1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1960-61 Illinois Fighting Illini 1960–61_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 9-15 5-9 Harry Combes Howie Braun Jim Wright 14th 24th 3rd Selected each game Dave Downey Huff Hall The 1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season Head coach Harry Combes experienced the worst record of his 20 years at the University of Illinois. His Fighting Illini basketball team, for the second year in a row, played in a mid-season tournament. The tournament they would compete in would be the Kentucky Invitational Tournament held at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky December 21–22. The 1960-61 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer and team "MVP" Dave Downey. It also saw the return of Jerry Colangelo, John Wessels, Bill Burwell, Bill Small, as well as Doug Mills. The Illini also added sophomore Bob Starnes to their lineup. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 5 wins and 9 losses, finishing 7th in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 9 wins and 15 losses. The starting lineup included Bill Burwell at the center position, Bill Small and Jerry Colangelo at guard and Dave Downey and John Wessels at the forward slots.Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC 1-58261-356-7 Roster 1960 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes John Wessels 10 C 6 7 210 SR Rockford, Illinois Rockford West High School y John Wessels (basketball) Jerry Renner 20 F 6 1 180 JR Aurora, Illinois East High School n Sam Leeper 21 G 6 0 165 JR Tolono, Illinois Unity High School n Jay Lovelace 22 G 6 2 165 SO Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale Community High School n Jerry Colangelo 23 G 6 2 175 JR Chicago Heights, Illinois Bloom High School y Bill Burwell 25 C 6 8 243 SO Brooklyn, New York Boys High School n Jeff Ferguson 30 G 6 3 180 FR Benton, Illinois Benton Consolidated High School n Doug Mills 31 G 6 0 165 JR Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg High School n James Knoefel 33 F 6 4 180 JR Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso High School n Gary McClung 34 F 6 4 185 JR Maroa, Illinois Maroa-Forsyth High School n Dave Downey 40 F 6 4 200 SO Canton, Illinois Canton High School y Jerry Curless 41 G 6 0 160 JR Table Grove, Illinois VIT High School n Ed Searcy 42 F 6 5 185 JR Indianapolis, Indiana Attucks High School n Bob Starnes 44 F 6 4 180 SO Chicago, Illinois Gage Park High School n Bill Mohlenbrock 51 G 6 3 178 SO Murphysboro, Illinois Murphysboro High School n Bill Small 53 G 6 2 185 SO Aurora, Illinois West Aurora High School n Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (14th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (24th year) Jim Wright (University of Illinois) (3rd year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1960-61 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1960-61, FightingIllini.com yes yesSchedule |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/1/1960 yes 1960 Creighton Bluejays Creighton Huff Hall Champaign, IL 99-74 6,708 1-0 12/6/1960 yes 1960 Butler Bulldogs Butler Huff Hall Champaign, IL 84-52 6,689 2-0 12/12/1960 yes yes 1960 Colorado Buffaloes Colorado Balch Fieldhouse Boulder, CO 81-90 4,100 2-1 12/17/1960 yes yes 1960 Marquette Golden Eagles Marquette Marquette Gymnasium Milwaukee, WI 88-96 8,440 2-2 12/19/1960 yes Washington State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 79-58 3,507 3-2 12/21/1960 yes yes Kentucky Memorial Coliseum Lexington, KY Kentucky Invitational Tournament 78-83 7,500 3-3 12/22/1960 yes yes 1960 California Golden Bears California Memorial Coliseum Lexington, KY Kentucky Invitational Tournament 54-72 8,000 3-4 12/27/1960 yes yes Butler Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN 68-70 6,100 3-5 12/28/1960 yes yes 1960 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN 66-69 6,591 3-6 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/7/1961 yes Ohio State 1 St. John Arena Columbus, OH 65-91 13,408 3-7 0-1 1/14/1961 Michigan Huff Hall Champaign, IL 88-64 6,705 4-7 1-1 1/16/1961 yes Iowa 6 Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 71-78 12,700 4-8 1-2 1/28/1961 yes yes Notre Dame Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 77-62 11,800 5-8 1/30/1961 1960 Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 93-92 3,132 6-8 2-2 2/4/1961 yes 1960 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 65-60 12,001 7-8 3-2 2/6/1961 Wisconsin Huff Hall Champaign, IL 77-73 6,775 8-8 4-2 2/11/1961 yes 1960 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Lambert Fieldhouse West Lafayette, IN 73-89 10,000 8-9 4-3 2/18/1961 1960 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 72-78 6,569 8-10 4-4 2/20/1961 yes Michigan State Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI 80-90 4,185 8-11 4-5 2/25/1961 yes Indiana New Fieldhouse Bloomington, IN Rivalry 82-93 600 8-12 4-6 2/27/1961 Minnesota Huff Hall Champaign, IL 76-85 6,569 8-13 4-7 3/4/1961 Purdue Huff Hall Champaign, IL 85-75 6,891 9-13 5-7 3/6/1961 yes Michigan Yost Field House Ann Arbor, MI 66-74 2,000 9-14 5-8 3/11/1961 Ohio State 1 Huff Hall Champaign, IL 66–95 6,912 9-15 5-9 |- Central Time Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws Rebounds PointsDave Downey 2415788267402Jerry Colangelo 241287194327John Wessels2411983217321Bill Burwell 2411757207291Bill Small22734256188Bob Starnes2429256183Doug Mills 2126201572Ed Searcy 1323126258Jerry Curless 2217133847Jerry Renner191122224Jeff Ferguson112549Jay Lovelace72226Sam Leeper71252Bill Mohlenbrock 20010Butch Jones 10010 http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1960.html Season Stats 2014-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140311011020/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1960.html 2014-03-11 dead Awards and honors Dave Downey 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 2013-02-05 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 John Wessels Converse Honorable Mention All-American Team players drafted into the NBA Player NBA club Round PickJohn WesselsChicago Packers881961 NBA Draft Rankings 1960–61 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:1960 in sports in Illinois Category:1961 in sports in Illinois