Illinois trudged through a stiff field that year and met a talented Arizona team in the Elite 8. The game featured No. 1 Illinois vs. No. 3 Arizona.
The Wildcats had NBA talent on that team. Channing Frye still plays in the NBA and Salim Stoudamire and Hassan Adams both saw their fair share of action at the next level.
Illinois didn’t have a bad team themselves.
Deron Williams continues his NBA career and has been to Western Conference Finals and won Olympic Gold.
Williams also had a great cast around him.