1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
American college basketball season
The 1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
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
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 Roster
Schedule
Source[ 2]
Date
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) [ 3]
Non-Conference regular season
12/1/1960 *no, no
Creighton W 99-74 1-0
Huff Hall Champaign, IL
12/6/1960 *no, no
Butler W 84-52 2-0
Huff Hall (6,689)Champaign, IL
12/12/1960 *no, no
at Colorado
L 81-90 2-1
Balch Fieldhouse Boulder, CO
12/17/1960 *no, no
at Marquette
L 88-96 2-2
Marquette Gymnasium Milwaukee, WI
12/19/1960 *no, no
Washington State W 79-58 3-2
Huff Hall (3,507)Champaign, IL
12/21/1960 *no, no
at Kentucky Kentucky Invitational Tournament L 78-83 3-3
Memorial Coliseum Lexington, KY
12/22/1960 *no, no
vs. California Kentucky Invitational Tournament L 54-72 3-4
Memorial Coliseum (8,000)Lexington, KY
12/27/1960 *no, no
at Butler
L 68-70 3-5
Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
12/28/1960 *no, no
vs. Notre Dame
L 66-69 3-6
Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,591)Indianapolis, IN
Big Ten regular season
1/7/1961 no, no
at No. 1 Ohio State
L 65-91 3-7
St. John Arena Columbus, OH
1/14/1961 no, no
Michigan W 88-64 4-7
Huff Hall (6,705)Champaign, IL
1/16/1961 no, no
at No. 6 Iowa Rivalry L 71-78 4-8
Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA
1/28/1961 *no, no
vs. Notre Dame
W 77-62 5-8
Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL
1/30/1961 no, no
Michigan State W 93-92 6-8
Huff Hall (3,132)Champaign, IL
2/4/1961 no, no
at Minnesota
W 65-60 7-8
Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
2/6/1961 no, no
Wisconsin W 77-73 8-8
Huff Hall (6,775)Champaign, IL
2/11/1961 no, no
at Purdue
L 73-89 8-9
Lambert Fieldhouse West Lafayette, IN
2/18/1961 no, no
Northwestern Rivalry L 72-78 8-10
Huff Hall (6,569)Champaign, IL
2/20/1961 no, no
at Michigan State
L 80-90 8-11
Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
2/25/1961 no, no
at Indiana Rivalry L 82-93 8-12
New Fieldhouse Bloomington, IN
2/27/1961 no, no
Minnesota L 76-85 8-13
Huff Hall (6,569)Champaign, IL
3/4/1961 no, no
Purdue W 85-75 9-13
Huff Hall (6,891)Champaign, IL
3/6/1961 no, no
at Michigan
L 66-74 9-14
Yost Field House Ann Arbor, MI
3/11/1961 no, no
No. 1 Ohio State
L 66–95 9-15
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
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
[ 4]
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
[ 6]
Rankings
References
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics
