Illinois
The Flying Illini team of 1989 lost in the National Semifinals in the Kingdome to this team.
Michigan
In their first Final Four appearance in 1988, this player, the Wooden Award winner, led the Wildcats in scoring with a 19.8 points per game average.
Sean Elliott
He was a three-time consensus All-America for the Wolverines from 1964-1966.
Cazzie Russell
He was the coach of the UConn national championship team in 2014.
Kevin Ollie
He wore number 1 for the Milwaukee Bucks from 1970-74 after playing for ten seasons with the Cincinnati Royals.
Oscar Robertson
Illinois was the #1 seed in 2021 Mideast regional, but was upset by this team in the second round.
Loyola-Chicago
The Wildcats only national championship came in 1997 when they beat this school in overtime in the title game.
Kentucky
Steve Fisher replaced this coach right before the start of the post-season in 1989. The Wolverines went on the win the title.
Bill Frieder
He was a 10-time NBA All-Star and finished his career with the most three-point baskets made in league history.
Ray Allen
This guy might have been small but he led the NBA with big numbers in scoring and assists for Kansas City-Omaha during the 1972-73 season.
Tiny Archibald
He coached the Illini for one season (1974-75) before taking a more prominent job, where he only last two years.
Gene Bartow
Before they joined the Pac-10 conference in 1978, the Wildcats were members of this league for sixteen seasons.
Western Athletic Conference
This basketball booster placed the Wolverines on probation, forcing them to vacate their Final Four appearances in 1992 & 1993
Ed Martin
His buzzer beater ripped the heart out of Washington in a 75-74 victory in the Sweet Sixteen of the 1990 NCAA Tournament
Richard Hamilton
After playing for DePaul, he wore #1 for 15 years in the NBA. This year he led the Sharks to the NCAA Tournament
Rod Strickland
All five starters of the Illinois 2005 national runner-up team would play in the NBA. This starter was drafted the earliest, #3 overall in the 2005 NBA Draft.
Deron Williams
He took over as coach of the Wildcats when Lute Olson stepped down at the start of the 2007-2008 season.
Kevin O'Neill
His #45 jersey was honored by Michigan after playing their from 1967-1970. I'm sure Kermit didn't attend the ceremony.
Rudy Tomjanovich
The Captain could tell you that before joining the Big East, UConn played in this conference on-and-off from 1948-1976.
The Yankee Conference
Maybe the heaviest player to ever wear #1 in the NBA, he spent one season at Duke before playing the last six years in the NBA.
Zion Williamson
In 2021 this player became the first member of the Illini to receive first team All-America honors by the Associated Press
Ayo Dosunmu
After being chosen in the 2002 NBA Draft, this Wildcat posted a lifetime scoring average of 20.7 points per game in the NBA over 11 seasons.
Gilbert Arenas
He has the most coaching wins in U of M basketball history with 278.
John Beilein
This shot-blocker was the National collegiate Player of the Year in 2004 and was the Most Outstanding Player of that year's Final Four.
Emeka Okafor
Going right from high school to the NBA he played 16 years in the NBA with Orlando, Houston and a few others and led the league in scoring in 2003 and 2004.
Tracy McGrady