2014–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

2014–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
2014–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Las Vegas Invitational champions
NIT, First round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	19–14 (9–9 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Groce (3rd season);
Assistant coaches	Dustin Ford (3rd season); Paris Parham (3rd season); Jamall Walker (3rd season);
MVP	Nnanna Egwu
MVP	Rayvonte Rice
Captains	Tracy Abrams; Nnanna Egwu; Rayvonte Rice; Ahmad Starks;
Home arena	State Farm Center
	Seasons ← 2013–14 2015–16 →

The 2014–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by third-year head coach John Groce, the Illini played their home games at State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 19–14, 9–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost in the second round of the Big Ten tournament to Michigan. They received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Alabama.

2014–15 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Wisconsin †	16	–	2	.889	36	–	4	.900
No. 12 Maryland	14	–	4	.778	28	–	7	.800
No. 23 Michigan State	12	–	6	.667	27	–	12	.692
Iowa	12	–	6	.667	22	–	12	.647
Purdue	12	–	6	.667	21	–	13	.618
Ohio State	11	–	7	.611	24	–	11	.686
Indiana	9	–	9	.500	20	–	14	.588
Illinois	9	–	9	.500	19	–	14	.576
Michigan	8	–	10	.444	16	–	16	.500
Minnesota	6	–	12	.333	18	–	15	.545
Northwestern	6	–	12	.333	15	–	17	.469
Nebraska	5	–	13	.278	13	–	18	.419
Penn State	4	–	14	.222	18	–	16	.529
Rutgers	2	–	16	.111	10	–	22	.313

† 2015 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Illini finished the 2013–14 season 20–15, 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They received a bid to the NIT where they advanced to the second round before losing to Clemson.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Joseph Bertrand	2	SG	6'6"	200	RS Senior	Sterling, IL	Graduated/Pro for Larochette
Jon Ekey	33	F	6'7"	225	GS Senior	Independence, MO	Graduated/Pro for Saitama Broncos

2014 recruiting class

Leron Black joined the Fighting Illini as the first recruit from the Memphis, Tennessee area since the 1997–98 season when Cory Bradford suited up for the Fighting Illini.^[1] Black is the reigning Tennessee Mr. Basketball and is Illinois' highest rated recruit since Portland Trail Blazers Forward-center Meyers Leonard.^[2]

Michael Finke joins Rayvonte Rice as the second player on the Fighting Illini roster from Centennial High School in Champaign, Illinois. Finke also follows the footsteps of his father, Jeff Finke, who lettered in basketball as a forward for the 1986–87 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team and then lettered in football as a tight end for the Fighting Illini from 1988–1990.^[3]^[4]

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Leron Black PF	Memphis, TN	White Station (TN)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sep 1, 2013
Leron Black PF	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Michael Finke PF	Champaign, IL	Centennial (IL)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Dec 12, 2012
Michael Finke PF	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2014 Illinois Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 24, 2014. "2014 Illinois Basketball Commitment List". Scout.com. Retrieved March 24, 2014. "2014 Illinois Basketball Commitment List". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 24, 2014. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved March 24, 2014. "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 24, 2014. "2014–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team". 247sports.com. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

Walk-ons

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Alex Austin G	Chicago, IL	Mount Carmel / Eastern Illinois	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jul 1, 2014
Alex Austin G	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 85
Cameron Liss F	Northbrook, IL	Glenbrook North	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jul 1, 2014
Cameron Liss F	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Ryan Schmidt G	Bloomington, IL	Bloomington Central Catholic	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jan 23, 2015
Ryan Schmidt G	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

Roster

2014–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	1	Jaylon Tate	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	Simeon High School	Chicago, IL
G	3	Ahmad Starks (C)	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	RS Sr	Whitney Young High School	Chicago, IL
G	10	Mike LaTulip	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Prospect High School	Arlington Heights, IL
G	11	Aaron Cosby (S)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	RS Jr	Northfield Mount Hermon School/Seton Hall	Louisville, KY
F	12	Leron Black	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Fr	White Station High School	Memphis, TN
G	13	Tracy Abrams (C)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Mount Carmel High School	Chicago, IL
G	14	Ryan Schmidt (W)	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Bloomington Central Catholic High School	Bloomington, IL
G	21	Malcolm Hill	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	So	Belleville High School-East	Belleville, IL
C	22	Maverick Morgan	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	So	Springboro High School	Springboro, OH
G	24	Rayvonte Rice (C)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	RS Sr	Centennial High School/Drake	Champaign, IL
G	25	Kendrick Nunn	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Simeon High School	Chicago, IL
F	31	Austin Colbert	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Gill St. Bernard's School	Chesapeake, VA
F/C	32	Nnanna Egwu (C)	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Sr	St. Ignatius High School	Chicago, IL
F	43	Michael Finke	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	Centennial High School	Champaign, IL
G	44	Alex Austin (W)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Mount Carmel High School	Chicago, IL
F	45	Cameron Liss (W)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Glenbrook North High School	Northbrook, IL

Head coach

John Groce (Taylor)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2015-02-26

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
F/C	Nnanna Egwu	Maverick Morgan
F	Malcolm Hill	Leron Black	Austin Colbert	Cameron Liss
G	Rayvonte Rice
G	Kendrick Nunn	Ryan Schmidt
G	Jaylon Tate	Ahmad Starks	Mike LaTulip

^[5]

Regular season

Injuries

On September 11, it was announced that senior point guard Tracy Abrams suffered a torn ACL to his right knee during preseason workouts which will cause him to miss the entire 2014–15 season. The injury forced Abrams to use a medical redshirt so he can return for the 2015–16 season.^[6] After an 0–2 start to Big Ten Conference play, it was announced on January 6 that redshirt senior guard Rayvonte Rice suffered a broken bone in his left hand during practice and would be sidelined indefinitely. At the time of his injury, Rice was Illinois' leader in scoring, rebounds, and steals.^[7] Illinois suffered another injury that was announced prior to their game against Purdue at home on January 21. Redshirt junior guard Aaron Cosby suffered a retinal tear after being poked in the eye in his left eye during a home loss to Indiana. Cosby underwent laser surgery to repair the tear, which will sideline him up to two weeks.^[8]

Student-manager turned walk-on

On January 23, 2014 head coach John Groce announced the addition of former student-manager Ryan Schmidt to the roster as a walk-on guard after a string of injuries at the position. Schmidt is a senior from Bloomington, Illinois and played high school basketball at Bloomington Central Catholic.^[9]

Aaron Cosby

On February 20, 2015 coach Groce announced that he and redshirt junior guard Aaron Cosby have mutually decided to part ways. Cosby had not played in over a month since suffering an injury to his left eye against Indiana on January 18. While recovering from his injury, he and Rayvonte Rice were indefinitely suspended from play due to a violation of team rules on January 31. Rice returned from suspension in a home win against Michigan, however Cosby remained suspended. Despite no longer being on the roster, Cosby intends to remain enrolled at Illinois and then transfer to another school after graduating in May. Cosby previously played his first two years for Seton Hall and sat out during the 2013–14 season after transferring to Illinois.^[10]^[11]

2004-05 national runner-up anniversary

On December 5, 2014, Illinois announced they would be releasing commemorative bobbleheads to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the 2004-05 Fighting Illini team.^[12] The 2004-05 team finished the season as the 2005 National Runner-up with a 37–2 record, which tied the NCAA record for most wins in a season. During weeknight Big Ten Conference play at home, Illinois will release a bobblehead of the starting lineup of Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Luther Head, Roger Powell, Jr., and James Augustine.^[13]

Schedule and results

Source:^[14]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 7* 7:00 pm		Quincy	W 91–62	–	20 – Hill	13 – Egwu	5 – Tied	State Farm Center (14,422) Champaign, IL
Non-conference regular season
Nov 14* 8:00 pm, ESPN3		Georgia Southern	W 80–71	1–0	24 – Rice	7 – Hill	3 – Tied	State Farm Center (15,626) Champaign, IL
Nov 16* 5:00 pm		Coppin State	W 114–56	2–0	18 – Tied	9 – Hill	7 – Tate	State Farm Center (12,272) Champaign, IL
Nov 21* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Austin Peay Las Vegas Invitational	W 107–66	3–0	16 – Tied	6 – Tied	5 – Tate	State Farm Center (16,337) Champaign, IL
Nov 24* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Brown Las Vegas Invitational	W 89–68	4–0	17 – Cosby	10 – Rice	4 – Tied	State Farm Center (11,422) Champaign, IL
Nov 27* 4:00 pm, FS1		vs. Indiana State Las Vegas Invitational Semifinals	W 88–62	5–0	21 – Rice	8 – Tied	4 – Cosby	Orleans Arena (N/A) Paradise, NV
Nov 28* 9:30 pm, FS1		vs. Baylor Las Vegas Invitational Championship	W 62–54	6–0	17 – Tied	8 – Egwu	5 – Starks	Orleans Arena (N/A) Paradise, NV
Dec 2* 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 24	at No. 15 Miami (FL) ACC–Big Ten Challenge	L 61–70	6–1	22 – Rice	12 – Rice	3 – Hill	BankUnited Center (6,086) Coral Gables, FL
Dec 6* 1:00 pm, ESPN3	No. 24	American	W 70–55	7–1	13 – Hill	7 – Egwu	4 – Tate	State Farm Center (13,924) Champaign, IL
Dec 9* 6:00 pm, ESPN		vs. No. 7 Villanova Jimmy V Classic	L 59–73	7–2	20 – Hill	9 – Egwu	4 – Starks	Madison Square Garden (11,617) New York City, NY
Dec 13* 6:00 pm, BTN		vs. Oregon	L 70–77	7–3	29 – Rice	7 – Tied	4 – Tied	United Center (13,759) Chicago, IL
Dec 17* 6:00 pm, ESPNU		Hampton	W 73–55	8–3	16 – Nunn	8 – Black	3 – Tied	State Farm Center (12,564) Champaign, IL
Dec 20* 1:00 pm, ESPN2		vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 62–59	9–3	19 – Rice	7 – Tied	3 – Rice	Scottrade Center (20,079) St. Louis, MO
Dec 27* 8:00 pm, BTN		Kennesaw State	W 93–45	10–3	21 – Rice	9 – Hill	7 – Tate	State Farm Center (16,158) Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
Dec 30 2:00 pm, ESPN2		at Michigan	L 65–73 ^OT	10–4 (0–1)	19 – Hill	11 – Rice	6 – Rice	Crisler Center (12,707) Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 3 2:30 pm, ESPN2		at No. 20 Ohio State	L 61–77	10–5 (0–2)	20 – Rice	7 – Rice	4 – Tied	Value City Arena (16,028) Columbus, OH
Jan 7 8:00 pm, BTN		No. 11 Maryland	W 64–58	11–5 (1–2)	28 – Hill	9 – Egwu	4 – Tate	State Farm Center (12,896) Champaign, IL
Jan 11 7:30 pm, BTN		at Nebraska	L 43–53	11–6 (1–3)	12 – Hill/Nunn	10 – Egwu	2 – Tied	Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,514) Lincoln, NE
Jan 14 8:00 pm, BTN		at Northwestern Rivalry	W 72–67	12–6 (2–3)	25 – Nunn	6 – Hill	4 – Starks	Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,652) Evanston, IL
Jan 18 12:00 pm, BTN		Indiana Rivalry	L 74–80	12–7 (2–4)	24 – Nunn	9 – Black	6 – Starks	State Farm Center (17,085) Champaign, IL
Jan 21 8:00 pm, BTN		Purdue	W 66–57	13–7 (3–4)	18 – Hill	13 – Black	6 – Tate	State Farm Center (12,965) Champaign, IL
Jan 24 1:15 pm, BTN		at Minnesota	L 71–79	13–8 (3–5)	18 – Tied	9 – Black	9 – Tate	Williams Arena (13,421) Minneapolis, MN
Jan 31 12:00 pm, BTN		Penn State	W 60–58	14–8 (4–5)	27 – Hill	7 – Black	5 – Tate	State Farm Center (14,597) Champaign, IL
Feb 3 8:30 pm, BTN		Rutgers	W 66–54	15–8 (5–5)	21 – Nunn	6 – Nunn	6 – Tate	State Farm Center (12,838) Champaign, IL
Feb 7 11:00 am, ESPN		at Michigan State	W 59–54	16–8 (6–5)	19 – Hill	9 – Egwu	3 – Nunn	Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI
Feb 12 8:00 pm, ESPN		Michigan	W 64–52 ^OT	17–8 (7–5)	21 – Nunn	12 – Egwu	4 – Starks	State Farm Center (17,087) Champaign, IL
Feb 15 12:00 pm, CBS		at No. 5 Wisconsin	L 49–68	17–9 (7–6)	15 – Hill	9 – Egwu	2 – Starks	Kohl Center (17,279) Madison, WI
Feb 22 6:30 pm, BTN		Michigan State	L 53–60	17–10 (7–7)	17 – Hill	5 – Rice	3 – Rice	State Farm Center (16,108) Champaign, IL
Feb 25 8:00 pm, BTN		at Iowa Rivalry	L 60–68	17–11 (7–8)	20 – Rice	9 – Rice	3 – Nunn	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,831) Iowa City, IA
Feb 28 6:00 pm, BTN		Northwestern Rivalry	W 86–60	18–11 (8–8)	19 – Rice	8 – Morgan	3 – Tied	State Farm Center (15,471) Champaign, IL
Mar 4 9:00 pm, BTN		Nebraska	W 69–57	19–11 (9–8)	23 – Rice	8 – Egwu	2 – Tied	State Farm Center (17,085) Champaign, IL
Mar 7 3:30 pm, BTN		at Purdue	L 58–63	19–12 (9–9)	25 – Rice	9 – Egwu	2 – Hill	Mackey Arena (14,846) West Lafayette, IN
Big Ten tournament
Mar 12 11:00 am, BTN	(8)	vs. (9) Michigan second round	L 55–73	19–13	13 – Hill	9 – Rice	2 – Tate	United Center (16,028) Chicago, IL
NIT
Mar 17* 8:00 pm, ESPN	(3)	at (6) Alabama First round	L 58–79	19–14	22 – Hill	8 – Egwu	6 – Hill	Coleman Coliseum (2,348) Tuscaloosa, AL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Honors and awards

On March 9, 2015, The Big Ten Conference announced most of its conference awards.^[15]

Player	Honor
Rayvonte Rice	All-Big Ten Honorable Mention
Malcolm Hill	All-Big Ten Honorable Mention
Nnanna Egwu	All-Defensive Team

References

^ Martin, John (September 1, 2013). "Recruiting Insider: White Station's Leron Black commits to Illinois". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
^ "Class AAA Mr. Basketball Winner: LeRon Black from White Station High School". Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. March 15, 2014. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
^ Tupper, Mark (December 13, 2012). "Centenniall's Finke commits to Illinois". Herald & Review. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
^ "Jeff Finke". Sports Reference. 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
^ "Game 17 Notes IlliniHoops at Nebraska". Archived from the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
^ Parrish, Gary (September 11, 2014). "Illinois point guard Tracy Abrams to miss season with torn ACL". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
^ Ryan, Shannon (January 6, 2015). "Rayvonte Rice, Illini's leading scorer, out indefinitely". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
^ Johnson, Raphielle (January 21, 2015). "Eye injury to sideline Illinois junior guard up to two weeks". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
^ "Ryan Schmidt". Illinois DIA. January 23, 2015. Archived from the original on January 23, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
^ "Illinois guard Aaron Cosby will transfer". Sports Illustrated. February 20, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
^ Jackson, Marcus (February 20, 2015). "Groce on Cosby: 'I wish him nothing but the best'". News-Gazette. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
^ Johnson, Raphielle (December 5, 2014). "Illinois to honor starters on 2004-05 national runner-up squad with commemorative bobbleheads". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
^ "2004-05 'Starting 5' bobblehead set commemorates 10-year anniversary of historic season". Illinois DIA. January 15, 2015. Archived from the original on January 18, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
^ "2014-15 Men's Basketball Schedule".
^ "2014-15 All-Big Ten Men's Basketball Team" (PDF). CSTV.com. March 9, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 29, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2015.

[1] Martin, John (September 1, 2013). "Recruiting Insider: White Station's Leron Black commits to Illinois". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved November 12, 2014.

[TSSAA_Mr._Basketball_2014-2] "Class AAA Mr. Basketball Winner: LeRon Black from White Station High School". Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. March 15, 2014. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2014.

[3] Tupper, Mark (December 13, 2012). "Centenniall's Finke commits to Illinois". Herald & Review. Retrieved November 12, 2014.

[4] "Jeff Finke". Sports Reference. 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014.

[depth-5] "Game 17 Notes IlliniHoops at Nebraska". Archived from the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2015.

[CBS_Abrams_Injury-6] Parrish, Gary (September 11, 2014). "Illinois point guard Tracy Abrams to miss season with torn ACL". CBS Sports. Retrieved January 22, 2015.

[Tribune_Rice_Injury-7] Ryan, Shannon (January 6, 2015). "Rayvonte Rice, Illini's leading scorer, out indefinitely". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2015.

[NBC_Cosby_Injury-8] Johnson, Raphielle (January 21, 2015). "Eye injury to sideline Illinois junior guard up to two weeks". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 22, 2015.

[9] "Ryan Schmidt". Illinois DIA. January 23, 2015. Archived from the original on January 23, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2015.

[10] "Illinois guard Aaron Cosby will transfer". Sports Illustrated. February 20, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.

[11] Jackson, Marcus (February 20, 2015). "Groce on Cosby: 'I wish him nothing but the best'". News-Gazette. Retrieved February 23, 2015.

[12] Johnson, Raphielle (December 5, 2014). "Illinois to honor starters on 2004-05 national runner-up squad with commemorative bobbleheads". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 21, 2015.

[13] "2004-05 'Starting 5' bobblehead set commemorates 10-year anniversary of historic season". Illinois DIA. January 15, 2015. Archived from the original on January 18, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2015.

[14] "2014-15 Men's Basketball Schedule".

[15] "2014-15 All-Big Ten Men's Basketball Team" (PDF). CSTV.com. March 9, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 29, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2015.

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