Top 25 Illini: Greatest five basketball players in program history revealed

Andy Phillip, the leader of the legendary Whiz Kids from the World War II era, is the only Fighting Illini player named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1961. Phillip is our greatest Illini of all-time, and he was a transformational figure in the history of college basketball.

Phillip is a member of the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame and the Illini basketball All-Century team. He was the Sporting News national player of the year in 1943. He earned first-team All-American honors in 1942, 1943, and in 1947 after returning from military service. He was named the Big Ten most valuable player in 1943.

Phillip led his high school in Granite City, Illinois, to the IHSA state championship in 1940 by defeating Herrin at Huff Gym on the UI campus. Recruited by coach Doug Mills to Illinois, Phillip was the lead of a squad that included Ken Menke, Gene Vance, Jack Smiley, and team captain Art Mathisen.

Arguably the most talented basketball team in the nation, Phillip and his teammates would elect not to participate in the NCAA tournament based on the Army's draft of Mathisen, Menke, and Smiley. Phillip served as a first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in World War II at Iwo Jima.

Phillip played in the first five NBA All-Star Games. He was twice named to the All-NBA second team. He was was the first player to record 500 assists in a season. He reached the postseason every year he was in the league and his teams made it to the NBA Finals during his final four seasons

Phillip died at his home in California in 2001 at age 79.