1959–60 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1959–60 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1959–60 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team.jpg
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. Not Ranked
APNo. Not Ranked
1959–60 record16–7 (8-6 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPGovoner Vaughn
CaptainMannie Jackson
Home arenaHuff Hall
Seasons
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
No. 3 Ohio State 13 1   .929     25 3   .893
No. 7 Indiana 11 3   .786     20 4   .833
Illinois 8 6   .571     16 7   .696
Minnesota 8 6   .571     12 12   .500
Northwestern 8 6   .571     11 12   .478
Iowa 6 8   .429     14 10   .583
Purdue 6 8   .429     11 12   .478
Michigan State 5 9   .357     10 11   .476
Wisconsin 4 10   .286     8 16   .333
Michigan 1 13   .071     4 20   .167
Rankings from https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/big-ten/1960.html

The 1959–60 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season[]

Entering his 13th year as University of Illinois' head coach, Harry Combes and his Fighting Illini basketball team. Started gaining on the national scene once again by beginning the Big Ten season as a top 10 ranked team. The Associated Press would eventually rank the Illini as high as number eight during the course of the season; however, the team would falter late in the season, dropping three straight games and fall out of the rankings. The final AP and UPI rankings would include only two Big Ten teams, Ohio State (ranked 3) and Indiana (ranked 7/10). Ohio State would go on and win the NCAA Tournament. For the second time in the history of the Illini, they would play in a mid-season tournament. The tournament they would compete in would be the inaugural held at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena December 28–30.

The 1959-60 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer and team "MVP" Govoner Vaughn. It also saw the return of team "captain" Mannie Jackson as well as , , John Wessels, , , and . Jerry Colangelo, a future sports mogul, also played a significant role as a sophomore. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 8 wins and 6 losses, finishing tied for 3rd place in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 16 wins and 7 losses. The starting lineup included John Wessels at the center position, Vern Altemeyer, Lou Landt and Mannie Jackson at guard and Govoner Vaughn and Ed Perry at the forward slots.[1]

Roster[]

1959–60 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
C 10 John Wessels 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Rockford West High School Rockford, Illinois
G 12 Lee Frandsen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Jr Davenport Central High School Davenport, Iowa
F 13 Ed Perry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Salem, Illinois
F 14 Bruce Bunkenburg 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Roosevelt High School Chicago, Illinois
F 15 Bob Schmidt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Kankakee High School Kankakee, Illinois
F 20 Jerry Renner 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So East High School Aurora, Illinois
G 21 Sam Leeper 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Unity High School Tolono, Illinois
G 22 Jay Lovelace 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Carbondale Community High School Carbondale, Illinois
G 23 Jerry Colangelo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Bloom High School Chicago Heights, Illinois
C 25 Bill Burwell 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 243 lb (110 kg) Fr Boys High School Brooklyn, New York
G 30 Mannie Jackson (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Edwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois
G 31 Doug Mills 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Galesburg High School Galesburg, Illinois
G 32 Lou Landt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Roosevelt High School Berwyn, Illinois
F 33 Al Gosnell 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Lawrenceville High School Lawrenceville, Illinois
F 34 Gary McClung 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Maroa-Forsyth High School Maroa, Illinois
F 35 Govoner Vaughn 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Edwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois
F 40 Dave Downey 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Canton High School Canton, Illinois
G 41 Jerry Curless 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So VIT High School Table Grove, Illinois
F 42 Ed Searcy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Attucks High School Indianapolis, Indiana
F 44 Bob Starnes 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Gage Park High School Chicago, Illinois
G 51 Bill Mohlenbrock 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Jr Murphysboro High School Murphysboro, Illinois
C 52 Vern Altemeyer 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Scottsburg Senior High School Scottsburg, Indiana
G 53 Bill Small 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr West Aurora High School Aurora, Illinois
F 55 James Knoefel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Valparaiso High School Valparaiso, Indiana
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (23rd year)
  • (University of Illinois) (2nd year)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[2]

Schedule[]

Source[3]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state[4]
Non-Conference regular season
12/3/1959*
no, no
No. NR Butler W 83–75  1-0
Huff Hall (6,417)
Champaign, IL
12/12/1959*
no, no
No. NR Western Kentucky W 93–80  2-0
Huff Hall (6,553)
Champaign, IL
12/14/1959*
no, no
No. NR Marquette W 89–77  3-0
Huff Hall (6,512)
Champaign, IL
12/19/1959*
no, no
No. NR Ohio W 85–79  4-0
Huff Hall (4,356)
Champaign, IL
12/21/1959*
no, no
No. NR Oklahoma W 60–57  5-0
Huff Hall (5,034)
Champaign, IL
12/28/1959*
no, no
No. 10 California (No. 3)
Los Angeles Basketball Classic
L 48–62  5-1
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (10,838)
Los Angeles, CA
12/29/1959*
no, no
No. 8 Northwestern
Los Angeles Basketball Classic
W 92–79  6-1
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (10,295)
Los Angeles, CA
12/30/1959*
no, no
No. 8 Stanford
Los Angeles Basketball Classic
W 74–62  7-1
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (923)
Los Angeles, CA
1/4/1960
no, no
No. 8 Ohio State (No. 5) L 73–97  7-2 (0-1)
St. John Arena (13,263)
Columbus, OH
1/9/1960
no, no
No. 9 Minnesota W 90–82  8-2 (1-1)
Huff Hall (6,649)
Champaign, IL
1/11/1960
no, no
No. 9 Purdue W 81–75  9-2 (2-1)
Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000)
West Lafayette, IN
1/16/1960
no, no
No. 14 Michigan State W 96–88  10-2 (3-1)
Huff Hall (6,815)
Champaign, IL
1/18/1960
no, no
No. 14 Minnesota L 70–77  10-3 (3-2)
Williams Arena (12,729)
Minneapolis, MN
1/30/1960*
no, no
No. NR Notre Dame W 71–67  11-3
Chicago Stadium (-)
Chicago, IL
2/6/1960
no, no
No. 19 Michigan W 75-61  12-3 (4-2)
Yost Field House (2,000)
Ann Arbor, MI
2/8/1960
no, no
No. 19 Michigan State L 77–78  12-4 (4-3)
Jenison Fieldhouse (6,325)
East Lansing, MI
2/13/1960
no, no
No. 20 Purdue W 93–89 2OT 13-4 (5-3)
Huff Hall (6,631)
Champaign, IL
2/15/1960
no, no
No. 20 Ohio State (No. 4) L 81–109  13-5 (5-4)
Huff Hall (6,912)
Champaign, IL
2/20/1960
no, no
No. 20 Wisconsin L 63–75  13-6 (5-5)
Wisconsin Field House (7,885)
Madison, WI
2/22/1960
no, no
No. 20 Indiana
Rivalry
L 78–92  13-7 (5-6)
Huff Hall (6,864)
Champaign, IL
2/27/1960
no, no
No. 20 Iowa
Rivalry
W 85–70  14-7 (6-6)
Huff Hall (6,691)
Champaign, IL
2/29/1960
no, no
No. NR Michigan W 90–61  15-7 (7-6)
Yost Field House (5,277)
Ann Arbor, MI
3/5/1960
no, no
No. NR Northwestern W 84–77  16-7 (8-6)
McGaw Memorial Hall (5,800)
Evanston, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats[]

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Points
Govoner Vaughn 23 164 83 189 411
Mannie Jackson 23 162 54 94 378
Ed Perry 23 74 64 141 212
Lou Landt 23 70 36 64 176
John Wessels 14 56 43 98 155
Lee Frandsen 20 41 32 37 114
Vern Altemeyer 23 44 25 94 113
Al Gosnell 23 36 24 95 96
Bruce Bunkenburg 18 22 20 42 64
Jerry Colangelo 19 25 10 16 60
Ed Searcy 17 20 6 57 46
Bob Starnes 2 0 2 1 2
Bob Schmidt 1 1 0 1 2
Doug Mills 4 1 0 1 2
Tom Adams 1 0 0 0 0
Jerry Curless 1 0 0 0 0
Bill Mohlenbrock 1 0 0 0 0

[5]

Awards and honors[]

Team players drafted into the NBA[]

Player NBA Club Round Pick
No Players Selected

[7]

Rankings[]

References[]

  1. ^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. ^ Men's Basketball Roster
  3. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1959-60, FightingIllini.com
  4. ^ Schedule
  5. ^ Season Stats Archived 2013-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ List of MVPs
  7. ^ 1960 NBA Draft Archived 2012-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
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