Head coachHarry CombesFighting Illinibasketball 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
1964, illinois, fighting, illini, basketball, team, represented, university, illinois, 1964, illinois, fighting, illini, basketballkentucky, invitational, tournament, championconferencebig, conferencerankingcoachesno, 16apno, rankedrecord18, head, coachharry, . The 1964 65 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketball team represented the University of Illinois 1964 65 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketballKentucky Invitational Tournament ChampionConferenceBig Ten ConferenceRankingCoachesNo 16APNo Not RankedRecord18 6 10 4 Big Ten Head coachHarry CombesAssistant coachesHowie Braun Jim WrightMVPSkip ThorenCaptainSkip ThorenHome arenaAssembly HallSeasons 1963 641965 66 1964 65 Big Ten Conference men s basketball standingsvte Conf OverallTeam W L PCT W L PCTNo 1 Michigan 13 1 929 24 4 857No 7 Minnesota 11 3 786 19 5 792Illinois 10 4 714 18 6 750Indiana 9 5 643 19 5 792Iowa 8 6 571 14 10 583Ohio State 6 3 667 12 12 500Purdue 5 9 357 12 12 500Wisconsin 4 10 286 9 13 409Northwestern 3 11 214 7 17 292Michigan State 1 13 071 5 18 217Rankings from AP Poll 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 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 Edit 1964 65 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketball teamPlayers CoachesPos Name Height Weight Year Previous school HometownG 11 Larry Miller 5 ft 8 in 1 73 m 161 lb 73 kg Sr Connellsville High School Connellsville PennsylvaniaG 12 Tal Brody 6 ft 2 in 1 88 m 173 lb 78 kg Sr Central High School Trenton New JerseyF 14 Jerry Mettille 6 ft 4 in 1 93 m 179 lb 81 kg So Morris Community High School Morris IllinoisG 15 Donnie Freeman 6 ft 2 in 1 88 m 179 lb 81 kg Jr Madison High School Madison IllinoisF 21 Bob Johansen 6 ft 4 in 1 93 m 185 lb 84 kg So Geneva High School Geneva IllinoisG 22 Jim Vopicka 6 ft 1 in 1 85 m 175 lb 79 kg Jr Morton West High School Brookfield IllinoisG 23 Ron Beeks 6 ft 1 in 1 85 m 180 lb 82 kg Sr Princeton High School Princeton New JerseyG 24 Jim Dawson 6 ft 0 in 1 83 m 172 lb 78 kg So York High School Elmhurst IllinoisG 25 Preston Pearson 6 ft 1 in 1 85 m 195 lb 88 kg So Freeport High School Freeport IllinoisF 30 Deon Flessner 6 ft 4 in 1 93 m 193 lb 88 kg So Fithian High School Fithian IllinoisF 33 Bogie Redmon 6 ft 5 in 1 96 m 225 lb 102 kg Sr Collinsville High School Collinsville IllinoisG 34 Bill McKeown 6 ft 2 in 1 88 m 185 lb 84 kg Sr Clinton High School Clinton IllinoisC 35 Skip Thoren C 6 ft 8 in 2 03 m 232 lb 105 kg Sr Rockford East High School Rockford IllinoisG F 40 Bob Brown 6 ft 2 in 1 88 m 190 lb 86 kg Jr DuPont High School Wilmington DEF 43 Larry Hinton 6 ft 2 in 1 88 m 194 lb 88 kg Jr Shelbyville High School Shelbyville IllinoisF 44 Mike Graville 6 ft 1 in 1 85 m 175 lb 79 kg Jr Madison High School Madison IllinoisF 54 Dan Lee 6 ft 3 in 1 91 m 175 lb 79 kg Jr Attica High School Attica Indiana Head coachHarry Combes University of Illinois 18th year 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 Injured Current redshirtAll Time Illini RosterSource 2 Schedule EditSource 3 Datetime TV Rank Opponent Result Record Site attendance city stateNon Conference regular season12 4 1964 no no No NR vs 1 UCLA W 110 83 1 0 Assembly Hall 11 873 Champaign IL12 5 1964 no no No NR St Louis L 64 79 1 1 Kiel Auditorium 9 230 St Louis MO12 8 1964 no no No NR vs Bowling Green W 100 62 2 1 Assembly Hall 9 889 Champaign IL12 12 1964 no no No NR vs Washington St Louis W 103 59 3 1 Assembly Hall 9 027 Champaign IL12 15 1964 no no No NR Wisconsin W 70 56 4 1 1 0 Wisconsin Field House 9 538 Madison WI12 18 1964 no no No NR vs Dayton Kentucky Invitational Tournament W 104 86 5 1 Memorial Coliseum 11 800 Lexington KY12 19 1964 no no No NR 8 Kentucky Kentucky Invitational Tournament W 91 86 6 1 Memorial Coliseum 11 800 Lexington KY12 26 1964 no no No 7 vs NYU ECAC Quaker City Tournament W 102 79 7 1 Palestra 9 500 Philadelphia PA12 28 1964 no no No 7 vs St Joseph s ECAC Quaker City Tournament L 71 75 7 2 Palestra 9 500 Philadelphia PA12 29 1964 no no No 6 vs Villanova ECAC Quaker City Tournament W 74 65 8 2 Palestra 9 500 Philadelphia PABig Ten regular season1 4 1965 no no No 6 vs 2 Indiana Rivalry W 88 81 9 2 2 0 Assembly Hall 16 128 Champaign IL1 9 1965 no no No NR 3 Michigan L 83 89 9 3 2 1 Yost Field House 7 600 Ann Arbor MI1 16 1965 no no No NR vs Minnesota W 75 72 10 3 3 1 Assembly Hall 10 789 Champaign IL1 30 1965 no no No NR vs Notre Dame W 101 87 11 3 Chicago Stadium 16 746 Chicago IL2 6 1965 no no No NR vs Purdue W 121 93 12 3 4 1 Assembly Hall 8 828 Champaign IL2 8 1965 no no No NR Ohio State W 86 71 13 3 5 1 St John Arena 7 626 Columbus OH2 13 1965 no no No 10 Minnesota L 90 105 13 4 5 2 Williams Arena 8 184 Minneapolis MN2 16 1965 no no No NR vs Ohio State W 95 72 14 4 6 2 Assembly Hall 8 751 Champaign IL2 20 1965 no no No NR Michigan State W 100 89 15 4 7 2 Jenison Fieldhouse 8 643 East Lansing MI2 23 1965 no no No NR vs Iowa Rivalry W 97 80 16 4 8 2 Assembly Hall 13 387 Champaign IL2 27 1965 no no No NR vs 1 Michigan L 79 80 16 5 8 3 Assembly Hall 16 128 Champaign IL3 2 1965 no no No NR vs Northwestern W 93 70 17 5 9 3 McGaw Memorial Hall 5 500 Evanston IL3 6 1965 no no No NR Iowa Rivlary L 84 94 17 6 9 4 Iowa Field House 10 500 Iowa City IA3 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 EditPlayer Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds PointsSkip Thoren 3 24 219 95 349 533Tal Brody 3 24 183 95 108 463Don Freeman 3 24 178 84 226 440Bogie Redmon 3 24 155 55 192 365Bill McKeown 3 9 41 17 39 99Jim Dawson 3 22 38 11 41 87Jim Vopicka 3 23 34 19 61 87Bob Johansen 3 19 56 22 34 56Larry Hinton 3 18 36 14 17 36Preston Pearson 3 17 16 4 18 16Deon Flessner 3 13 4 5 14 13Bob Brown 3 13 2 6 8 10Jerry Mettile 3 9 3 2 8 8Awards and honors EditBogie Redmon Converse Honorable Mention All American Tal Brody Helms 1st Team All American Converse 2nd Team All American Sporting News 2nd Team All American Duane Skip Thoren Helms 1st Team All American Converse 2nd Team All American Associated Press 2nd Team All American United Press 3rd Team All American Basketball News 3rd Team All American National Association of Basketball Coaches 3rd Team All American Team Most Valuable Player 4 Team players drafted into the NBA EditPlayer NBA Club Round PickTal Brody Baltimore Bullets 2 4Skip Thoren Baltimore Bullets 4 4Bogie Redmon Baltimore Bullets 10 2Roger Taylor Baltimore Bullets 17 1 5 Rankings EditMain article 1964 65 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 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1964 65 Archived 2014 03 08 at the Wayback Machine FightingIllini com List of MVPs PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2014 10 30 Retrieved 2013 02 21 1965 NBA Draft Archived 2013 02 03 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1964 65 Illinois Fighting Illini men 27s basketball team amp oldid 1132906767, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
