matt Heldman 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Libertyville High School Libertyville, Illinois G 22 Kiwane Garris (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Westinghouse High School Chicago, Illinois G 24 Richard Keene (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Collinsville High School Collinsville, Illinois G 25 Bryant Notree 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Simeon High School Chicago, Illinois C 31 Brett Robisch 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS So Calvary Academy Springfield, Illinois F 32 Jarrod Gee 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So St. Martin de Porres High School Chicago, Illinois G 33 Kevin Turner 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Simeon High School Chicago, Illinois F 34 Brian Johnson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS So Maine West High School Des Plaines, Illinois F 40 Jerry Hester (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Manual High School Peoria, Illinois F 42 Herb Caldwell 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Jacksonville High School Jacksonville, Illinois F 44 Ryan Blackwell 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Pittsford Sutherland High School Pittsford, New York F 45 Chris Gandy 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr Bradley-Bourbonnais High School Kankakee, Illinois	Head coach Lou Henson (New Mexico A&M) (21st year) Assistant coach(es) Dick Nagy (New Mexico State University) (17th year) Jimmy Collins (New Mexico State University) (13th year) Mark Bial (University of Illinois) (2nd year) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt All-Time Illini Rosters Roster

Source^[2]

Schedule

Source^[3]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/25/1995* no, no		vs. Texas-San Antonio	W 83-80	1-0	Assembly Hall (12,382) Champaign, IL
11/28/1995* no, no		vs. Eastern Illinois	W 89-57	2-0	Assembly Hall (13,521) Champaign, IL
12/2/1995* no, no		@ #12 Duke	W 75-65	3-0	Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC
12/4/1995* no, no	No. 21	vs. Kansas State	W 82-56	4-0	Assembly Hall (13,814) Champaign, IL
12/8/1995* no, no	No. 21	vs. Southeast Missouri State Illini Classic	W 89-70	5-0	Assembly Hall (14,611) Champaign, IL
12/9/1995* no, no	No. 21	vs. Ball State Illini Classic	W 97-53	6-0	Assembly Hall (14,920) Champaign, IL
12/16/1995* no, no	No. 16	vs. Illinois-Chicago	W 81-73	7-0	Assembly Hall (15,902) Champaign, IL
12/20/1995* no, no	No. 14	vs. #15 Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 96-85 ^ot	8-0	Scottrade Center (21,901) St. Louis, MO
12/23/1995* no, no	No. 14	vs. California	W 83-69	9-0	United Center (15,046) Chicago, IL
12/27/1995* no, no	No. 12	vs. #13 Syracuse Rainbow Classic	L 64-75	9-1	Stan Sheriff Center (8,757) Honolulu, HI
12/29/1995* no, no	No. 12	@ Hawaii Rainbow Classic	W 82-81 ^ot	10-1	Stan Sheriff Center (7,827) Honolulu, HI
12/30/1995* no, no	No. 12	vs. North Carolina State Rainbow Classic	W 85-76	11-1	Assembly Hall (7,787) Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/3/1996 no, no	No. 13	@ Minnesota	L 64-69	11-2 (0-1)	Williams Arena (14,221) Minneapolis, MN
1/6/1996 no, no	No. 13	vs. Michigan State	L 58-68	11-3 (0-2)	Assembly Hall (16,413) Champaign, IL
2/26/1995 no, no	No. 21	@ #23 Michigan	L 68-83	11-4 (0-3)	Crisler Arena (13,562) Ann Arbor, MI
1/13/1996 no, no	No. 21	vs. Indiana Rivalry	L 71-85	11-5 (0-4)	Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL
1/18/1996 no, no		@ #16 Iowa Rivalry	L 79-82	11-6 (0-5)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA
1/20/1996 no, no		@ #17 Purdue	W 71-67	12-6 (1-5)	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
1/24/1996 no, no		vs. Ohio State	W 77-46	13-6 (2-5)	Assembly Hall (14,862) Champaign, IL
1/27/1996 no, no		@ Northwestern	W 74-62	14-6 (3-5)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL
2/3/1996 no, no		vs. Wisconsin	L 56-57	14-7 (3-6)	Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL
2/8/1996 no, no		@ #10 Penn State	L 58-61	14-8 (3-7)	Bryce Jordan Center (14,754) University Park, PA
2/14/1996 no, no		vs. Northwestern	W 93-62	15-8 (4-7)	Assembly Hall (13,560) Champaign, IL
2/17/1996 no, no		@ Ohio State	W 76-67	16-8 (5-7)	St. John Arena (12,718) Columbus, OH
2/20/1996 no, no		vs. #7 Purdue	L 71-74	16-9 (5-8)	Assembly Hall (15,628) Champaign, IL
2/24/1996 no, no		vs. #18 Iowa Rivalry	W 91-86	17-9 (6-8)	Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL
2/28/1996 no, no		@ Indiana Rivalry	L 64-76	17-10 (6-9)	Assembly Hall (17,139) Bloomington, IN
3/3/1996 no, no		vs. Michigan	W 73-62	18-10 (7-9)	Assembly Hall (16,450) Champaign, IL
3/6/1996 no, no		@ Michigan State	L 67-77	18-11 (7-10)	Breslin Student Events Center (13,187) East Lansing, MI
3/9/1996 no, no		vs. Minnesota	L 66-67 ^ot	18-12 (7-11)	Assembly Hall (16,206) Champaign, IL
National Invitation Tournament^[4]
3/13/1996* no, no		vs. Alabama First Round	L 69-72	18-13	Assembly Hall (8,398) Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player	Games Played	2 pt. Field Goals	3 pt. Field Goals	Free Throws	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	Points
Kiwane Garris^[5]	25	80	38	112	86	98	0	42	386
Bryant Notree^[6]	31	105	17	66	190	30	5	32	327
Richard Keene^[7]	31	38	69	34	116	162	8	40	317
Jerry Hester^[8]	28	74	38	46	111	35	9	16	308
Jarrod Gee^[9]	31	115	0	35	190	16	33	17	265
Chris Gandy^[10]	31	72	4	33	126	14	16	14	189
Matt Heldman^[11]	31	23	30	33	29	43	1	11	175
Kevin Turner^[12]	31	40	25	15	49	54	3	17	170
Ryan Blackwell	30	33	6	34	86	23	6	9	118
Brett Robisch	14	14	3	3	22	6	1	2	40
Brian Johnson	20	13	0	3	23	17	1	3	29
Herb Caldwell	14	3	0	7	9	1	1	1	13
Jeff Lindenmeyer	12	4	0	0	8	0	0	1	8

Awards and honors

• Kiwane Garris
  • Team Most Valuable Player ^[13]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick

^[14]

Rankings

Main article: 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

1. "Division I Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 56. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
2. FightingIllini.com
3. University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1995-96 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
4. 1996 National Invitation Tournament
5. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
6. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
7. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
8. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
9. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
10. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
11. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
12. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
13. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2013-01-15.
14. 1996 NBA Draft 2011-05-20 at the Wayback Machine