Oct
10
The orange nation at the cavernous baseball stadium held their mouths in exasperation as the stout lefty with pogo-stick legs flashed through the center of the lane. Receiving the ball over his left shoulder, the southpaw sprung quickly, releasing a shot over the outstretched hands of the predatory defense. Clanging off the back rim and catapulting straight up into the air, the suspended ball held the fate of a game and a nation on its rubber exterior.
While that shot would fall for former University of Illinois power forward Kenny Battle in the final 30 seconds of the 1989 Final Four game versus Michigan, it would unfortunately be his last as an Illini. With the score now tied, the Wolverines would run down the clock for a last-second shot, a Rumeal Robinson whiff that was rebounded by freshman Sean Higgins and laid in for an 83-81 Michigan lead with one second left.
Michigan would then intercept a full-court Illini pass to end the game and the collegiate career of Battle, who is 43 years old today. Two nights later, sharpshooter Glen Rice would lead the three-seed Wolverines past Seton Hall in the NCAA Championship game.
After spending his first two college seasons at Northern Illinois, Battle would transfer to Illinois in 1986 and later become part of one of the greatest teams in school history, the 1988-1989 Flying Illini.
Battle was just one of several future NBA players on that Illini squad, including Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson and Marcus Liberty. Like Roger Powell on the Illini’s next Final Four team some 16 years later, Battle would flank the power forward position at an undersized height of 6’6’’. What Powell and Battle may have lacked in the ideal height for that position, they made up with efficiency and incredible jumping skills, respectively. Battle would go down as most likely the greatest dunker in Illinois history.
Battle would get selected by the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft and then get traded on draft day to the Phoenix Suns. Battle would play four seasons in the NBA, with stints with the Suns, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics.
by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
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The orange nation at the cavernous baseball stadium held their mouths in exasperation as the stout lefty with pogo-stick legs flashed through the center of the lane. Receiving the ball over his left shoulder, the southpaw sprung quickly, releasing a shot over the outstretched hands of the predatory defense. Clanging off the back rim and catapulting straight up into the air, the suspended ball held the fate of a game and a nation on its rubber exterior. 
