1961–62 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1961-62 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. Not Ranked
AP No. Not Ranked
1961-62 record 15-8 (7-7 Big Ten)
Head coach Harry Combes
Assistant coach Howie Braun
Assistant coach Jim Wright
MVP Dave Downey
Captain Jerry Colangelo
Home arena Huff Hall
1961–62 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#1 Ohio State 13 1   .929     26 2   .929
Wisconsin 10 4   .714     17 7   .708
Purdue 9 5   .643     17 7   .708
Illinois 7 7   .500     15 8   .652
Indiana 7 7   .500     13 11   .542
Iowa 7 7   .500     13 11   .542
Minnesota 6 8   .429     10 14   .417
Michigan 5 9   .357     7 17   .292
Michigan State 3 11   .214     8 14   .364
Northwestern 3 11   .214     8 15   .348
Rankings from http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/big-ten/1962.html

The 1961–62 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1961-62 Fighting Illini basketball team bounced back from a miserable season the year prior. Head coach Harry Combes non-conference season was nearly perfect with an 8-1 record. The only blemish for the University of Illinois was a home loss to Cornell. The most unusual thing about this season was the fact that the Illini played three neutral court games in Chicago. This would also be the final full season that the Fighting Illini would play their home games at Huff Hall.

The 1961-62 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer and team "MVP" Dave Downey. It also saw the return of team captain Jerry Colangelo, juniors Bill Burwell, Bill Small, Bob Starnes as well as senior Doug Mills. The Illini also added sophomore John Love to their lineup. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 7 wins and 7 losses, finishing in a 4th place tie in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 15 wins and 8 losses. The starting lineup included Bill Burwell at the center position, Bill Small and Jerry Colangelo at guard and Dave Downey and Bob Starnes at the forward slots.[1]

Roster

No. Player Position Height Weight Class Hometown High School
14 John Love Forward 6-3 190 Sophomore Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa Township High School
20 Jerry Renner Forward 6-1 180 Junior Aurora, Illinois East Aurora High School
21 Sam Leeper Guard 6-0 165 Senior Tolono, Illinois Unity High School
22 Jay Lovelace Guard 6-2 165 Junior Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale Community High School
23 Jerry Colangelo (captain) Guard 6-2 175 Senior Chicago Heights, Illinois Bloom High School
25 Bill Burwell Center 6-8 243 Junior Brooklyn, New York Boys High School
30 Jeff Ferguson Guard 6-3 180 Junior Benton, Illinois Benton Consolidated High School
31 Doug Mills Guard 6-0 165 Senior Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg High School
32 Bill Edwards Guard 6-3 190 Sophomore Windsor, Illinois Windsor High School
35 Clyde Kramer Forward 6-4 185 Sophomore Erie, Illinois Erie High School
40 Dave Downey Forward 6-4 195 Junior Canton, Illinois Canton High School
41 Jerry Curless Guard 6-0 165 Senior Table Grove, Illinois VIT High School
44 Bob Starnes Forward 6-4 180 Junior Chicago, Illinois Gage Park High School
53 Bill Small Guard 6-2 185 Junior Aurora, Illinois West Aurora High School
54 Phil LaRussa Center 6-6 210 Sophomore Walnut, Illinois Walnut High School

Schedule

Source[3]

Date
Time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (Attendance)
City, State
12/1/1961*
no, no
No. NR vs. Butler W 82-72  1-0
Huff Hall (4,960)
Champaign, IL

12/9/1961*
no, no
No. NR @ Oklahoma W 72–60  2-0
McCasland Field House (3,000)
Norman, OK

12/12/1961*
no, no
No. NR vs. Creighton W 70-61  3-0
Huff Hall (6,017)
Champaign, IL

12/16/1961*
no, no
No. NR vs. Iowa State W 82-73  4-0
Huff Hall (6,437)
Champaign, IL

12/18/1961*
no, no
No. NR vs. Xavier W 81-69  5-0
Huff Hall (6,717)
Champaign, IL

12/23/1961*
no, no
No. NR vs. Cornell L 60-72  5-1
Huff Hall (5,258)
Champaign, IL

12/28/1961*
no, no
No. NR vs. Manhattan W 61-56  6-1
Chicago Stadium (3,000)
Chicago, IL

12/30/1961*
no, no
No. NR vs. Colgate W 88-50  7-1
Chicago Stadium (6,000)
Chicago, IL

1/6/1962
no, no
No. NR vs. Michigan W 91-71  8-1 (1-0)
Huff Hall (6,509)
Champaign, IL

1/8/1962
no, no
No. NR @ Purdue L 89-96  8-2 (1-1)
Lambert Fieldhouse (6,500)
West Lafayette, IN

1/13/1962
no, no
No. NR @ Michigan State W 66-65  9-2 (2-1)
Jenison Fieldhouse (7,068)
East Lansing, MI

1/27/1962*
no, no
No. NR vs. Notre Dame W 85-77  10-2
Chicago Stadium (12,224)
Chicago, IL

1/29/1962
no, no
No. NR vs. Wisconsin L 81-85  10-3 (2-2)
Huff Hall (6,740)
Champaign, IL

2/3/1962
no, no
No. NR vs. Indiana W 96-85  11-3 (3-2)
Huff Hall (6,557)
Champaign, IL

2/5/1962
no, no
No. NR vs. Minnesota W 89-80  12-3 (4-2)
Huff Hall (5,927)
Champaign, IL

2/10/1962
no, no
No. NR @ Iowa W 91-81  13-3 (5-2)
Iowa Field House (12,300)
Iowa City, IA

2/12/1962
no, no
No. NR vs. Northwestern W 88-70  14-3 (6-2)
Huff Hall (6,673)
Champaign, IL

2/17/1962
no, no
No. NR vs. Purdue L 88-100  14-4 (6-3)
Huff Hall (6,912)
Champaign, IL

2/19/1962
no, no
No. NR @ Wisconsin L 101-103  14-5 (6-4)
Wisconsin Field House (7,399)
Madison, WI

2/24/1962
no, no
No. NR @ Ohio State (#1) L 79-102  14-6 (6-5)
St. John Arena (13,497)
Columbus, OH

3/3/1962
no, no
No. NR vs. Iowa L 78-88  14-7 (6-6)
Huff Hall (6,669)
Champaign, IL

3/5/1962
no, no
No. NR @ Indiana L 92-104  14-8 (6-7)
Gladstein Fieldhouse (5,000)
Bloomington, IN

3/10/1962
no, no
No. NR vs. Northwestern W 73–68  15-8 (7-7)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (5,000)
Evanston, 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
Dave Downey 2217497269445
Bill Burwell 23151124266426
Bill Small231337090336
Jerry Colangelo 231117395295
Bob Starnes238158147220
Doug Mills 152591859
John Love2218158651
Jay Lovelace13461014
Jerry Curless 1062814
Bill Edwards 1451911
Jerry Renner542610
Sam Leeper50232
Jeff Ferguson30020

[4]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA ClubRoundPick
No Player Selected

[6]

References

  1. Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. All-Time Illini Rosters
  3. University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1961-62, FightingIllini.com
  4. Season Stats
  5. List of MVPs
  6. 1962 NBA Draft
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