1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini 1979–80_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten Not ranked Not ranked 22–13 8–10 Lou Henson Tony Yates Dick Nagy Larry Lubin 5th 6th 1st 1st Levi Cobb Neil Bresnahan Eddie Johnson Assembly Hall Illini Classic, Champion Rainbow Classic, Championhttp://uhathletics.hawaii.edu/MBasket/rchistory.html Rainbow Classic History 2013-03-12 https://web.archive.org/web/20050318140825/http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu/MBasket/rchistory.html 2005-03-18 dead National Invitation Tournament Third Place The 1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season For the 1979-80 season, head coach Lou Henson returned everyone from a team that finished with 19 wins. The team gave the head coach his first of 11, 20-win seasons at Illinois. That year, Illinois made its first postseason appearance since 1963, finishing third in the NIT. During the course of the season, the Illini would defeat eventual NCAA Tournament Champion, Louisville Roster 1979 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Reno Gray 10 G 6 2 170 SR y Chicago, Illinois Hales Franciscan High School n Kevin Westervelt 12 G 6 1 165 SR Peoria, Illinois Richwoods High School n James Griffin 13 C 6 10 200 SO Grandview, Texas Dunbar High School n Kevin Bontemps 20 G 6 1 175 FR Morton, Illinois Morton High School n Quinn Richardson 21 G 5 11 175 FR Robbins, Illinois Eisenhower High School n Perry Range 22 G 6 4 180 SO South Beloit, Illinois South Beloit High School n Rob Judson 30 G 6 2 175 SR Zion, Illinois Zion-Benton High School y Neil Bresnahan 31 F 6 6 200 SR Oak Park, Illinois Fenwick High School n C Levi Cobb 32 F 6 6 205 SR Chicago, Illinois Morgan Park High School n C Eddie Johnson 33 F 6 8 210 JR Chicago, Illinois Westinghouse High School y Eddie A. Johnson (basketball, born 1959) Mark Smith 42 F 6 7 195 Jr Peoria, Illinois Richwoods High School n Bryan Leonard 43 F 6 10 210 SO Belleville, Illinois Belleville High School-East n Derek Holcomb 44 C 6 11 230 JR Peoria, Illinois Richwoods High School n Lou Henson (New Mexico State University) (5th year) Tony Yates (University of Cincinnati) (6th year) Dick Nagy (Hardin-Simmons University) (1st year) Larry Lubin (University of Illinois) (1st year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1979-80 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1979-80 https://web.archive.org/web/20130227000634/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1979.html 2013-02-27 , FightingIllini.com yes yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 11/30/1979 yes yes BYU 15 Marriott Center Provo, UT 86-76 23,042 1-0 12/4/1979 yes Missouri Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Show-Me Classic 66-67 OT 14,004 1-1 12/6/1979 yes 1979 Kent State Golden Flashes Kent State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 74-65 13,090 2-1 12/8/1979 yes 1979 Long Beach State 49ers Long Beach State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 77-60 14,075 3-1 12/10/1979 yes yes TCU Daniel–Meyer Coliseum Fort Worth, TX 79-64 4,110 4-1 12/11/1979 yes 1979 UMSL Tritons Missouri-St. Louis Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 91-65 13,021 5-1 12/14/1979 yes 1979 Kentucky State University Kentucky State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Illini Classic 94-65 14,363 6-1 12/15/1979 yes Illinois State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Illini Classic 47-40 16,257 7-1 12/22/1979 yes Marquette Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 78-80 12,618 7-2 12/28/1979 yes 1979 Army Black Knights Army yes Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI Rainbow Classic 75-48 - 8-2 12/29/1979 yes Louisville 12 Neal S. Blaisdell Center yes Honolulu, HI Rainbow Classic 77-64 - 9-2 12/30/1979 yes 1979 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Hawaii yes Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI Rainbow Classic 94-82 - 10-2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/3/1980 20 Iowa 10 Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 71-72 10,839 10-3 0-1 1/5/1980 20 1979 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 81-71 9,174 11-3 1-1 1/10/1980 Purdue 10 Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN yes 66-74 12,982 11-4 1-2 1/12/1980 Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN yes 75-79 15,381 11-5 1-3 1/17/1980 Michigan Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 80-69 14,746 12-5 2-3 1/19/1980 Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI yes 69-64 10,386 13-5 3-3 1/24/1980 Ohio State 4 Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 76-79 16,383 13-6 3-4 1/26/1980 Michigan State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 74-65 16,490 14-6 4-4 1/31/1980 Indiana 18 Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN yes Rivalry 54-60 16,723 14-7 4-5 2/2/1980 Michigan State Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI yes 59-68 10,004 14-8 4-6 2/7/1980 Wisconsin Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 67-50 13,873 15-8 5-6 2/9/1980 Indiana 20 Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 89-68 16,614 16-8 6-6 2/14/1980 Michigan Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI yes 76-78 9,738 16-9 6-7 2/16/1980 Ohio State 9 St. John Arena Columbus, OH yes 57-71 13,591 16-10 6-8 2/21/1980 Minnesota Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 60-58 OT 14,592 17-10 7-8 2/23/1980 Purdue 15 Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 69-72 16,647 17-11 7-9 2/28/1980 Northwestern McGaw Memorial Hall Evanston, IL yes Rivalry 90-66 5,426 18-11 8-9 3/1/1980 Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA yes Rivalry 71-75 13,365 18-12 8-10 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|National Invitation Tournament 3/5/1980 yes 1979 Loyola Ramblers Loyola Chicago Assembly Hall Champaign, IL NIT First round 105-87 13,326 19-12 3/10/1980 yes Illinois State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL NIT Second round 75-65 16,193 20-12 3/13/1980 yes 1979 Murray State Racers Murray State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL NIT Quarterfinals 65-63 15,070 21-12 3/17/1980 yes Minnesota yes Madison Square Garden New York, NY NIT Semifinals 63-65 11,223 21-13 3/19/1980 yes 1979 UNLV Runnin' Rebels UNLV yes Madison Square Garden New York, NY NIT Third-place game 84-74 - 22-13 |- Central Time Player stats Player Games played Minutes played Field goals Free throws Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals PointsEddie Johnsonhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 119 2011-03-15 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 3512152667831071713610Mark Smithhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 119 2011-03-15 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 351026187161214951135535Reno Grayhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 119 2011-03-15 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 358581315747109239319James Griffinhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 119 2011-03-15 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 3567611936154253918274Perry Rangehttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 119 2011-03-15 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 3580990638564236243Derek Holcombhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 119 2011-03-15 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 316367236164444615180Neil Bresnahanhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 119 2011-03-15 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 355996727121641114161Rob Judsonhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 119 2011-03-15 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 3159559324447015150Kevin Bontempts 303631526286711656Levi Cobb 2514020736142947Quinn Richardson 16101879170423Kevin Westervelt 183464810116 Awards and honors Eddie Johnson Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Team Most Valuable Playerhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf List of MVPs 2013-01-15 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 Pick Neil BresnahanGolden State Warriors6 117 1980 NBA Draft Rankings 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Illinois Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Illinois Illinois