Good Morning, Illini Nation: Next to get the HOF call?
· Yahoo Sports
Sep. 6—Ayo Dosunmu and James Augustine will be inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame next weekend. Those two will join Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle, Lou Boudreau, Tal Brody, Dee Brown, Chuck Carney, Jerry Colangelo, Harry Combes, Dave Downey, Dike Eddleman, Walter Evers, Don Freeman, Kiwane Garris, Kendall Gill, George Halas, Bill Hapac, Derek Harper, Lou Henson, Mannie Jackson, Eddie Johnson, Red Kerr, Ken Norman, Andy Phillip, Hugh Ray, Jack Smiley, Don Sunderlage, Deon Thomas, Gene Vance, Nick Weatherspoon, Deron Williams, Frank Williams, Tug Wilson and Ray Woods as inductees.
Fitting a basketball school, Illinois hoops is well represented in the hall. Stil, it begs the question, who's next? Which former Illini basketball player will get inducted in the coming years?
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I've got some options to consider:
Brian Cook
This one seems like a no brainer. Cook is the No. 6 all-time leading scorer in program history with 1,748 career points. His No. 34 jersey hangs in the State Farm Center thanks to his 2003 Big Ten Player of the Year honor. The Lincoln native is also eighth on the all-time rebounding list, set the program's single-season record for free throw efficiency (87.3 percent) in 2001-02 and wound up a first-round NBA draft pick.
Bruce Douglas
Another for the, "How is he not in yet?" category. Douglas also has his No. 25 jersey hanging at State Farm Center and was named to Illinois' All-Century. His impact as a two-way backcourt threat was reflected in the fact he finished his Illinois career as the Big Ten's all-time leader in assists (765) and steals (324), and he still checks in third and second, respectively, in those rankings. Douglas has four of the 10 best assist average seasons in Illini history and racked up several All-Big Ten and All-American honors.
Skip Thoren
Before there was Kofi Cockburn, there was Thoren putting up double-double after double-double. The 6-foot-9 center averaged a double-double for his Illinois career despite putting up just 5.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in his debut sophomore season. Following that up with two massively productive seasons — 20.3 ppg and 13.8 rpg in 1963-64 and 22.2 ppg and 14.5 rpg in 1964-65 — made up the difference. Thoren is another former Illini with his No. 35 jersey in the SFC rafters, and he was a First Team All-American as a senior.
Brad Underwood
Stay with me here. Henson rightfully earned his place in the Illinois hall of fame (even if it wasn't the first class like it should have been) after winning 423 games in Champaign and leading the Illini to a dozen NCAA tournament appearances. Underwood has a ways to go on the wins front at 193 and counting, but he's already got an Elite Eight and a Final Four on his résumé. Say Underwood coaches through his current contract and is with Illinois through the 2035-36 season. Going off his average number of wins the past seven seasons, he could hit top 430 wins by the end of that run.