1963–64 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1963-64 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. Not Ranked
AP No. Not Ranked
1963-64 record 13-11 (6-8 Big Ten)
Head coach Harry Combes
Assistant coach Howie Braun
Assistant coach Jim Wright
MVP Skip Thoren
Captain Bill Edwards
Home arena Assembly Hall
1963–64 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
#2 Michigan11–3 .786  23–5  .821
Ohio State11–3 .786  16–8  .667
Minnesota10–4 .714  17–7  .708
Michigan State8–6 .571  14–10  .583
Purdue8–6 .571  12–12  .500
Illinois6–8 .429  13–11  .542
Northwestern6–8 .429  8–13  .381
Indiana5–9 .357  9–15  .375
Iowa3–11 .214  8–15  .348
Wisconsin2–12 .143  8–16  .333
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1963–64 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1963-64 Fighting Illini basketball team, playing in their first full season in Assembly Hall, dropped back from its previous championship season with a losing finish in the Big Ten and a mediocre overall record. Head coach Harry Combes guided the Illini to a 10-3 record after the first 13 games of the season only to see the team reverse trends and go 3-8 the rest of the way. Once again the Illini played in a mid-season tournament, playing in the Los Angeles Basketball Classic. During the tournament the Illini would face eventual national champion, UCLA.

The 1963-64 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer and team "MVP" Skip Thoren. It also saw the return of team captain Bill Edwards, juniors Tal Brody, Bogie Redmon, Bill McKeown as well as sophomores Don Freeman, Jim Vopicka and Larry Hinton to their lineup. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 6 wins and 8 losses, finishing in a 6th place tie in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 13 wins and 11 losses. The starting lineup included Skip Thoren at the center position, Tal Brody and Jim Vopicka at guard and Don Freeman and Bogie Redmon at the forward slots.[1]

Roster

1963–64 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
F 10 Larry Bauer 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)207 lb (94 kg) JrSpringfield High School Springfield, Illinois
G 11 Bob Meadows 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)157 lb (71 kg) JrCollinsville High School Collinsville, Illinois
G 12 Tal Brody 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)170 lb (77 kg) JrCentral High School Trenton, New Jersey
F 14 John Love 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)190 lb (86 kg) SrOttawa Township High School Ottawa, Illinois
G 15 Don Freeman 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)180 lb (82 kg) SoMadison High School Madison, Illinois
F 20 Mel Blackwell 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)168 lb (76 kg) SoCentralia High School Centralia, Illinois
G 22 Jim Vopicka 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)170 lb (77 kg) SoMorton West High School Brookfield, Illinois
G 23 Ron Beeks 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrPrinceton High School Princeton, New Jersey
F 30 Jeff Ferguson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)195 lb (88 kg) SrBenton Consolidated High School Benton, Illinois
G 31 Tony Latham 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)163 lb (74 kg) JrWaukegan High School Waukegan, Illinois
G 32 Bill Edwards (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)185 lb (84 kg) SrWindsor High School Windsor, Illinois
F 33 Bogie Redmon 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)225 lb (102 kg) JrCollinsville High School Collinsville, Illinois
G 34 Bill McKeown 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)185 lb (84 kg) JrClinton High School Clinton, Illinois
C 35 Skip Thoren 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)215 lb (98 kg) JrRockford East High School Rockford, Illinois
G/F 40 Bob Brown 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)190 lb (86 kg) SoDuPont High School Wilmington, DE
F 43 Larry Hinton 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)185 lb (84 kg) SoShelbyville High School Shelbyville, Illinois
F 44 Mike Graville 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)170 lb (77 kg) SoMadison High School Madison, Illinois
F 53 George Johnson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)185 lb (84 kg) SoYork High School Elmhurst, Illinois
F 54 Dan Lee 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)175 lb (79 kg) SoAttica High School Attica, Indiana
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (27th year)
  • Jim Wright (University of Illinois) (6th 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
11/30/1963*
no, no		 No. NR @ Butler W 59-52  1-0
 Hinkle Fieldhouse (11,400)
Indianapolis, IN
12/4/1963*
no, no		 No. NR vs. St. Louis L 78-81  2-0
 Assembly Hall (14,327)
Champaign, IL
12/9/1963*
no, no		 No. NR @ Oklahoma L 104-105  1-2
 McCasland Field House (3,800)
Norman, OK
12/14/1963*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Notre Dame W 79-68  2-2
 Assembly Hall (14,238)
Champaign, IL
12/19/1963*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Butler W 74-53  3-2
 Assembly Hall (13,681)
Champaign, IL
12/26/1963*
no, no		 No. NR vs. West Virginia
Los Angeles Basketball Classic		 W 92-86  4-2
 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (5,104)
Los Angeles, CA
12/27/1963*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Pittsburgh
Los Angeles Basketball Classic		 W 83-76  5-2
 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (14,267)
Los Angeles, CA
12/28/1963*
no, no		 No. NR @ #4 UCLA
Los Angeles Basketball Classic		 L 79-83  5-3
 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (13,060)
Los Angeles, CA
12/31/1963*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Notre Dame W 87-78  6-3
 Chicago Stadium (13,571)
Chicago, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1964
no, no		 No. NR vs. Michigan State W 87-66  7-3 (1-0)
 Assembly Hall (14,141)
Champaign, IL
1/11/1964
no, no		 No. NR @ Iowa W 87-70  8-3 (2-0)
 Iowa Field House (8,800)
Iowa City, IA
1/25/1964*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Arizona State L 97-78  9-3
 Chicago Stadium (19,000)
Chicago, IL
2/1/1964
no, no		 No. NR vs. Northwestern W 73-71  10-3 (3-0)
 Assembly Hall (10,093)
Champaign, IL
2/3/1964
no, no		 No. NR vs. Indiana
Rivalry		 L 96-104  10-4 (3-1)
 New Fieldhouse (8,002)
Bloomington, IN
2/8/1964
no, no		 No. NR vs. #2 Michigan L 82-93  10-5 (3-2)
 Assembly Hall (16,128)
Champaign, IL
2/10/1964
no, no		 No. NR vs. Ohio State L 92-110  10-6 (3-3)
 St. John Arena (11,351)
Columbus, OH
2/15/1964
no, no		 No. NR vs. Minnesota L 81-92  10-7 (3-4)
 Williams Arena (12,461)
Minneapolis, MN
2/17/1964
no, no		 No. NR vs. Michigan State L 82-85  10-8 (3-5)
 Jenison Fieldhouse (6,124)
East Lansing, MI
2/22/1964
no, no		 No. NR vs. Minnesota W 86-78  11-8 (4-5)
 Assembly Hall (15,676)
Champaign, IL
2/24/1964
no, no		 No. NR @ Purdue L 90-105  11-9 (4-6)
 Lambert Fieldhouse (8,184)
West Lafayette, IN
2/28/1964
no, no		 No. NR @ #3 Michigan L 83-89  11-10 (4-7)
 Yost Field House (7,875)
Ann Arbor, MI
3/2/1964
no, no		 No. NR vs. Ohio State W 74-86  11-11 (4-8)
 Assembly Hall (8,643)
Champaign, IL
3/7/1964
no, no		 No. NR vs. Wisconsin W 97-73  12-11 (5-8)
 Assembly Hall (15,826)
Champaign, IL
3/9/1964
no, no		 No. NR vs. Iowa W 90-67  13-11 (6-8)
 Assembly Hall (13,676)
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
Skip Thoren[5]24187114331488
Tal Brody[6]241579197405
Don Freeman[7]2413081231341
Bogie Redmon[8]249737148231
Jim Vopicka[9]24562462136
Bill McKeown[10]15461734109
Larry Hinton[11]2336185490
Bill Edwards[12]2032242488
Mel Blackwell[13]1714143342
Bob Brown[14]161412740
Larry Bauer[15]121162428
John Love[16]16621714
Jeff Ferguson[17]20404
Dan Lee10010
Bob Meadows10000

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA Club Round Pick
No Player Selected

[19]

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 1963-64 Archived 2014-03-10 at the Wayback Machine., FightingIllini.com
  4. ↑ Schedule
  5. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  6. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  7. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  8. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  9. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  10. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  11. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  12. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  13. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  14. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  15. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  16. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  17. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  18. ↑ List of MVPs
  19. ↑ 1964 NBA Draft Archived 2010-03-17 at the Wayback Machine.
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