Those young men in the header picture are heroes.
That’s the 2012-13 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team, and they were a small part of how Illinois defeated the No. 2 Texas Longhorns in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
Ten years ago, first-year Illini head coach John Groce inherited virtually the entire roster pictured above from Bruce Weber, adding forward Sam McLaurin to a squad led by senior guards Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson. The change in coaching style invigorated the veterans enough that the team earned a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
After defeating Colorado in the opening round, they met Jim Larranaga’s 2nd-seeded Miami Hurricanes.