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1996–97 Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball Team
The 1996–97 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season On March 21, 1996, a new era in Illinois basketball began when Director of Athletics Ron Guenther introduced Lon Kruger as the University’s 14th men’s basketball coach. Kruger came to Illinois from the University of Florida and carried a list of impressive credentials, including guiding Florida to the Final Four in 1994. In his first year at Illinois, Kruger guided Illinois to a 22-10 record and the second round of the NCAA tournament. Over the course of the season, Illinois defeated five ranked opponents, including No. 7 Minnesota, 96-90, at the Assembly Hall. Illinois also traveled to Bloomington and handed Indiana a 78-74 loss, the first win for Illinois at Assembly Hall in Bloomington since 1990. During the course of the year, Kiwane Garris etched his name in the Illinois record book with one of the best season performances by any Illini player in history ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lon Kruger
Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is a retired American college and professional basketball coach (sport), coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for Kansas State University. He has served as the head coach of the University of Texas–Pan American, Kansas State, the University of Florida, the University of Illinois, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as well as the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Kruger was one of only three coaches ever (the others being Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith) to lead five programs to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, NCAA tournament. His teams have participated in 17 NCAA Tournaments, including two Final Fours (1994 with Florida; 2016 with Oklahoma). Early life Kruger was born and raised in Silver Lake, Kansas. As a point guard, Kruger led the Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball, Kansas State Wildcats to bac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
