CHICAGO — Over two decades have passed since the University of Illinois made a memorable run to the Final Four, only to face disappointment in the NCAA National Championship game. The shadow of that loss still hangs over the Fighting Illini.
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Now, alumni from the 2005 Final Four team are rallying behind hopes for a triumphant March Madness campaign in 2026.
“It’s a daily reminder,” shared Dee Brown. “To have winning as your goal and not achieving it—it’s painful.”
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“I’ve been to the Final Four twice, once as a player and once as an assistant coach, and both times ended in heartbreak,” Roger Powell Jr. reflected. “It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
In 2005, Powell and Brown were key players in Illinois’s magical run. Today, they are reliving those memories while placing their hopes in a new generation of Illini players.
“You can’t hide togetherness, you can’t hide,” Brown said. “They embrace that they have a freshman leading them, they’re embracing their roles, and they’re playing their best basketball at the right time.”
Brown and Powell are both head coaches now and cherish the bond basketball brought them, so they offered this advice as the Illini shoot for their one shining moment.
“They need to document it, they need to embrace it, bring your family around it,” Brown said. “It’s a really good moment and its really hard to do. I just hope that they understand that.”
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“It goes so fast. Take it in, the national anthem, the practice with the fans,” Powell said. “Don’t allow this moment to pass by. Get the moment, don’t let it pass you by, but then it’s business and its payback on Saturday.”
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