1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1960-61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. Not Ranked
AP No. Not Ranked
1960-61 record 9-15 (5-9 Big Ten)
Head coach Harry Combes
Assistant coach Howie Braun
Assistant coach Jim Wright
MVP Dave Downey
Captain Selected each game
Home arena Huff Hall
1960–61 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
#1 Ohio State14–0 1.000  27–1  .964
#7 Iowa10–4 .714  18–6  .750
Purdue10–4 .714  16–7  .696
Indiana8–6 .571  15–9  .625
Minnesota8–6 .571  10–13  .435
Northwestern6–8 .429  10–12  .455
Illinois5–9 .357  9–15  .375
Wisconsin4–10 .286  7–17  .292
Michigan State3–11 .214  7–17  .292
Michigan2–12 .143  6–18  .250
Rankings from https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/big-ten/1961.html

The 1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

Head coach Harry Combes experienced the worst record of his 20 years at the University of Illinois. His Fighting Illini basketball team, for the second year in a row, played in a mid-season tournament. The tournament they would compete in would be the Kentucky Invitational Tournament held at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky December 21–22.

The 1960-61 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer and team "MVP" Dave Downey. It also saw the return of Jerry Colangelo, John Wessels, Bill Burwell, Bill Small, as well as Doug Mills. The Illini also added sophomore Bob Starnes to their lineup. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 5 wins and 9 losses, finishing 7th in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 9 wins and 15 losses. The starting lineup included Bill Burwell at the center position, Bill Small and Jerry Colangelo at guard and Dave Downey and John Wessels at the forward slots.[1]

Roster

1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
C 10 John Wessels 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)210 lb (95 kg) SrRockford West High School Rockford, Illinois
F 20 Jerry Renner 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrEast High School Aurora, Illinois
G 21 Sam Leeper 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)165 lb (75 kg) JrUnity High School Tolono, Illinois
G 22 Jay Lovelace 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)165 lb (75 kg) SoCarbondale Community High School Carbondale, Illinois
G 23 Jerry Colangelo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)175 lb (79 kg) JrBloom High School Chicago Heights, Illinois
C 25 Bill Burwell 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)243 lb (110 kg) SoBoys High School Brooklyn, New York
G 30 Jeff Ferguson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)180 lb (82 kg) FrBenton Consolidated High School Benton, Illinois
G 31 Doug Mills 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)165 lb (75 kg) JrGalesburg High School Galesburg, Illinois
F 33 James Knoefel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrValparaiso High School Valparaiso, Indiana
F 34 Gary McClung 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)185 lb (84 kg) JrMaroa-Forsyth High School Maroa, Illinois
F 40 Dave Downey 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)200 lb (91 kg) SoCanton High School Canton, Illinois
G 41 Jerry Curless 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)160 lb (73 kg) JrVIT High School Table Grove, Illinois
F 42 Ed Searcy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)185 lb (84 kg) JrAttucks High School Indianapolis, Indiana
F 44 Bob Starnes 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)180 lb (82 kg) SoGage Park High School Chicago, Illinois
G 51 Bill Mohlenbrock 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)178 lb (81 kg) SoMurphysboro High School Murphysboro, Illinois
G 53 Bill Small 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)185 lb (84 kg) SoWest Aurora High School Aurora, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (24th year)
  • Jim Wright (University of Illinois) (3rd year)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[2]

Schedule

Source[3]

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state[4]
Non-Conference regular season
12/1/1960*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Creighton W 99-74  1-0
 Huff Hall (6,708)
Champaign, IL
12/6/1960*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Butler W 84-52  2-0
 Huff Hall (6,689)
Champaign, IL
12/12/1960*
no, no		 No. NR @ Colorado L 81-90  2-1
 Balch Fieldhouse (4,100)
Boulder, CO
12/17/1960*
no, no		 No. NR @ Marquette L 88-96  2-2
 Marquette Gymnasium (8,440)
Milwaukee, WI
12/19/1960*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Washington State W 79-58  3-2
 Huff Hall (3,507)
Champaign, IL
12/21/1960*
no, no		 No. NR @ Kentucky
Kentucky Invitational Tournament		 L 78-83  3-3
 Memorial Coliseum (7,500)
Lexington, KY
12/22/1960*
no, no		 No. NR vs. California
Kentucky Invitational Tournament		 L 54-72  3-4
 Memorial Coliseum (8,000)
Lexington, KY
12/27/1960*
no, no		 No. NR @ Butler L 68-70  3-5
 Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,100)
Indianapolis, IN
12/28/1960*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Notre Dame L 66-69  3-6
 Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,591)
Indianapolis, IN
Big Ten regular season
1/7/1961
no, no		 No. NR @ Ohio State (#1) L 65-91  3-7 (0-1)
 St. John Arena (13,408)
Columbus, OH
1/14/1961
no, no		 No. NR vs. Michigan W 88-64  4-7 (1-1)
 Huff Hall (6,705)
Champaign, IL
1/16/1961
no, no		 No. NR @ Iowa (#6) L 71-78  4-8 (1-2)
 Iowa Field House (12,700)
Iowa City, IA
1/28/1961*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Notre Dame W 77-62  5-8
 Chicago Stadium (11,800)
Chicago, IL
1/30/1961
no, no		 No. NR vs. Michigan State W 93-92  6-8 (2-2)
 Huff Hall (3,132)
Champaign, IL
2/4/1961
no, no		 No. NR @ Minnesota W 65-60  7-8 (3-2)
 Williams Arena (12,001)
Minneapolis, MN
2/6/1961
no, no		 No. NR vs. Wisconsin W 77-73  8-8 (4-2)
 Huff Hall (6,775)
Champaign, IL
2/11/1961
no, no		 No. NR @ Purdue L 73-89  8-9 (4-3)
 Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000)
West Lafayette, IN
2/18/1961
no, no		 No. NR vs. Northwestern L 72-78  8-10 (4-4)
 Huff Hall (6,569)
Champaign, IL
2/20/1961
no, no		 No. NR @ Michigan State L 80-90  8-11 (4-5)
 Jenison Fieldhouse (4,185)
East Lansing, MI
2/25/1961
no, no		 No. NR @ Indiana
Rivalry		 L 82-93  8-12 (4-6)
 New Fieldhouse (600)
Bloomington, IN
2/27/1961
no, no		 No. NR vs. Minnesota L 76-85  8-13 (4-7)
 Huff Hall (6,569)
Champaign, IL
3/4/1961
no, no		 No. NR vs. Purdue W 85-75  9-13 (5-7)
 Huff Hall (6,891)
Champaign, IL
3/6/1961
no, no		 No. NR @ Michigan L 66-74  9-14 (5-8)
 Yost Field House (2,000)
Ann Arbor, MI
3/11/1961
no, no		 No. NR vs. Ohio State (#1) L 66–95  9-15 (5-9)
 Huff Hall (6,912)
Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Points
Dave Downey2415788267402
Jerry Colangelo241287194327
John Wessels2411983217321
Bill Burwell2411757207291
Bill Small22734256188
Bob Starnes2429256183
Doug Mills2126201572
Ed Searcy1323126258
Jerry Curless2217133847
Jerry Renner191122224
Jeff Ferguson112549
Jay Lovelace72226
Sam Leeper71252
Bill Mohlenbrock20010
Butch Jones10010

[5]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA Club Round Pick
John WesselsChicago Packers 8 8

[7]

References

  1. ↑ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. ↑ Men's Basketball Roster
  3. ↑ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1960-61, FightingIllini.com
  4. ↑ Schedule
  5. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  6. ↑ List of MVPs
  7. ↑ 1961 NBA Draft Archived 2010-05-23 at the Wayback Machine.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.