The 1988-89 Flying Illini: The National Champs that never were!

Illinois basketball fans will no doubt agree that the two greatest teams in the history of Illini basketball are the 88'-89' team that finished 31-5  with a Final Four appearance and of course the 2005 team that finished 37-2; the national title within their grasp but came up just short against North Carolina. In comparing the two teams many feel that the 88'-89' team- who will be discussed in this article was far superior to the 2005 team. Some feel it was the other way around. At any rate, both of these teams were exciting and special teams that for all intents and purposes should have won the national title!! Fans in the Illinois basketball community and outside of it who were around in the late 80s remember that Illinois team from 88'-89'.  A team coached by Lou Henson- the most successful coach in Illini history and one of the all time winning-est coaches in Division 1 who built a consistent level of success at Illinois as well as his Alma mater New Mexico State. This team was nicknamed the "Flying Illini" because of it's athletic, high-flying, up tempo style of play. At times this Flying Illini squad looked as if they could dunk and score points whenever they felt like it!  Recall that starting lineup? Kenny Battle, Nick Anderson and Lowell Hamilton in the front-court. Kendall Gill and Stephen Bardo in the back-court. All five of these players were players that were explosive and offensively solid. The bench was solid as well, featuring players such as Marcus Liberty, who was highly regarded coming out of the Chicago Public League. There was also P.J Bowman, despite being under six feet, P.J was a very good perimeter shooter. Larry Smith was a solid bench contributor along with Ervin Small. Small as I remember brought some fun to the team and kept them motivated during the NCAA tournament by composing his own rap songs pertinent to the team and it's success. During the course of that season the Illini went undefeated in non-conference play. Among the most memorable non-conference games were a come from behind victory against the Norm Stewart coached Missouri Tigers in the annual "Braggin" Rights Game". The Illini played a Bobby Cremins coached Georgia Tech team at Assembly Hall; a Tech team they had defeated weeks prior. After coming from behind and winning in overtime, the Illini were ranked number one in the country for a moment. In retrospect, this team should have never lost the amount of games that it did and the Illini should have ran away with the Big Ten title, especially since they swept the conference winning Hoosiers. But there were a couple of games that the Illini dropped in the conference to inferior opponents coupled with the fact that one of their most important players, Kendall Gill had been sidelined with an injury for awhile. However there was one unforgettable game, a game that I watched one Sunday afternoon on ABC. The Illini again met Indiana, whom the Illini beat convincingly at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers, looking to clinch the Big Ten Title on their home turf controlled most of the game. But thanks to a Nick Anderson buzzer beater, the Illini came off victorious. Especially sweet because it came against Bobby Knight. Knight was no doubt a Big Ten legend and overall coaching legend but also an abusive, irascible bully. Here is some footage from the final seconds of that game.

The Illini though finishing 2nd in the conference nevertheless attained one of the four # 1 seeds going into the tournament.  Against sixteenth seeded McNeese State, the game wasn't as close as the final score would suggest. The Illini were then able to get past a Ball State team coached by the highly regarded Rick Majerus in Round 2. Advancing to the Sweet Sixteen, Illinois beat a veteran Louisville team lead by future #1 draft pick Pervis Ellison and also guided by successful coach Denny Crum. In the Elite Eight, Illinois overcame a 14 point deficit against a Jim Boeheim coached Syracuse team that featured another future #1 pick in Derrick Coleman as well as players Sherman Douglas and Billy Owens to advance to the Final Four. The Illini met up with Michigan in the national semifinal; a team they had swept in the Big Ten that season in convincing fashion. That Michigan team led by future NBA players such as Glen Rice, Loy Vaught and Terry Mills finished third in the conference and was granted a number three seeding in the NCCA's. Shortly before the tournament, head coach Bill Frieder was ousted after it was revealed that he accepted the Arizona State coaching position. With assistant coach Steve Fisher at the helms as interim head coach, Michigan defeated some very good teams to advance to the Final Four themselves. Beating a team 3 times in a row is difficult, but I honestly thought the Illini would pull it out. There were some things about this Illinois team however that came back to  haunt them. The Illini were a dominant, high scoring team unquestionably, but the team had players in the range of 6'6-6'8. Illinois lacked a true dominant interior post presence. At times they seemed to struggle in a physical half-court tempo. The Wolverines throughout the game played the Illini differently than they did earlier in the season. Michigan controlled the tempo, using their size to their advantage. It also didn't help that with a considerable amount of time left in the second half, Illini center Lowell Hamilton fouled out of the game. It looked as if Michigan would pull away but the Illini stayed in the game. With the game tied 81-81, Michigan's Terry Mills missed what would have been the game winning three pointer. However, Nick Anderson failed to box out Sean Higgins; Higgins putting in the winning basket off the offensive rebound. The Illini had one more chance with one second remaining but couldn't get a shot off.  This was indeed a bitter, disappointing, numbing, shocking end to an otherwise great season. Michigan went on to defeat P.J Carlisimo's Seton Hall Pirates in overtime a couple of days later to win the national title. As good a team as Seton Hall was, there was no doubt the Illini would have obliterated them in the national championship game. The Flying Illini featured seven players that went on to play on a professional level after their career at Illinois. Kendall Gill and Nick Anderson were high first round picks and had long, productive careers in the NBA. Kenny Battle along with Steve Bardo did play in the NBA even though their careers were short lived. Lowell Hamilton despite not being drafted by an NBA team played overseas for awhile. Even though Lowell would be too small at 6'8 to play center in the NBA, I never understood why he still didn't draw the interest of some NBA teams. He was a strong, athletic, explosive player and could have made the transition to the forward position. Marcus Liberty, who at one time was thought by some during his Public League days to be the "Next Jordan"; he played in the NBA but his career wasn't long and productive as was intended. Even Ervin Small according to my recollection had played professional ball in Turkey. Unfortunately later on in his life, Small encountered some legal problems as far as the late 90s which led to him being incarcerated. No doubt this Flying Illini team ranks among the greatest teams in Division 1 history not to win it all. I never cared too much for Michigan in basketball or football. But credit has to be given where credit is due. They had a good game plan. They beat the Illini fair and square. There is nothing that can be done to change that. Obviously more than 20 years later, coaches and players from both sides have obviously moved on to other chapters in their personal lives. As Illinois fans the only thing we can do is sit back and wonder: If only Nick Anderson would have boxed out on Sean Higgins!!  What could and should have been!!!