1986–87 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1986–87 Illinois Fighting Illini 1986–87_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 11 11 23–8 13–5 Lou Henson Dick Nagy Jimmy Collins Mark Coomes 12th 8th 4th 2nd Doug Altenberger Ken Norman Tony Wysinger Ken Norman Assembly Hall Illini Classic, ChampionBYU-Hawaii Classic, Champion NCAA men's Division I tournament first round The 1986–87 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season The 1986–87 season saw the addition of a group of young players to the roster. Guards Steve Bardo, Kendall Gill and Larry Smith joined forward Nick Anderson in a highly touted recruiting class. This group produced another 20-win season (23–8) and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, where Illinois was beaten 68–67 by Austin Peay This marked the first season in Big Ten Conference basketball history where two teams finished with 30 or more victories. This season also marks the NCAA's first unified 3-point line of 19 feet 9 inches after 5 years of experimentation. Roster 1986 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Tony Wysinger 10 G 5 10 155 SR Peoria, Illinois Peoria Central High School n C Kendall Gill 13 G 6 3 180 FR Matteson, Illinois Rich Central High School y Glynn Blackwell 21 G 6 4 175 JR Highland Park, Michigan Highland Park Community High School n Doug Altenberger 22 G 6 4 200 SR y Peoria, Illinois Richwoods High School n C Nick Anderson basketball 25 G/F 6 6 215 FR Chicago, Illinois Simeon High School y Larry Smith 31 G 6 2 185 FR Alton, Illinois Alton High School y Larry Smith (basketball, born 1968) Kenny Battle 32 F 6 5 210 JR yes Aurora, Illinois West Aurora High School y Ken Norman 33 F 6 8 215 SR Chicago, Illinois Crane High School y C Dave Wells 34 G 6 5 200 SR Freeport, Illinois Freeport High School n Stephen Bardo 35 G/F 6 5 215 FR Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale Community High School y Olaf Blab 40 C 7 1 235 SO y yes Munich, West Germany Charleston High School n Jim Green 42 F 6 4 190 JR Morton, Illinois Academy of Our Lady/Spalding Institute n Jeff Finke 43 F 6 6 200 FR Casey, Illinois Casey-Westfield High School n Phil Kunz 44 F 6 9 230 FR Carlyle, Illinois Carlyle High School n Lowell Hamilton 45 F 6 7 210 SO Chicago, Illinois Providence St. Mel High School y Bryan Brickner 50 F/C 6 6 180 FR Scales Mound, Illinois Scales Mound High School n Jens Kujawa 54 C 7 0 245 SO y Braunschweig, West Germany Taylorville High School y Lou Henson (New Mexico State University) (12th year) Jimmy Collins (New Mexico State) (4th year) Dick Nagy (Hardin-Simmons University) (8th year) Mark Coomes (New Mexico State) (2nd year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1986-87 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1986–87 https://web.archive.org/web/20140203051349/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1986.html February 3, 2014 , FightingIllini.com yes yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 11/28/1986 14 yes yes 1986 New Mexico State Aggies New Mexico State BYU-Hawaii Campus Laie, HI BYU-Hawaii Classic 67–65 450 1–0 11/29/1986 14 yes yes Duke BYU-Hawaii Campus Laie, HI BYU-Hawaii Classic 69–62 1,887 2–0 12/4/1986 9 yes 1986 Chicago State Cougars Chicago State Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois 92–78 13,986 3–0 12/6/1986 9 yes yes Pittsburgh 12 Civic Arena Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 99–97 6,689 4–0 12/8/1986 9 yes 1986 Eastern Illinois Panthers Eastern Illinois Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois 85–51 13,578 5–0 12/12/1986 6 yes 1986 Baylor Bears Baylor Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois Illini Classic 92–68 13,922 6–0 12/13/1986 6 yes Princeton Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois Illini Classic 81–55 14,543 7–0 12/20/1986 5 yes yes North Carolina 4 Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina 77–90 21,444 7–1 12/23/1986 9 yes yes Missouri St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri Braggin' Rights 92–74 16,500 8–1 12/27/1986 9 yes yes 1986 Loyola Ramblers Loyola (Chicago) Alumni Gym Chicago, Illinois 82–83 9,017 8–2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/3/1987 16 Michigan Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois 95–84 16,468 9–2 1–0 1/5/1987 16 Michigan State Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois 79–72 13,672 10–2 2–0 1/8/1987 12 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin 68–66 8,054 11–2 3–0 1/10/1987 12 yes Northwestern Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois Rivalry 76–69 8,117 12–2 4–0 1/14/1987 8 Iowa 2 Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois Rivalry 88–91 OT 16,666 12–3 4–1 1/17/1987 8 Minnesota Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois 80–58 13,814 13–3 5–1 1/22/1987 9 yes Purdue 5 Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana 86–87 OT 14,123 13–4 5–2 1/24/1987 9 yes Arizona Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois 82–63 15,884 14–4 1/28/1987 12 yes Indiana 4 Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana Rivalry 66–69 17,249 14–5 5–3 1/31/1987 12 yes 1986 Colorado Buffaloes Colorado Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois 69–65 14,596 15–5 2/2/1987 12 yes Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio 93–70 14,075 16–5 6–3 2/5/1987 14 Northwestern Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois Rivalry 72–43 14,095 17–5 7–3 2/7/1987 14 Wisconsin Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois 99–74 16,682 18–5 8–3 2/12/1987 11 yes Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota 79–67 11,183 19–5 9–3 2/14/1987 11 yes Iowa 4 Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA Rivalry 61–66 15,500 19–6 9–4 2/23/1987 14 Purdue 6 Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois 75–76 OT 16,667 19–7 9–5 2/25/1987 14 Ohio State Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois 93–70 14,075 20–7 10–5 3/1/1987 14 Indiana 3 Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois Rivalry 69–67 16,793 21–7 11–5 3/4/1987 12 yes Michigan Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan 89–75 13,145 22–7 12–5 3/7/1987 12 yes Michigan State Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, Michigan 77–64 10,004 23–7 13–5 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA Tournament 3/12/1987 11 yes yes 3 SE Austin Peay 14 SE Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex Birmingham, Alabama First Round 67–68 – 23–8 |- Central Time Rankings 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings Player stats PlayerGames PlayedMinutes Played2 pt. Field Goals3 pt. Field GoalsFree ThrowsReboundsAssistsBlocksStealsPointsKen Normanhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 121 2011-03-17 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 3111122551128303684837641Doug Altenbergerhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 121 2011-03-17 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 3099663765513891641409Tony Wysingerhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 121 2011-03-17 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 30948100285456192240338Lowell Hamiltonhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 121 2011-03-17 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 31729149036121283124334Glynn Blackwellhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 121 2011-03-17 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 3167911466110664431307Jens Kujawahttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 121 2011-03-17 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 3149953035109221414141Stephen Bardohttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 121 2011-03-17 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 316304113492851523119Kendall Gillhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2009-10_Guide05.pdf Season Stats pg. 121 2011-03-17 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 31345400344227839114Larry Smith 201081201413162638Phil Kunz 231611301030311436Olaf Blab 81520250204Jeff Finke 62510251014Jim Green 121610130103Bryan Brickner 2300011000Dave Wells 4500010000 Awards and honors Ken Norman Associated Press 2nd team All-American United States Basketball Writers Association 2nd team All-American National Association of Basketball Coaches 3rd team 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 2013-01-15 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 Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Kendall Gill Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Team players drafted into the NBA Player NBA club Round Pick Ken NormanLos Angeles Clippers 1 19 Doug AltenbergerChicago Bulls 6 125 1987 NBA Draft Rankings 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Illinois Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:1986 in sports in Illinois Category:1987 in sports in Illinois