1963–64 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1963-64 Illinois Fighting Illini 1963–64_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 13-11 6-8 Harry Combes Howie Braun Jim Wright 17th 27th 6th Bill Edwards Skip Thoren Assembly Hall The 1963–64 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season The 1963-64 Fighting Illini basketball team, playing in their first full season in Assembly Hall, dropped back from its previous championship season with a losing finish in the Big Ten and a mediocre overall record. Head coach Harry Combes guided the Illini to a 10-3 record after the first 13 games of the season only to see the team reverse trends and go 3-8 the rest of the way. Once again the Illini played in a mid-season tournament, playing in the Los Angeles Basketball Classic. During the tournament the Illini would face eventual national champion, UCLA. The 1963-64 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer and team "MVP" Skip Thoren. It also saw the return of team captain Bill Edwards, juniors Tal Brody, Bogie Redmon, Bill McKeown as well as sophomores Don Freeman, Jim Vopicka and Larry Hinton to their lineup. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 6 wins and 8 losses, finishing in a 6th place tie in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 13 wins and 11 losses. The starting lineup included Skip Thoren at the center position, Tal Brody and Jim Vopicka at guard and Don Freeman and Bogie Redmon at the forward slots.Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC 1-58261-356-7 Roster 1963 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Larry Bauer 10 F 6 7 207 JR Springfield, Illinois Springfield High School n Bob Meadows 11 G 5 7 157 JR Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville High School n Tal Brody 12 G 6 2 170 JR Trenton, New Jersey Central High School y John Love 14 F 6 3 190 SR Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa Township High School n Don Freeman 15 G 6 2 180 SO Madison, Illinois Madison High School y Donnie Freeman (basketball, born 1944) Mel Blackwell 20 F 6 2 168 SO Centralia, Illinois Centralia High School n Jim Vopicka 22 G 6 1 170 SO Brookfield, Illinois Morton West High School n Ron Beeks 23 G 6 1 180 JR Princeton, New Jersey Princeton High School n Jeff Ferguson 30 F 6 3 195 SR Benton, Illinois Benton Consolidated High School n Tony Latham 31 G 5 10 163 JR Waukegan, Illinois Waukegan High School n Bill Edwards 32 G 6 2 185 SR Windsor, Illinois Windsor High School n C Bogie Redmon 33 F 6 5 225 JR Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville High School n Bill McKeown 34 G 6 2 185 JR Clinton, Illinois Clinton High School n Skip Thoren 35 C 6 8 215 JR Rockford, Illinois Rockford East High School y Bob Brown 40 G/F 6 2 190 SO Wilmington, DE P. S. Dupont High School n Larry Hinton 43 F 6 2 185 SO Shelbyville, Illinois Shelbyville High School n Mike Graville 44 F 6 1 170 SO Madison, Illinois Madison High School n George Johnson 53 F 6 2 185 SO Elmhurst, Illinois York High School n Dan Lee 54 F 6 3 175 SO Attica, Indiana Attica High School n Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (17th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (27th year) Jim Wright (University of Illinois) (6th year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1963-64 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1963-64 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 , FightingIllini.com yes yesSchedule |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season |- align="center" bgcolor="" 11/30/1963 yes yes 1963 Butler Bulldogs Butler Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN 59-52 11,400 1-0 12/4/1963 yes 1963 Saint Louis Billikens St. Louis Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 78-81 14,327 2-0 12/9/1963 yes yes Oklahoma McCasland Field House Norman, OK 104-105 3,800 1-2 12/14/1963 yes 1963 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 79-68 14,238 2-2 12/19/1963 yes Butler Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 74-53 13,681 3-2 12/26/1963 yes yes 1963 West Virginia Mountaineers West Virginia Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles Basketball Classic 92-86 5,104 4-2 12/27/1963 yes yes 1963 Pittsburgh Panthers Pittsburgh Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles Basketball Classic 83-76 14,267 5-2 12/28/1963 yes yes 4 UCLA Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles Basketball Classic 79-83 13,060 5-3 12/31/1963 yes yes Notre Dame Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 87-78 13,571 6-3 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/4/1964 1963 Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 87-66 14,141 7-3 1-0 1/11/1964 yes 1963 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 87-70 8,800 8-3 2-0 1/25/1964 yes yes 1963 Arizona State Sun Devils Arizona State Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 97-78 19,000 9-3 2/1/1964 1963 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 73-71 10,093 10-3 3-0 2/3/1964 yes Indiana New Fieldhouse Bloomington, IN Rivalry 96-104 8,002 10-4 3-1 2/8/1964 2 Michigan Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 82-93 16,128 10-5 3-2 2/10/1964 yes 1963 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, OH 92-110 11,351 10-6 3-3 2/15/1964 yes 1963 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 81-92 12,461 10-7 3-4 2/17/1964 yes Michigan State Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI 82-85 6,124 10-8 3-5 2/22/1964 Minnesota Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 86-78 15,676 11-8 4-5 2/24/1964 yes 1963 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Lambert Fieldhouse West Lafayette, IN 90-105 8,184 11-9 4-6 2/28/1964 yes 3 Michigan Yost Field House Ann Arbor, MI 83-89 7,875 11-10 4-7 3/2/1964 Ohio State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 74-86 8,643 11-11 4-8 3/7/1964 Wisconsin Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 97-73 15,826 12-11 5-8 3/9/1964 Iowa Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 90-67 13,676 13-11 6-8 |- Central Time Player stats Player Games Played Field goals Free Throws Rebounds PointsSkip Thorenhttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 24187114331488Tal Brodyhttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 241579197405Don Freemanhttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 2413081231341Bogie Redmonhttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 249737148231Jim Vopickahttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 24562462136Bill McKeownhttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 15461734109Larry Hintonhttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 2336185490Bill Edwardshttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 2032242488Mel Blackwellhttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 1714143342Bob Brownhttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 161412740Larry Bauerhttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 121162428John Lovehttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 16621714Jeff Fergusonhttp://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195956/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1963.html 2014-03-10 dead 20404Dan Lee 10010Bob Meadows 10000 Awards and honors Tal Brody Converse Honorable Mention All-American Sporting News Honorable Mention All-American Duane "Skip" Thoren Converse Honorable Mention All-American Team Most Valuable Player http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf List of MVPs 2013-02-14 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 PickNo Player Selected1964 NBA Draft Rankings 1963–64 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:1963 in sports in Illinois Category:1964 in sports in Illinois