Presented is Nick Anderson’s 1997-98 University of Illinois NCAA Qualifier and Rebounds plaque presented to the former Fighting Illini standout by the college. The 3 x 9 x 12-inch brown and black woodgrain plaque features a 2½ x 3 x 8-inch gold plastic figure of a basketball player on a base at the bottom front, and a 4 x 6-inch gold metal plaque engraved with the legend “University of Illinois N.C.A.A. Qualifier 1987-88 Rebounds Nick Anderson”.  Anderson, a Chicago high school standout, attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for two years, playing on the team that reached the NCAA Final Four in 1989; that Fighting Illini team was given the nickname "Flyin' Illini" by ESPN’s Dick Vitale. Among Anderson's teammates were Kendall Gill, Stephen Bardo, Kenny Battle, Lowell Hamilton, and Marcus Liberty; all of these except Hamilton would go on to play in the NBA. The 1987-88 season brought Illinois coach Lou Henson his 500th career victory and laid the foundation for what would be an incredible history making season in 1988-1989. Anderson, a sophomore that season, collected 525 points and 217 rebounds that year as the Illini finished 23-10, losing to Villanova in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

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