Chicago native helped Illinois basketball to a Big Ten Conference title and national prominence in the mid-1980s.

"Very humble, very generous and very loving," Illinois teammate and close friend Bruce Douglas said of Winters. "You could always count on Big E.” ...

"He the nicest guy I ever played basketball with," former Illini teammate Doug Altenberger ... Atlanta Hawks in the fourth round of the 1986 NBA draft. He didn't make the Hawks, and never played ...

To scores of Fighting Illini fans in the 1980s, the lob pass from Bruce Douglas to Efrem Winters was both a thing of beauty ...

Illini star Kasparas Jakucionis was held to season lows in points (three) and minutes (nine) because of foul trouble.

On Jan. 2, the Illini set a national record for largest road win over an Associated Press Top 25 team when they trashed No. 9 ...