1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Illini Classic, Champion
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. 18
AP No. 19
1980–81 record 21–8 (12–6 Big Ten)
Head coach Lou Henson
Assistant coach Tony Yates
Assistant coach Dick Nagy
Assistant coach Bob Hull
Assistant coach Levi Cobb GA
Dan Smith GA
MVP Eddie Johnson
Captain Derek Holcomb
Eddie Johnson
Mark Smith
Home arena Assembly Hall
1980–81 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 9 Indiana14–4 .778  26–9  .743
No. 13 Iowa13–5 .722  21–7  .750
No. 19 Illinois12–6 .667  21–8  .724
Purdue10–8 .556  21–11  .656
Minnesota9–9 .500  19–11  .633
Ohio State9–9 .500  14–13  .519
Michigan8–10 .444  19–11  .633
Michigan State7–11 .389  13–14  .481
Wisconsin5–13 .278  11–16  .407
Northwestern3–15 .167  9–18  .333
Rankings from AP Poll)

The 1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

In 1981, Illinois made strides in its return to the national spotlight with a 21-8 record, a third-place Big Ten finish and an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The team received a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament and beat Wyoming, 67-65, in Los Angeles to advance to the regionals in Salt Lake City, where Illinois lost to Kansas State, 57-52. During this season, the Fighting Illini led the Big Ten in scoring for the second consecutive season and were again led by Eddie Johnson and Mark Smith. Guards Craig Tucker and Derek Harper arrived to add backcourt punch, and Harper began his Illini career being named First-Team Freshman All-America by ESPN and ABC.

This season marked a change in location and name for the annual game with Missouri. The name was altered from the "Show-Me Classic" to the "Braggin' Rights" and took on a permanent location, St. Louis, with the St. Louis Arena as its original home. Prior to 1980, the location of the game alternated from Assembly Hall and the Hearnes Center. Since 1994, the game is played at the Scottrade Center.

Roster

1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 10 Craig Tucker 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)175 lb (79 kg) JrFlint Northern High School Flint, Michigan
G 12 Derek Harper 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)185 lb (84 kg) FrNorth Shore High School West Palm Beach, Florida
C 13 James Griffin 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)205 lb (93 kg) JrDunbar High School Grandview, Texas
G 14 Sherrod Arnold 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)150 lb (68 kg) SoWendell Phillips High School Chicago, Illinois
G/F 15 Mitch Arnold 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)190 lb (86 kg) FrEffingham High School Effingham, Illinois
G 20 Kevin Bontemps 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)180 lb (82 kg) SoMorton High School Morton, Illinois
G 21 Quinn Richardson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)175 lb (79 kg) SoEisenhower High School Robbins, Illinois
G 22 Perry Range 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrSouth Beloit High School South Beloit, Illinois
F 33 Eddie Johnson (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)215 lb (98 kg) SrWestinghouse High School Chicago, Illinois
F 42 Mark Smith (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)215 lb (98 kg) SrRichwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
F 43 Bryan Leonard  6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)210 lb (95 kg) RS SoBelleville High School-East Belleville, Illinois
C 44 Derek Holcomb (C) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)230 lb (104 kg) SrRichwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[1] [2]

Schedule

Source[3]

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/29/1980*
no, no		 No. NR Loyola Marymount W 98-65  1-0
 Assembly Hall (11,168)
Champaign, IL
12/6/1980*
no, no		 No. NR TCU W 84-62  2-0
 Assembly Hall (14,370)
Champaign, IL
12/10/1980*
no, no		 No. NR Missouri (#14)
Braggin' Rights		 W 84-62  3-0
 St. Louis Arena (14,370)
St. Louis, MO
12/13/1980*
no, no		 No. NR Marquette W 69-68  4-0
 U.S. Cellular Arena (11,052)
Milwaukee, WI
12/19/1980*
no, no		 No. 17 BYU (#18)
Volunteer Classic		 L 75-88  4-1
 Stokely Athletic Center (12,700)
Knoxville, TN
12/20/1980*
no, no		 No. 17 Iona
Volunteer Classic		 W 106-84  5-1
 Stokely Athletic Center (12,700)
Knoxville, TN
12/26/1980*
no, no		 No. 18 Ohio
Illini Classic		 W 84-54  6-1
 Assembly Hall (14,230)
Champaign, IL
12/27/1980*
no, no		 No. 18 Oklahoma
Illini Classic		 W 93-63  7-1
 Assembly Hall (15,411)
Champaign, IL
1/3/1981*
no, no		 No. 16 SIU Edwardsville W 108-68  8-1
 Assembly Hall (11,443)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/8/1981
no, no		 No. 12 Northwestern W 88-64  9-1 (1-0)
 McGaw Memorial Hall (7,741)
Evanston, IL
1/10/1981
no, no		 No. 12 Indiana
Rivalry		 L 61-78  9-2 (1-1)
 Assembly Hall (17,083)
Bloomington, IN
1/15/1981
no, no		 No. 18 Purdue W 87-65  10-2 (2-1)
 Assembly Hall (16,506)
Champaign, IL
1/17/1981
no, no		 No. 18 Minnesota (#20) W 80-76  11-2 (3-1)
 Assembly Hall (16,630)
Champaign, IL
1/22/1981
no, no		 No. 15 Michigan (#16) L 76-80  11-3 (3-2)
 Crisler Center (11,055)
Ann Arbor, MI
1/24/1981
no, no		 No. 15 Wisconsin L 45-54  11-4 (3-3)
 Assembly Hall (16,495)
Champaign, IL
1/29/1981
no, no		 No. NR Michigan State W 71-70  12-4 (4-3)
 Jenison Fieldhouse (7,443)
East Lansing, MI
1/31/1981
no, no		 No. NR Iowa (#13) W 79-66  13-4 (5-3)
 Assembly Hall (16,555)
Champaign, IL
2/5/1981
no, no		 No. 18 Ohio State W 82-63  14-4 (6-3)
 Assembly Hall (16,586)
Champaign, IL
2/7/1981
no, no		 No. 18 Iowa (#15) L 66-72  14-5 (6-4)
 Iowa Field House (13,365)
Iowa City, IA
2/12/1981
no, no		 No. 17 Wisconsin W 84-65  15-5 (7-4)
 Wisconsin Field House (7,334)
Madison, WI
2/14/1981
no, no		 No. 17 Ohio State W 63-57  16-5 (8-4)
 St. John Arena (13,591)
Columbus, OH
2/19/1981
no, no		 No. 15 Michigan (#18) W 67-64  17-5 (9-4)
 Assembly Hall (16,492)
Champaign, IL
2/21/1981
no, no		 No. 15 Michigan State W 82-62  18-5 (10-4)
 Assembly Hall (16,559)
Champaign, IL
2/26/1981
no, no		 No. 14 Minnesota L 59-76  18-6 (10-5)
 Williams Arena (16,290)
Minneapolis, MN
2/28/1981
no, no		 No. 14 Purdue W 81-70  19-6 (11-5)
 Mackey Arena (14,123)
West Lafayette, IN
3/5/1981
no, no		 No. 16 Indiana (#14)
Rivalry		 L 66-69  19-7 (11-6)
 Assembly Hall (16,663)
Champaign, IL
3/7/1981
no, no		 No. 16 Northwestern W 98-76  20-7 (12-6)
 Assembly Hall (16,622)
Champaign, IL
NCAA Tournament
3/14/1981*
no, no		 No. 19 Wyoming (#17)
Second Round		 W 67-65  21-7
 Pauley Pavilion (12,340)
Los Angeles, CA
3/19/1981*
no, no		 No. 19 Kansas State
Regional Semifinals		 L 52-57  21-7
 Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,450)
Salt Lake City, UT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player Games Played Minutes Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Points
Eddie Johnson[4]2910092196226770630500
Mark Smith[5]29914150102172981836402
Craig Tucker[6]29615117763958319310
Perry Range[7]298151016511570033267
Derek Harper[8]299341043375156839241
James Griffin[9]29519117763958318227
Derek Holcomb[10]296357031148404214171
Bryan Leonard2520026744128359
Kevin Bontempts197812127171236
Quinn Richardson226297970525
Sherrod Arnold744461050114
Mitch Arnold3271052002

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA Club Round Pick
Eddie JohnsonKansas City Kings229
Derek HolcombPortland Trail Blazers350
Mark SmithMilwaukee Bucks367

[12]

Rankings

References

  1. ↑ Men's Basketball Roster
  2. ↑ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1980-81 Archived 2013-02-27 at the Wayback Machine., FightingIllini.com
  4. ↑ Season Stats pg. 120
  5. ↑ Season Stats pg. 120
  6. ↑ Season Stats pg. 120
  7. ↑ Season Stats pg. 120
  8. ↑ Season Stats pg. 120
  9. ↑ Season Stats pg. 120
  10. ↑ Season Stats pg. 120
  11. ↑ List of MVPs
  12. ↑ 1981 NBA Draft Archived 2010-03-17 at the Wayback Machine.


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