The 1982–83 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illiniois.

Regular season

One of Illinois’ best groups arrived on campus for the 1982-83 season. Guards Bruce Douglas and

Doug Altenberger Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) which ...

, and forwards Scott Meents and

Efrem Winters Efrem Zimbalist Winters (born December 19, 1963) is an American former collegiate basketball player. At a height of 6'9" (2.05 m) tall, he played at the power forward position. High school A native of Chicago, Illinois, Winters attended King Hi ...

joined sophomores George Montgomery and Anthony Welch to form the nucleus for a team that would win 95 games during the next four seasons. During this season, the Fighting Illini became the nation’s 25th team to cap the 1,000-win mark with a 72-70 victory over

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

in the

Great Alaska Shootout The ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout is an annual women's college basketball tournament in Anchorage, Alaska that features host University of Alaska Anchorage and three visiting NCAA Div. I teams. The four-team tournament is resuming i ...

. Later that year,

Derek Harper Derek Ricardo Harper (born October 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A second-team All-American at the University of Illinois, he was the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft and spent 16 seasons as a point guar ...

was selected First-Team All-Big Ten, falling one vote shy of being a unanimous pick, before leaving school early for the NBA draft. He was a first round selection of the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

Roster

Source

Schedule and Results

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Player stats

Awards and honors

** Associated Press 2nd team All-American ** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) **Team Most Valuable Player * Bruce Douglas ** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

Team players drafted into the NBA

1983 NBA Draft

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1982-83 Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball Team

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

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