I’ve made a list of all former Illini who are playing professional basketball. Most fans know about Deron Williams, and the other Illini in the NBA, so I wanted to focus on all the other Pros who are out there.
Of course Deron plays for the Jazz, while Luther Head is a Rocket, and Brian Cook and James Augustine are on the Orlando Magic. There was one other former Illini who was in the NBA this past season, none other than Awvee Storey. Storey only played one season for the Illini, in the Lon Kruger era before transferring to Arizona State. He’s bounced around the NBA and has also had stints in Venezuela, South Korea, the USBL and the NBA development league.
In total there are 22 players who either played this past season for a pro team or are currently playing in the NBA summer leagues. You could call these guys the Illini Globetrotters, as it seems almost all points on the globe are covered.
Here’s the breakdown — after the jump.
Shaun Pruitt: on the New Orleans Hornets summer league team that will compete in Las Vegas from July 11th through the 20th. Supposedly has offers on the table to play in Spain and Greece amongst other places.
Brian Randle: on the summer league roster of the team formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics.
Dee Brown: played for Galatasaray in the Turkish Basketball League, averaged 12 points and 5 assists a game. Played in the 07-08 European All Star game. Participating on the Detroit Pistons summer league team.
Aaron Spears: Transferred out of Illinois for St. John’s after two seasons. Played last season with the Gary Steelheads of the IBL.
Warren Carter: Mutlu Aku Selcuk in the Turkish Leauge. Averaged 17 points this past season.
Roger Powell Jr: played for Teramo Basket in Italy’s top league Serie A, averaged 13 points this past season.
Jack Ingram: played for Helios in the Slovenian League, averaged 13 points a game.
Frank Williams: playing on the New Orleans Hornets summer league team.
Cory Bradford: played this past season in Hungary for Albacomp. Has played in Hungary for a number of years, as well as a season in the French league.
Cleotis Brown: played for Quimsa in the Argentine league this past season.
Robert Archibald: Just recently signed with Unicaja in the Spanish ACB league after playing the past season with Azovmash Mariupol in the Ukrainian Super League where he was named playoffs MVP in helping lead Azovmash to the Ukrainian title. A member of the Great Britain national team.
Damir Krupalija: played for JDA Dijon in France’s top league: Pro A, averaged 12 points this past season. A member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
Jarrod Gee: Played last year for the Daegu Orions in the Korean league.
Ryan Blackwell: Only played one year for the Illini in the late ‘90s. Last year played for the Sendai 89ers in the Japanese league.
Kiwane Garris: Played for Premiata Montegranaro in Italy’s Serie A, averaged 10 points this past season.
Shelly Clark: Juco transfer who only played two years for Illinois. Apparently played last season in the Korean league.
Deon Thomas: Played with Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli league this past season. Has played in Israel, Spain, Greece and Bulgaria.