fbpx
Wikipedia

1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

April 10, 2024

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

1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
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

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)
  • 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 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 Creighton W 99-74  1-0
 Huff Hall (6,708)
Champaign, IL
12/6/1960*
no, no 		No. NR Butler W 84-52  2-0
 Huff Hall (6,689)
Champaign, IL
12/12/1960*
no, no 		No. NR at Colorado L 81-90  2-1
 Balch Fieldhouse (4,100)
Boulder, CO
12/17/1960*
no, no 		No. NR at Marquette L 88-96  2-2
 Marquette Gymnasium (8,440)
Milwaukee, WI
12/19/1960*
no, no 		No. NR Washington State W 79-58  3-2
 Huff Hall (3,507)
Champaign, IL
12/21/1960*
no, no 		No. NR at Kentucky
Kentucky Invitational Tournament 		L 78-83  3-3
 Memorial Coliseum (7,500)
Lexington, KY
12/22/1960*
no, no 		No. NR at California
Kentucky Invitational Tournament 		L 54-72  3-4
 Memorial Coliseum (8,000)
Lexington, KY
12/27/1960*
no, no 		No. NR at Butler L 68-70  3-5
 Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,100)
Indianapolis, IN
12/28/1960*
no, no 		No. NR at Notre Dame L 66-69  3-6
 Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,591)
Indianapolis, IN
Big Ten regular season
1/7/1961
no, no 		No. NR at Ohio State (#1) L 65-91  3-7 (0-1)
 St. John Arena (13,408)
Columbus, OH
1/14/1961
no, no 		No. NR Michigan W 88-64  4-7 (1-1)
 Huff Hall (6,705)
Champaign, IL
1/16/1961
no, no 		No. NR at 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 Notre Dame W 77-62  5-8
 Chicago Stadium (11,800)
Chicago, IL
1/30/1961
no, no 		No. NR Michigan State W 93-92  6-8 (2-2)
 Huff Hall (3,132)
Champaign, IL
2/4/1961
no, no 		No. NR at Minnesota W 65-60  7-8 (3-2)
 Williams Arena (12,001)
Minneapolis, MN
2/6/1961
no, no 		No. NR Wisconsin W 77-73  8-8 (4-2)
 Huff Hall (6,775)
Champaign, IL
2/11/1961
no, no 		No. NR at Purdue L 73-89  8-9 (4-3)
 Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000)
West Lafayette, IN
2/18/1961
no, no 		No. NR Northwestern L 72-78  8-10 (4-4)
 Huff Hall (6,569)
Champaign, IL
2/20/1961
no, no 		No. NR at Michigan State L 80-90  8-11 (4-5)
 Jenison Fieldhouse (4,185)
East Lansing, MI
2/25/1961
no, no 		No. NR at Indiana
Rivalry 		L 82-93  8-12 (4-6)
 New Fieldhouse (600)
Bloomington, IN
2/27/1961
no, no 		No. NR Minnesota L 76-85  8-13 (4-7)
 Huff Hall (6,569)
Champaign, IL
3/4/1961
no, no 		No. NR Purdue W 85-75  9-13 (5-7)
 Huff Hall (6,891)
Champaign, IL
3/6/1961
no, no 		No. NR at Michigan L 66-74  9-14 (5-8)
 Yost Field House (2,000)
Ann Arbor, MI
3/11/1961
no, no 		No. NR 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. ^ . Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  6. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  7. ^ 1961 NBA Draft 2010-05-23 at the Wayback Machine

April 10, 2024
1960, illinois, fighting, illini, basketball, team, represented, university, illinois, 1960, illinois, fighting, illini, basketballconferencebig, conferencerecord9, head, coachharry, combesassistant, coacheshowie, braun, wrightmvpdave, downeycaptainselected, e. The 1960 61 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketball team represented the University of Illinois 1960 61 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketballConferenceBig Ten ConferenceRecord9 15 5 9 Big Ten Head coachHarry CombesAssistant coachesHowie Braun Jim WrightMVPDave DowneyCaptainSelected each gameHome arenaHuff HallSeasons 1959 601961 62 1960 61 Big Ten Conference men s basketball standings vte Conf OverallTeam W L PCT W L PCTNo 1 Ohio State 14 0 1 000 27 1 964No 8 Iowa 10 4 714 18 6 750Purdue 10 4 714 16 7 696Indiana 8 6 571 15 9 625Minnesota 8 6 571 10 13 435Northwestern 6 8 429 10 12 455Illinois 5 9 357 9 15 375Wisconsin 4 10 286 7 17 292Michigan State 3 11 214 7 17 292Michigan 2 12 143 6 18 250Rankings from https www sports reference com cbb conferences big ten 1961 html Contents 1 Regular season 1 1 Roster 2 Schedule 3 Player stats 4 Awards and honors 5 Team players drafted into the NBA 6 Rankings 7 ReferencesRegular season editHead 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 teamPlayers CoachesPos Name Height Weight Year Previous school HometownC 10 John Wessels 6 ft 7 in 2 01 m 210 lb 95 kg Sr Rockford West High School Rockford IllinoisF 20 Jerry Renner 6 ft 1 in 1 85 m 180 lb 82 kg Jr East High School Aurora IllinoisG 21 Sam Leeper 6 ft 0 in 1 83 m 165 lb 75 kg Jr Unity High School Tolono IllinoisG 22 Jay Lovelace 6 ft 2 in 1 88 m 165 lb 75 kg So Carbondale Community High School Carbondale IllinoisG 23 Jerry Colangelo 6 ft 2 in 1 88 m 175 lb 79 kg Jr Bloom High School Chicago Heights IllinoisC 25 Bill Burwell 6 ft 8 in 2 03 m 243 lb 110 kg So Boys High School Brooklyn New YorkG 30 Jeff Ferguson 6 ft 3 in 1 91 m 180 lb 82 kg Fr Benton Consolidated High School Benton IllinoisG 31 Doug Mills 6 ft 0 in 1 83 m 165 lb 75 kg Jr Galesburg High School Galesburg IllinoisF 33 James Knoefel 6 ft 4 in 1 93 m 180 lb 82 kg Jr Valparaiso High School Valparaiso IndianaF 34 Gary McClung 6 ft 4 in 1 93 m 185 lb 84 kg Jr Maroa Forsyth High School Maroa IllinoisF 40 Dave Downey 6 ft 4 in 1 93 m 200 lb 91 kg So Canton High School Canton IllinoisG 41 Jerry Curless 6 ft 0 in 1 83 m 160 lb 73 kg Jr VIT High School Table Grove IllinoisF 42 Ed Searcy 6 ft 5 in 1 96 m 185 lb 84 kg Jr Attucks High School Indianapolis IndianaF 44 Bob Starnes 6 ft 4 in 1 93 m 180 lb 82 kg So Gage Park High School Chicago IllinoisG 51 Bill Mohlenbrock 6 ft 3 in 1 91 m 178 lb 81 kg So Murphysboro High School Murphysboro IllinoisG 53 Bill Small 6 ft 2 in 1 88 m 185 lb 84 kg So West Aurora High School Aurora Illinois Head coachHarry Combes University of Illinois 14th year 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 nbsp Injured nbsp Current redshirtAll Time Illini RosterSource 2 Schedule editSource 3 Datetime TV Rank Opponent Result Record Site attendance city state 4 Non Conference regular season12 1 1960 no no No NR Creighton W 99 74 1 0 Huff Hall 6 708 Champaign IL12 6 1960 no no No NR Butler W 84 52 2 0 Huff Hall 6 689 Champaign IL12 12 1960 no no No NR at Colorado L 81 90 2 1 Balch Fieldhouse 4 100 Boulder CO12 17 1960 no no No NR at Marquette L 88 96 2 2 Marquette Gymnasium 8 440 Milwaukee WI12 19 1960 no no No NR Washington State W 79 58 3 2 Huff Hall 3 507 Champaign IL12 21 1960 no no No NR at Kentucky Kentucky Invitational Tournament L 78 83 3 3 Memorial Coliseum 7 500 Lexington KY12 22 1960 no no No NR at California Kentucky Invitational Tournament L 54 72 3 4 Memorial Coliseum 8 000 Lexington KY12 27 1960 no no No NR at Butler L 68 70 3 5 Hinkle Fieldhouse 6 100 Indianapolis IN12 28 1960 no no No NR at Notre Dame L 66 69 3 6 Hinkle Fieldhouse 6 591 Indianapolis INBig Ten regular season1 7 1961 no no No NR at Ohio State 1 L 65 91 3 7 0 1 St John Arena 13 408 Columbus OH1 14 1961 no no No NR Michigan W 88 64 4 7 1 1 Huff Hall 6 705 Champaign IL1 16 1961 no no No NR at Iowa 6 Rivalry L 71 78 4 8 1 2 Iowa Field House 12 700 Iowa City IA1 28 1961 no no No NR Notre Dame W 77 62 5 8 Chicago Stadium 11 800 Chicago IL1 30 1961 no no No NR Michigan State W 93 92 6 8 2 2 Huff Hall 3 132 Champaign IL2 4 1961 no no No NR at Minnesota W 65 60 7 8 3 2 Williams Arena 12 001 Minneapolis MN2 6 1961 no no No NR Wisconsin W 77 73 8 8 4 2 Huff Hall 6 775 Champaign IL2 11 1961 no no No NR at Purdue L 73 89 8 9 4 3 Lambert Fieldhouse 10 000 West Lafayette IN2 18 1961 no no No NR Northwestern L 72 78 8 10 4 4 Huff Hall 6 569 Champaign IL2 20 1961 no no No NR at Michigan State L 80 90 8 11 4 5 Jenison Fieldhouse 4 185 East Lansing MI2 25 1961 no no No NR at Indiana Rivalry L 82 93 8 12 4 6 New Fieldhouse 600 Bloomington IN2 27 1961 no no No NR Minnesota L 76 85 8 13 4 7 Huff Hall 6 569 Champaign IL3 4 1961 no no No NR Purdue W 85 75 9 13 5 7 Huff Hall 6 891 Champaign IL3 6 1961 no no No NR at Michigan L 66 74 9 14 5 8 Yost Field House 2 000 Ann Arbor MI3 11 1961 no no No NR 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 editPlayer Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds PointsDave Downey 24 157 88 267 402Jerry Colangelo 24 128 71 94 327John Wessels 24 119 83 217 321Bill Burwell 24 117 57 207 291Bill Small 22 73 42 56 188Bob Starnes 24 29 25 61 83Doug Mills 21 26 20 15 72Ed Searcy 13 23 12 62 58Jerry Curless 22 17 13 38 47Jerry Renner 19 11 2 22 24Jeff Ferguson 11 2 5 4 9Jay Lovelace 7 2 2 2 6Sam Leeper 7 1 2 5 2Bill Mohlenbrock 2 0 0 1 0Butch Jones 1 0 0 1 0 5 Awards and honors editDave Downey Converse Honorable Mention All American Team Most Valuable Player 6 John Wessels Converse Honorable Mention All AmericanTeam players drafted into the NBA editPlayer NBA Club Round PickJohn Wessels Chicago Packers 8 8 7 Rankings editMain article 1960 61 NCAA University Division men s basketball rankingsReferences edit Fighting Illini Basketball A Hardwood History By News Gazette Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1 58261 356 7 Men s Basketball Roster University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1960 61 FightingIllini com Schedule Season Stats Archived from the original on March 11 2014 Retrieved March 10 2014 List of MVPs PDF Archived from the original PDF on October 30 2014 Retrieved February 5 2013 1961 NBA Draft Archived 2010 05 23 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1960 61 Illinois Fighting Illini men 27s basketball team amp oldid 1216293759, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.