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The most experienced player on the roster, Victor has played in more games than any of his current teammates, a total of 97.
AT ILLINOIS
1998-99 Junior: Played in all 32 games and started 24 ... Averaged 21.0 minutes per game ... Recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds against Texas-Pan American (11/28) ... Also recorded double-doubles against Indiana (2/24) with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Minnesota (3/4) with 12 points and 10 boarads ... Had four double-figure rebounding games ... Notched a career high scoring effort against Penn State (1/23) with 14 points ... The following week against Michigan (1/30) he scored only four points but his last field goal was a valuable one–it was the basket that gave the Illini the 61-59 victory breaking a seven-games losing streak ... Held scoreless twice (Northwestern 1/9, Wisconsin 2/6) ... Was 6-for-13 from the floor against Northwestern (2/17) and scored 12 points to go along with his five rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal ... His 178 points last year are 26 more than he scored in his first two seasons combined (152) ... Averaged 8.4 points in the Illini’s last seven games, including 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in four Big Ten tournament games ... Voted the Kenny Battle Most Inspirational Player by his teammates ... Averaged 11.1 points and 6.0 rebounds in the Illini’s seven-game Australia tour in May while shooting 65.5 percent from the field.
1997-98 Sophomore: Played a season-high 23 minutes against Penn State (Jan. 31), also saw 20 minutes of action against Wichita State (Nov. 27) and Wisconsin (Feb. 7) ... Led Illinois with a career-high 10 rebounds against Georgia Southern (Nov. 21) ... In 12 minutes of action against Texas (Dec. 20), Victor had seven points and six rebounds ... Played 14 minutes and had two rebounds, two steals, an assist and one block in the Illini’s 76-64 win at Iowa (Jan. 8) ... Had a season-high 10 points against Michigan (Jan. 25) to go along with five rebounds and two blocks ... CBS Player of the Game vs. Michigan ... Led the Illini in rebounding with nine boards in the 84-63 win against Michigan State (Feb. 12) ... Averaged 2.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in Big Ten games, and 2.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in all games ... He averaged 6.6 rpg over the last five games of the regular season.
1996-97 Freshman: Played in every game, averaging 10.6 minutes of action ... Shot 46 percent from the floor (37-for-81) ... Averaged 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds ... In Big Ten play, he averaged 1.8 ppg and 1.6 rpg ... Averaged five points and two rebounds in two NCAA Tournament games (vs. Southern Cal, he was 2-of-3 from the line and had four points, one rebound and an assist in 12 minutes of action ... vs. Tennessee-Chattanooga, he was 3-of-6 from the field for six points, had three rebounds and a steal in 19 minutes on the floor) ... Scored a season-high 12 points against Chicago State on 6-of-9 shooting ... Was a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor and scored eight points at Penn State, while also blocking a season-high three shots ... Played 19 minutes against the Nittany Lions, a high in Big Ten games.
HIGH SCHOOL
Earned all-state honors from the Champaign News-Gazette and Chicago Sun-Times ... An Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All-Star selection ... A first-team All-Central State Eight Conference pick ... Started all four years at Lanphier ... Averaged 16.1 points and 9.7 rebounds as a senior, shooting .623 (182-of-292) from the field and 7-of-22 (.318) from three-point range ... Led Lanphier (25-4) with 56 blocked shots as a senior ... Averaged 14.8 points and 9.5 rebounds for a 22-6 team as a junior ... Rose to among the nation’s top 75 recruits as listed by Bob Gibbons over the summer of 1995 after being the fourth-leading rebounder at the Adidas camp in New Jersey ... Rated as one of the top 10 high school power forwards by Basketball Weekly following his senior season.
PERSONAL
Born March 28, 1978 ... Pronounced "choo-koo-DAY-bay", his name means "The Lord Keepeth" ... Finished third in the discus at the Illinois Class AA State Track & Field Championships in 1996 ... Native-born Nigerian who came to the United States at age four with mother, Florence, to join his father, Victor, who currently teaches economics at Springfield College of Illinois ... Was president of the Lanphier Senior Class in 1995-96 ... Also a member of the Chemistry Club and played trumpet in the band ... Was a counselor for Lanphier’s Peer Mediation Group, which worked to solve disputes between students ... High School coach was Craig Patton ... Majoring in sports management.
Chukwudebe’s Career Statistics
| Year | G-GS | MIN-Avg | FGM-A/% | 3PM-A/% | FTM-A/% | OR-DR -- TOT/Avg | PF-DQ | A | TO | B | S | PTS/Avg |
| 96-97 | 32-0 | 338-10.6 | 37-81/.457 | 0-0/.000 | 12- 23/.522 | 26- 43 -- 69/2.2 | 59-0 | 5 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 86- 2.7 |
| 97-98 | 33-0 | 432-13.1 | 25-68/.368 | 0-1/.000 | 16- 23/.696 | 45- 65 -- 110/3.3 | 71-1 | 8 | 17 | 19 | 13 | 66- 2.0 |
| 98-99 | 32-24 | 673-21.0 | 78-175/.446 | 0-1/.000 | 22- 35/.629 | 63- 95 -- 158/4.9 | 90-2 | 16 | 28 | 20 | 22 | 178- 5.6 |
| Totals | 97-24 | 1443-14.9 | 140-324/.432 | 0-1/.000 | 50- 81/.627 | 134-203 -- 337/3.5 | 220-3 | 29 | 57 | 53 | 47 | 330- 3.4 |
Chukwudebe’s Career Highs
| Points | 14 vs. Penn State (1/23/99) |
| FG | 6 seven times, last vs. Ohio St. (3/6/99) |
| FGA | 13 vs. Northwestern (2/17/99) |
| - | 13 vs. Indiana (2/24/99) |
| 3P | 0 |
| 3PA | 1 vs. Penn State (1/23/99) |
| FT | 3 four times, last vs. Michigan St. (1/16/99) |
| FTA | 5 vs. Saint Louis (11/20/98) |
| Rebounds | 13 vs. UT-Pan American (11/28/98) |
| Assists | 2 five times, last vs. Ohio St. (3/6/99) |
| Blocks | 4 vs. Minnesota (3/4/99) |
| Steals | 4 vs. Clemson (12/29/98) |
| Fouls | 5, three times; last vs. Iowa (2/21/99) |
