1964–65 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1964-65 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Kentucky Invitational Tournament, Champion
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. 16
AP No. Not Ranked
1964-65 record 18-6 (10-4 Big Ten)
Head coach Harry Combes
Assistant coach Howie Braun
Assistant coach Jim Wright
MVP Skip Thoren
Captain Skip Thoren
Home arena Assembly Hall
1964–65 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
#1 Michigan13–1 .929  24–4  .857
#7 Minnesota11–3 .786  19–5  .792
Illinois10–4 .714  18–6  .750
Indiana9–5 .643  19–5  .792
Iowa8–6 .571  14–10  .583
Ohio State6–3 .667  12–12  .500
Purdue5–9 .357  12–12  .500
Wisconsin4–10 .286  9–13  .409
Northwestern3–11 .214  7–17  .292
Michigan State1–13 .071  5–18  .217
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1964–65 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

Head coach Harry Combes Fighting Illini basketball team returned to their winning ways for the 1964-65 season. Even though they were not ranked in the pre-season top 20 of college basketball teams, they peaked at #6 during the course of the season in the Associated Press and finished the season ranked #16 in the coaches poll. During the course of the season, the Illini would play in two mid-season tournaments and participate 24 regular season games, the most since 1908 when they played in 26. The tournaments the Illini would participate in would be the ECAC Quaker City Tournament in Philadelphia and a return trip to the Kentucky Invitational Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky. The highlight of the season would happen in the season opener when the Illini would defeat the previous season's national champion UCLA Bruins by a score of 110-83. The 1965 Bruins would finish with a 28-2 record and their second national championship.

The 1964-65 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer, team "MVP" and captain, Skip Thoren. It also saw the return of team seniors Tal Brody, Bogie Redmon, Bill McKeown as well as Juniors Don Freeman, Jim Vopicka and Larry Hinton to their lineup. It also included sophomores Jim Dawson, Bob Johansen and future Dallas Cowboy, Preston Pearson. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 10 wins and 4 losses, finishing in 3rd place in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 18 wins and 6 losses. The starting lineup included Skip Thoren at the center position, Tal Brody and Jim Dawson at guard and Don Freeman and Bogie Redmon at the forward slots.[1]

Roster

1964–65 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 11 Larry Miller 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)161 lb (73 kg) SrConnellsville High School Connellsville, Pennsylvania
G 12 Tal Brody 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)173 lb (78 kg) SrCentral High School Trenton, New Jersey
F 14 Jerry Mettille 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)179 lb (81 kg) SoMorris Community High School Morris, Illinois
G 15 Donnie Freeman 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)179 lb (81 kg) JrMadison High School Madison, Illinois
F 21 Bob Johansen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)185 lb (84 kg) SoGeneva High School Geneva, Illinois
G 22 Jim Vopicka 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)175 lb (79 kg) JrMorton West High School Brookfield, Illinois
G 23 Ron Beeks 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)180 lb (82 kg) SrPrinceton High School Princeton, New Jersey
G 24 Jim Dawson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)172 lb (78 kg) SoYork High School Elmhurst, Illinois
G 25 Preston Pearson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)195 lb (88 kg) SoFreeport High School Freeport, Illinois
F 30 Deon Flessner 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)193 lb (88 kg) SoFithian High School Fithian, Illinois
F 33 Bogie Redmon 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)225 lb (102 kg) SrCollinsville High School Collinsville, Illinois
G 34 Bill McKeown 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)185 lb (84 kg) SrClinton High School Clinton, Illinois
C 35 Skip Thoren (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)232 lb (105 kg) SrRockford East High School Rockford, Illinois
G/F 40 Bob Brown 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)190 lb (86 kg) JrDuPont High School Wilmington, DE
F 43 Larry Hinton 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)194 lb (88 kg) JrShelbyville High School Shelbyville, Illinois
F 44 Mike Graville 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)175 lb (79 kg) JrMadison High School Madison, Illinois
F 54 Dan Lee 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)175 lb (79 kg) JrAttica High School Attica, Indiana
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (28th year)
  • Jim Wright (University of Illinois) (7th 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
Non-Conference regular season
12/4/1964*
no, no		 No. NR vs. #1 UCLA W 110-83  1-0
 Assembly Hall (11,873)
Champaign, IL
12/5/1964*
no, no		 No. NR @ St. Louis L 64-79  1-1
 Kiel Auditorium (9,230)
St. Louis, MO
12/8/1964*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Bowling Green W 100-62  2-1
 Assembly Hall (9,889)
Champaign, IL
12/12/1964*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Washington (St. Louis) W 103-59  3-1
 Assembly Hall (9,027)
Champaign, IL
12/15/1964
no, no		 No. NR @ Wisconsin W 70-56  4-1 (1-0)
 Wisconsin Field House (9,538)
Madison, WI
12/18/1964*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Dayton
Kentucky Invitational Tournament		 W 104-86  5-1
 Memorial Coliseum (11,800)
Lexington, KY
12/19/1964*
no, no		 No. NR @ #8 Kentucky
Kentucky Invitational Tournament		 W 91-86  6-1
 Memorial Coliseum (11,800)
Lexington, KY
12/26/1964*
no, no		 No. 7 vs. NYU
ECAC Quaker City Tournament		 W 102-79  7-1
 Palestra (9,500)
Philadelphia, PA
12/28/1964*
no, no		 No. 7 vs. St. Joseph's
ECAC Quaker City Tournament		 L 71-75  7-2
 Palestra (9,500)
Philadelphia, PA
12/29/1964*
no, no		 No. 6 vs. Villanova
ECAC Quaker City Tournament		 W 74-65  8-2
 Palestra (9,500)
Philadelphia, PA
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1965
no, no		 No. 6 vs. #2 Indiana
Rivalry		 W 88-81  9-2 (2-0)
 Assembly Hall (16,128)
Champaign, IL
1/9/1965
no, no		 No. NR @ #3 Michigan L 83-89  9-3 (2-1)
 Yost Field House (7,600)
Ann Arbor, MI
1/16/1965
no, no		 No. NR vs. Minnesota W 75-72  10-3 (3-1)
 Assembly Hall (10,789)
Champaign, IL
1/30/1965*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Notre Dame W 101-87  11-3
 Chicago Stadium (16,746)
Chicago, IL
2/6/1965
no, no		 No. NR vs. Purdue W 121-93  12-3 (4-1)
 Assembly Hall (8,828)
Champaign, IL
2/8/1965
no, no		 No. NR @ Ohio State W 86-71  13-3 (5-1)
 St. John Arena (7,626)
Columbus, OH
2/13/1965
no, no		 No. 10 @ Minnesota L 90-105  13-4 (5-2)
 Williams Arena (8,184)
Minneapolis, MN
2/16/1965
no, no		 No. NR vs. Ohio State W 95-72  14-4 (6-2)
 Assembly Hall (8,751)
Champaign, IL
2/20/1965
no, no		 No. NR @ Michigan State W 100-89  15-4 (7-2)
 Jenison Fieldhouse (8,643)
East Lansing, MI
2/23/1965
no, no		 No. NR vs. Iowa W 97-80  16-4 (8-2)
 Assembly Hall (13,387)
Champaign, IL
2/27/1965
no, no		 No. NR vs. #1 Michigan L 79-80  16-5 (8-3)
 Assembly Hall (16,128)
Champaign, IL
3/2/1965
no, no		 No. NR vs. Northwestern W 93-70  17-5 (9-3)
 McGaw Memorial Hall (5,500)
Evanston, IL
3/6/1965
no, no		 No. NR @ Iowa L 84-94  17-6 (9-4)
 Iowa Field House (10,500)
Iowa City, IA
3/9/1965
no, no		 No. NR vs. Michigan State W 121-89  18-6 (10-4)
 Assembly Hall (10,456)
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[3]2421995349533
Tal Brody[3]2418395108463
Don Freeman[3]2417884226440
Bogie Redmon[3]2415555192365
Bill McKeown[3]941173999
Jim Dawson[3]2238114187
Jim Vopicka[3]2334196187
Bob Johansen[3]1956223456
Larry Hinton[3]1836141736
Preston Pearson[3]171641816
Deon Flessner[3]13451413
Bob Brown[3]1326810
Jerry Mettile[3]93288

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA Club Round Pick
Tal BrodyBaltimore Bullets 2 4
Skip ThorenBaltimore Bullets 4 4
Bogie RedmonBaltimore Bullets 10 2
Roger TaylorBaltimore Bullets 17 1

[5]

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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1964-65 Archived 2014-03-08 at the Wayback Machine., FightingIllini.com
  4. ↑ List of MVPs
  5. ↑ 1965 NBA Draft Archived 2013-02-03 at the Wayback Machine.
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