1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team.jpg
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. Not Ranked
APNo. Not Ranked
1960–61 record9-15 (5-9 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPDave Downey
CaptainSelected each game
Home arenaHuff Hall
Seasons
1960–61 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Ohio State 14 – 0   1.000 27 – 1   .964
No. 8 Iowa 10 – 4   .714 18 – 6   .750
Purdue 10 – 4   .714 16 – 7   .696
Indiana 8 – 6   .571 15 – 9   .625
Minnesota 8 – 6   .571 10 – 13   .435
Northwestern 6 – 8   .429 10 – 12   .455
Illinois 5 – 9   .357 9 – 15   .375
Wisconsin 4 – 10   .286 7 – 17   .292
Michigan State 3 – 11   .214 7 – 17   .292
Michigan 2 – 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[edit]

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[edit]

1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
C 10 John Wessels 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Rockford West High School Rockford, Illinois
F 20 Jerry Renner 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr East High School Aurora, Illinois
G 21 Sam Leeper 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Unity High School Tolono, Illinois
G 22 Jay Lovelace 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Carbondale Community High School Carbondale, Illinois
G 23 Jerry Colangelo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Bloom High School Chicago Heights, Illinois
C 25 Bill Burwell 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 243 lb (110 kg) So Boys High School Brooklyn, New York
G 30 Jeff Ferguson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Benton Consolidated High School Benton, Illinois
G 31 Doug Mills 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Galesburg High School Galesburg, Illinois
F 33 James Knoefel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Valparaiso High School Valparaiso, Indiana
F 34 Gary McClung 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Maroa-Forsyth High School Maroa, Illinois
F 40 Dave Downey 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Canton High School Canton, Illinois
G 41 Jerry Curless 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr VIT High School Table Grove, Illinois
F 42 Ed Searcy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Attucks High School Indianapolis, Indiana
F 44 Bob Starnes 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Gage Park High School Chicago, Illinois
G 51 Bill Mohlenbrock 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 178 lb (81 kg) So Murphysboro High School Murphysboro, Illinois
G 53 Bill Small 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So West Aurora High School Aurora, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[2]

Schedule[edit]

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)
Rivalry 		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[edit]

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Points
Dave Downey 24 157 88 267 402
Jerry Colangelo 24 128 71 94 327
John Wessels 24 119 83 217 321
Bill Burwell 24 117 57 207 291
Bill Small 22 73 42 56 188
Bob Starnes 24 29 25 61 83
Doug Mills 21 26 20 15 72
Ed Searcy 13 23 12 62 58
Jerry Curless 22 17 13 38 47
Jerry Renner 19 11 2 22 24
Jeff Ferguson 11 2 5 4 9
Jay Lovelace 7 2 2 2 6
Sam Leeper 7 1 2 5 2
Bill Mohlenbrock 2 0 0 1 0
Butch Jones 1 0 0 1 0

[5]

Awards and honors[edit]

Team players drafted into the NBA[edit]

Player NBA Club Round Pick
John Wessels Chicago Packers 8 8

[7]

Rankings[edit]

Main article: 1960–61 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

References[edit]

  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
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