1972–73 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1972–73 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1972–73 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. Not ranked
AP	No. Not ranked
1972–73 record	14–10 (8–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harv Schmidt;
Assistant coaches	; ;
MVP	Nick Weatherspoon
Captain	Nick Weatherspoon
Home arena	Assembly Hall
	Seasons ← 1971–72 1973–74 →

"1972-73 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"

The 1972–73 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season[]

Head coach Harv Schmidt entered his sixth season with the Fighting Illini with high expectations. The 1971-72 team returned one of the top senior athletes in the country, Nick Weatherspoon. As a sophomore, Weatherspoon scored 381 points, averaging 16.5 points per game, while collecting 246 rebounds. His junior year was even better, scoring 500 total points, averaging 20.8 points and pulling down 262 rebounds. Nothing, however, would be better than Weatherspoon's senior year. During this season he would score 600 points, averaging 25.0 points per game, while amassing 295 total rebounds. Weatherspoon remains as number 11 on the all-time leading scores list at the University of Illinois, only surpassed by players that completed four years of varsity basketball. His three year average of 20.9 points per game and 11.3 rebounds per game still remain number one for the Fighting Illini.

The 1972-73 team's starting lineup included Weatherspoon and at the forward spots, and as guards and at center. The roster included the teams first 7 foot tall player, Bill Rucks a freshman from Waukegan High School.

Roster[]

1972–73 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	10	Garvin Roberson	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Elkhart Central High School	Elkhart, Indiana
G	11	Dave Roberts	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Proviso East High School	Maywood, Illinois
F	12	Nick Weatherspoon (C)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	McKinley High School	Canton, Ohio
G	14	C.J. Schroeder	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Davenport West High School	Davenport, Iowa
G	20	Dennis Graff	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Fr	Gibson City High School	Gibson City, Illinois
G	21	Larry Cohen	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	New Trier East High School	Wilmette, Illinois
G	22	Rich Connell	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	St. Joseph-Ogden High School	St. Joseph, Illinois
G	24	Jeff Dawson	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Downers Grove North High School	Oak Park, Illinois
G	25	Donn Deputy	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Pekin High School	Pekin, Illinois
F	30	Mike Wente	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	St. Anthony High School	Effingham, Illinois
F	31	Mark Bondeson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Maine East High School	Des Plaines, Illinois
F	32	Rick Schmidt	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	St. Joseph-Ogden High School	Royal, Illinois
G	33	Otho Tucker	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Paris High School	Paris, Illinois
F	40	John McBride	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Carl Sandburg High School	Orland Park, Illinois
F/C	41	Dave Smith	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Hinsdale Central High School	Clarendon Hills, Illinois
F	42	Jim Rucks	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Waukegan High School	Waukegan, Illinois
F	44	Jed Foster	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr		Fairfield, Illinois
F/C	45	Nick Conner	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	East High School	Columbus, Ohio
C	53	Bill Rucks	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Fr	Waukegan High School	Waukegan, Illinois
C	54	Jim DeDecker	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Alleman High School	Moline, Illinois

Head coach

Harv Schmidt (University of Illinois) (6th year)

Assistant coach(es)

(6th year)
(Western Illinois University) (1st year)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

All-Time Illini Roster

Source^[1] ^[2]

Schedule[]

Source^[3]

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/2/1972* no, no	vs.DePauw	W 100-68	1 - 0	Assembly Hall (8,755) Champaign, IL
12/4/1972* no, no	vs. Valparaiso	W 80-62	2 - 0	Assembly Hall (8,326) Champaign, IL
12/9/1973* no, no	@ Detroit	L 77-79 ^ot	2 - 1	Calihan Hall (2,651) Detroit, MI
12/13/1972* no, no	vs. Iowa State	W 74-60	3 - 1	Assembly Hall (8,501) Champaign, IL
12/19/1972* no, no	vs. Furman	W 86-81	4 - 1	Assembly Hall (9,418) Champaign, IL
12/22/1972* no, no	@ Southern California	L 72-75	4 - 2	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (3,472) Los Angeles, CA
12/29/1972* no, no	vs. Temple	W 82-77	5 - 2	Municipal Auditorium (6,975) New Orleans, LA
12/30/1972* no, no	vs. #1 UCLA Sugar Bowl Classic	L 64-71	5 - 3	Municipal Auditorium (7,123) New Orleans, LA

1/6/1973 no, no	@ Purdue	L 80-91	5 - 4 ( 0 - 1 )	Mackey Arena (11,684) West Lafayette, IN
1/8/1973 no, no	vs. Wisconsin	W 76-74	6 - 4 ( 1 - 1 )	Assembly Hall (8,607) Champaign, IL
1/13/1973 no, no	vs. Iowa Rivalry	W 80-78	7 - 4 ( 2 - 1 )	Assembly Hall (9,916) Champaign, IL
1/25/1973* no, no	vs. Notre Dame	W 87-84	8 - 4	Chicago Stadium (15,817) Chicago, IL
1/27/1973* no, no	vs. South Carolina	L 76-86	8 - 5	Assembly Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL
2/3/1973 no, no	vs. Michigan	W 76-75	9 - 5 ( 3 - 1 )	Assembly Hall (11,117) Champaign, IL
2/5/1973 no, no	@ Northwestern	W 84-77	10 - 5 ( 4 - 1 )	McGaw Memorial Hall (4,726) Evanston, IL
2/10/1973 no, no	@ Wisconsin	L 88-99	10 - 6 ( 4 - 2 )	Wisconsin Field House (8,231) Madison, WI
2/12/1973 no, no	@ #4 Indiana Rivalry	L 67-87	10 - 7 ( 4 - 3 )	Assembly Hall (14,156) Bloomington, IN
2/17/1973 no, no	vs. Ohio State	W 79-68	11 - 7 ( 5 - 3 )	Assembly Hall (11,892) Champaign, IL
2/19/1973 no, no	vs. #4 Minnesota	L 52-72	11 - 8 ( 5 - 4 )	Assembly Hall (11,367) Champaign, IL
2/24/1973 no, no	vs. Michigan State	L 82-90	12 - 8 ( 6 - 4 )	Assembly Hall (10,677) Champaign, IL
2/26/1973 no, no	@ Michigan	W 96-89	13 - 8 ( 7 - 4 )	Crisler Center (8,235) Ann Arbor, MI
3/3/1973 no, no	@ Ohio State	L 64-65	13 - 9 ( 7 - 5 )	St. John Arena (13,489) Columbus, OH
3/5/1973 no, no	vs. Northwestern	W 77-76	14 - 9 ( 7 - 5 )	Assembly Hall (10,857) Champaign, IL
3/10/1973 no, no	@ Iowa Rivalry	L 76-93	14 - 10 ( 8 - 6 )	Iowa Field House (12,353) Iowa City, IA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats[]

Player	Games Played	Minutes Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Rebounds	Points
Nick Weatherspoon^[4]	24	880	247	106	295	600
Jeff Dawson^[5]	24	930	182	83	68	447
Nick Conner^[6]	24	845	136	43	221	315
Otho Tucker^[7]	24	822	92	53	79	237
Jed Foster^[8]	24	487	38	37	99	113
Rick Schmidt^[9]	23	471	39	10	90	88
C.J. Schroeder^[10]	20	163	9	14	28	32
Dave Roberts^[11]	15	8	94	9	7	25
Don Deputy	7	27	4	4	3	12
Bill Rucks	5	31	5	1	10	11
Larry Cohen	3	12	3	0	1	6
Garvin Roberts	8	38	1	2	4	4
Jim Rucks	3	31	1	2	1	4

Awards and honors[]

Nick Weatherspoon
- 1st Team All-American (Helms), Honorable Mention (Converse)
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[12]

Team players drafted into the NBA[]

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Nick Weatherspoon	Capitol Bullets	1	13
Jeff Dawson	Golden State Warriors	8	11
Nick Conner	Buffalo Braves	10	2

^[13]

Rankings[]

References[]

^ Men's Basketball Roster
^ All-Time Illini Rosters All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1972-73 Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
^ Season Stats pg. 118
^ Season Stats pg. 118
^ Season Stats pg. 118
^ Season Stats pg. 118
^ Season Stats pg. 118
^ Season Stats pg. 118
^ Season Stats pg. 118
^ Season Stats pg. 118
^ List of MVPs
^ 1973 NBA Draft Archived 2014-06-30 at the Wayback Machine

[1] Men's Basketball Roster

[2] All-Time Illini Rosters All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine

[3] University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1972-73 Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com

[4] Season Stats pg. 118

[5] Season Stats pg. 118

[6] Season Stats pg. 118

[7] Season Stats pg. 118

[8] Season Stats pg. 118

[9] Season Stats pg. 118

[10] Season Stats pg. 118

[11] Season Stats pg. 118

[12] List of MVPs

[13] 1973 NBA Draft Archived 2014-06-30 at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

hide v t Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)
Rivalries	Indiana Iowa Missouri Northwestern
Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics


v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 6 Indiana	11	–	3	.786	22	–	6	.786
No. 10 Minnesota	10	–	4	.714	21	–	5	.808
Purdue	8	–	6	.571	15	–	9	.625
Illinois	8	–	6	.571	14	–	10	.583
Ohio State	8	–	6	.571	14	–	10	.583
Iowa	6	–	8	.429	13	–	11	.542
Michigan	6	–	8	.429	13	–	11	.542
Michigan State	6	–	8	.429	13	–	11	.542
Wisconsin	5	–	9	.357	11	–	13	.458
Northwestern	2	–	12	.143	5	–	19	.208

Rankings from AP Poll