The 2003–04 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented 98th season

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

in the 2003-04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Bruce Weber's first season at Illinois.

Season

Bill Self Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball, Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team. Self has held various coaching roles at the collegiate level an ...

left the

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 fac ...

in March, 2003 to take over as coach at

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, paving the way for Bruce Weber to be named the 16th

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

head coach on April 30, 2003. Weber arrived in

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in the state outside the Chicago metr ...

after directing the

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

Salukis for five seasons. Weber’s inaugural season directing the ''Orange and Blue'' was a success, as he became just the third coach in

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

history to win an outright conference championship in his first season. The Illini had to win its final 10 games of the regular season to clinch sole possession of the title, with six of those wins coming away from the

Assembly Hall An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the s ...

. Weber also guided Illinois to its first NCAA Tournament victory over a higher seeded team, when the No. 5 Illini defeated No. 4

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

in the second round of the tournament. The Illini finished the year with a record of 26–7 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

Roster

Schedule

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Big Ten tournament Big Ten Tournament can refer to any Big Ten Conference sport that has a tournament or championship game: * Big Ten Football Championship Game * Big Ten men's basketball tournament * Big Ten women's basketball tournament * Big Ten baseball tournamen ...

, - !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38", NCAA tournament

Season Statistics

Awards and honors

* Dee Brown ** Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American *

Deron Williams Deron Michael Williams ( ; born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in ...

**Team Most Valuable Player

Team players drafted into the NBA

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball Team

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons