1971–72 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1971–72 Illinois Fighting Illini 1971–72_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 14–10 5–9 Harv Schmidt Dick Campbell Jim Wright 5th 5th 13th Jim Krelle Nick Weatherspoon Assembly Hall Gator Bowl Tournament Champions The 1971–72 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season The 1971-72 Fighting Illini men's basketball season, led by head coach Harv Schmidt, experienced the a tale of two years, 1971 and 1972. The Fighting Illini opened the season December 1, 1971, with a win over Butler and proceeded to win 7 of their next 8 games, finishing 1971 with an 8–1 record. That streak would continue into January 1972 for one more game, the opening game of the Big Ten season. After beating Northwestern the Fighting Illini would go on to drop 9 of their next 14 games, finishing the season with a 14–10 record, tied for 8th place in the conference. The brightest spot of the season would shine upon junior forward Nick Weatherspoon. Weatherspoon would return from a terrific sophomore campaign where he scored 381 points, averaging 16.5 points per game and collected 246 rebounds. During this season, 1971–72, he would score 500 total points, averaging 20.8 points and pull down 262 rebounds. The 1971–72 team's starting lineup included Weatherspoon and Nick Conner at the forward spots, Jim Krelle and Garvin Roberson as guards and Bill Morris at center. Roster 1971 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Garvin Roberson 10 G 6 4 185 SO Elkhart, Indiana Elkhart Central High School n Nick Weatherspoon 12 F 6 6 185 JR Canton, Ohio McKinley High School y C.J. Schroeder 14 G 6 4 195 SO Davenport, Iowa Davenport West High School n Larry Cohen 21 G 6 2 180 JR Wilmette, Illinois New Trier East High School n Jim Krelle 25 G 6 3 180 SR Aurora, Illinois Aurora West High School n C Mike Wente 30 F 6 5 200 SO Effingham, Illinois St. Anthony High School n Greg Wilson 34 G 6 3 190 SO Sebring, Ohio McKinley High School n Bill Morris 35 C 6 9 235 SO St. Louis, Missouri Beaumont High School n John McBride 40 F 6 5 195 JR Orland Park, Illinois Carl Sandburg High School n Jim Rucks 42 F 6 3 205 JR Waukegan, Illinois Waukegan High School n Kim Jolley 43 G 6 6 210 SO Indianola, Illinois Jamaica High School n Jed Foster 44 F 6 6 205 JR Fairfield, Illinois Fairfield High School n Nick Conner 45 F/C 6 6 195 JR Columbus, Ohio East High School n Jim DeDecker 54 F/C 6 10 220 JR Moline, Illinois Alleman High School n Harv Schmidt (University of Illinois) (5th year) Dick Campbell (5th year) Jim Wright (University of Illinois) (13th year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1971-72 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1971-72 https://web.archive.org/web/20131216233732/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1971.html 2013-12-16 , FightingIllini.com yes yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/1/1971 yes 1971 Butler Bulldogs Butler Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 73-71 12,959 1 - 0 12/4/1971 yes 20 yes 1971 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma McCasland Field House Norman, OK 70-65 8,326 2 - 0 12/7/1971 yes 1971 South Dakota Coyotes South Dakota Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 96-56 12,206 3 - 0 12/10/1971 yes yes 1971 Tulane Green Wave Tulane Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA 79-68 3,250 4 - 0 12/11/1971 yes yes 1971 Loyola Wolfpack Loyola (New Orleans) Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA 94-74 1,345 5 - 0 12/16/1971 yes 1971 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 84-78 12,447 6 - 0 12/23/1971 yes yes 1971 Vanderbilt Commodores Vanderbilt Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN 92-95 14,000 6 - 1 12/28/1971 yes yes 1971 NC State Wolfpack North Carolina State Jacksonville Coliseum Jacksonville, FL Gator Bowl Tournament 74-72 6,506 7 - 1 12/29/1971 yes yes 1971 Florida Gators Florida Jacksonville Coliseum Jacksonville, FL Gator Bowl Tournament 76-75 8,248 8 - 1 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/8/1972 yes 1971 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern McGaw Memorial Hall Evanston, IL Rivalry 67-63 5,885 9 - 1 1 - 0 1/11/1972 16 Michigan Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 76-75 14,836 9 - 2 1 - 1 1/15/1972 16 1971 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 74-85 16,017 9 - 3 1 - 2 1/28/1972 yes yes 1971 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 81-59 11,255 10 - 3 2/5/1972 Northwestern Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 68-59 13,628 11 - 3 2 - 2 2/8/1972 yes Michigan State Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI 79-89 6,132 11 - 4 2 - 3 2/12/1972 yes Michigan Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI 83-105 12,562 11 - 5 2 - 4 2/15/1972 yes 1971 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 84-87 12,559 11 - 6 2 - 5 2/17/1973 8 1971 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 64-62 15,236 12 - 6 3 - 5 2/22/1972 Indiana Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 71-90 14,083 12 - 7 3 - 6 2/26/1972 Wisconsin Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 91-86 14,006 13 - 7 4 - 6 2/29/1972 14 yes Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, OH 70-103 13,489 13 - 8 4 - 7 3/4/1972 yes 1971 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 62-91 14,666 13 - 9 4 - 8 3/7/1972 Iowa Assembly Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 91-84 11,554 14 - 9 5 - 8 3/11/1972 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 84-97 7,242 14 - 10 5 - 9 |- Central Time Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws Rebounds PointsNick Weatherspoonhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf pg. 117 2013-12-17 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 24200100262500Bill Morris 2111393197319Jim Krelle231047078278Nick Conner 2410151204253Larry Cohen 21423928123Garvin Roberson 24394251120Jed Foster 19384267118C.J. Schroeder 2123303376Jim DeDecker 1920173357Jim Rucks 883919Greg Wilson 452112Mike Wente 71062 Awards and honors Nick Weatherspoon Team Most Valuable Player http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf List of MVPs 2013-12-17 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 No Players Draftedhttp://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1973&lg=N 1973 NBA Draft on Databasebasketball.com 2013-12-17 usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20140630043934/http://databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1973&lg=N 2014-06-30 Rankings 1971–72 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:1971 in sports in Illinois Category:1972 in sports in Illinois