1970–71 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1970–71 Illinois Fighting Illini 1970–71_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 11-12 5–9 Harv Schmidt Dick Campbell Jim Wright Nat Frazier 4th 4th 12th 1st Rick Howat Fred Miller Rick Howat Assembly Hall The 1970–71 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season Head coach Harv Schmidt, in only his fourth season at the helm of the Fighting Illini men's basketball team, saw the longest losing streak of his career, 8 games. After starting the year by winning 9 of their first 12 games and 10 of their first 14, the Illini started their losing streak at Ohio State on February 13, and continue for a month. The agonizing month ended March 13, 1971, when the Illini visited Indiana in the season finale. The Fighting Illini finished the season with an 11-12 record, tied for 5th place in the conference with a 5-9 record. The Illini added sophomore forward Nick Weatherspoon for the season. Weatherspoon finished his inaugural season by scoring 381 points, averaging 16.5 points per game, and collected 246 rebounds. By the completion of his time at Illinois, Weatherspoon was their all-time leading scorer. The 1970-71 team's starting lineup included Weatherspoon and Fred Miller at the forward spots, Jim Krelle and Rick Howat as guards and Greg Jackson at center. Roster 1970 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Rick Howat 10 G 6 2 160 SR Downers Grove, Illinois Downers Grove North High School n C Nick Weatherspoon 12 F 6 6 185 SO Canton, Ohio McKinley High School y Fred Miller 14 G/F 6 4 210 SR Pekin, Illinois Pekin High School n C Larry Cohen 21 G 6 2 180 SO Wilmette, Illinois New Trier East High School n Jim Krelle 25 G 6 3 180 JR Aurora, Illinois Aurora West High School n Greg Jackson 31 C 6 8 265 SR Chicago, Illinois St. Philip High School n Sam Scaletta 32 G 6 0 170 JR Blue Island, Illinois Eisenhower High School n Alvin O'Neal 33 G/F 6 4 183 SO Peoria, Illinois Spalding High School n Jim Rucks 35 F 6 3 205 SO Waukegan, Illinois Waukegan High School n Tom Dezort 40 F 6 5 195 JR Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville High School n Bob Shapland 43 G 6 2 185 SR Champaign, Illinois Central High School n Jed Foster 44 F 6 6 205 SO Fairfield, Illinois Fairfield High School n Nick Conner 45 F/C 6 6 195 SO Columbus, Ohio East High School n Jim DeDecker 54 F/C 6 10 220 SO Moline, Illinois Alleman High School n Harv Schmidt (University of Illinois) (4th year) Dick Campbell (4th year) Jim Wright (University of Illinois) (12th year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1970-71 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1970-71 https://web.archive.org/web/20131216232140/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1970.html 2013-12-16 , FightingIllini.com yes yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/1/1970 yes 1970 Butler Bulldogs Butler Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 113-102 16,128 1 - 0 12/5/1970 yes 1970 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 72-74 16,128 1 - 1 12/8/1970 yes 1970 Vanderbilt Commodores Vanderbilt Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 96-79 16,128 2 - 1 12/12/1970 yes yes Iowa State Iowa State Armory Ames, IA 78-63 6,000 3 - 1 12/14/1970 yes 1970 Northern Michigan Wildcats Northern Michigan Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 82-70 16,128 4 - 1 12/26/1970 yes 13 yes Villanova Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI Rainbow Classic 76-89 7,500 4-2 12/30/1970 yes yes 1970 Saint Louis Billikens St. Louis Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI Rainbow Classic 78-60 1,414 5-2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/9/1971 Michigan State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 89-61 16,128 6 - 2 1 - 0 1/12/1971 Wisconsin Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 84-82 16,128 7 - 2 2 - 0 1/16/1971 yes Michigan State Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI 69-67 7,323 8 - 2 3 - 0 1/29/1971 18 yes 3 yes Southern California Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 68-81 15,000 8 - 3 1/30/1971 18 yes 7 yes Notre Dame Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 69-66 OT 17,000 9 - 3 2/2/1971 15 yes 1970 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 84-92 13,105 9 - 4 3 - 1 2/6/1971 15 1970 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 93-78 16,128 10 - 4 4 - 1 2/13/1971 yes Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, OH 72-92 13,489 10 - 5 4 - 2 2/16/1971 Purdue Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 70-73 16,128 10 - 6 4 - 3 2/20/1971 Indiana Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 86-88 16,128 10 - 7 4 - 4 2/23/1971 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 84-88 5,878 10 - 8 4 - 5 2/27/1971 yes Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 64-80 7,317 10 - 9 4 - 6 3/2/1971 Michigan Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 74-75 16,128 10 - 10 4 - 7 3/6/1971 yes Purdue Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN 93-99 14,123 10 - 11 4 - 8 3/9/1971 1970 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 70-85 5,885 10 - 12 4 - 9 3/13/1971 yes Indiana Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN Rivalry 67-87 7,286 11 - 12 5 - 9 |- Central Time Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws Rebounds PointsRick Howathttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 117 2013-12-16 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 231909467474Nick Weatherspoonhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 117 2013-12-16 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 2315179246381Greg Jacksonhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 117 2013-12-16 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 2311349157275Fred Millerhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 117 2013-12-16 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 227965109223Nick Connerhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 117 2013-12-16 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 237433162181Jim DeDeckerhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 117 2013-12-16 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 2237164090Jim Krellehttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 117 2013-12-16 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 1731123874Alvin O'Neal 162473355Jed Fosterhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 117 2013-12-16 2011-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20110708212650/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf dead 2119154053Larry Cohen 171641236Bob Shapland 1246614Tom Dezort 53228Jim Rucks 21022Sam Scaletta 10101 Awards and honors Rick Howat Team Most Valuable Player http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf List of MVPs 2013-12-16 2014-10-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20141030004049/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf dead Team players drafted into the NBA Player NBA club Round Pick1971 NBA Draft Rankings 1970–71 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:1970 in sports in Illinois Category:1971 in sports in Illinois