In a great State of Illinois there are professional basketball teams as well as college basketball teams not to mention thousands of high school and junior high school teams all battling for basketball supremacy.
This review is about just that Illinois Hoops and how this has always been a hotbed for high school recruiting now and then throughout the entire United States of America.
Big Time Balling
To start things off we will look at the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association and their claim to fame Michael Jordan.
This North Carolina native excited the crowds and at the various coliseums for almost a full decade in the 90s and continued to dominate well into his 30s until he retired at 35 still a young man with plenty of athletic ability and a business sense and a marketable name that continues to rake in millions of dollars each and every year.
NCAA Powerhouse
Illinois hoops would not be complete without mentioning some of the colleges that are seen as standard-bearers of the NCAA power houses of the basketball court. The University of Illinois is one such basketball team with deep-roots of course in the Illinois area and this Land of Lincoln University has given to the NBA such greats as Derek Harper and Kendall Gill.
Please see below the listing of only a handful of the great state of Illinois University alumni that went on to the NBA and excited millions of fans throughout the entire world with their athletic and highly intelligent basketball play.
* Ray Woods (1915–17)
* Chuck Carney (1920–22)
* Andy Phillip (1942–43, 1947)
* Gene Vance (1942–43, 1947)
* Dwight “Dike” Eddleman (1947–49)
* Johnny “Red” Kerr (1952–54)
* Dave Downey (1961–63)
* Duane “Skip” Thoren (1963–65)
* Don Freeman (1964–66)
* Nick Weatherspoon (1971–73)
* Eddie Johnson (1978–81)
* Derek Harper (1981–83)
* Bruce Douglas (1983–86)
* Ken Norman (1985–87)
* Kenny Battle (1988–89)
* Nick Anderson (1988–89)
* Kendall Gill (1987–90)
* Deon Thomas (1991–94)
* Frank Williams (2000–02)
* Brian Cook (2000–03)
As now you’re a little more familiar with the state of Illinois superstar players that came from this Land of Lincoln Midwestern region of the United States now it is time to look at some of the opponents of the Big Ten in which the University of Illinois Fighting Illini plays in and battles with each and every season for basketball supremacy.
Please see that we have added on as of 2008 the head-to-head records of the Illinois Fighting Illini against the rest of the Big Ten just to show how tough this conference in this area that is collegiate basketball play.
Illinois hoops are quite exciting and this starts at a very early age and obviously goes all the way through the ranks of the National Basketball Association.
That covers Illinois hoops for the college and pro level and if you would like you can research the grassroots starting blocks for these great Illinois institutions for basketball and as a parting last gift we will give to you a couple of the cities where basketball is definitely King of the City.
• Champagne
• Chicago