1974–75 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1974–75 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1974–75 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. Not ranked
AP	No. Not ranked
1974–75 record	8–18 (4–14 Big Ten)
Head coach	Gene Bartow;
Assistant coaches	Tony Yates; LeRoy Hunt;
MVP	Rick Schmidt
Captain
Home arena	Assembly Hall
	Seasons ← 1973–74 1975–76 →

The 1974–75 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season[]

Illinois finished ninth in the Big Ten going went 8-18 overall. Gene Bartow took over the team as head coach. Brought to Illinois to continue the magical rebuilding jobs he had undertaken at Valparaiso and Memphis State, Gene Bartow was counted on by Athletic Director Cecil Coleman to restore the successful level of play fans had become accustomed to in the past few decades. However, Bartow’s stay in Champaign was short-lived, lasting only one year. The lure away from Illinois was a strong one for Bartow; he was hired away by UCLA to replace legendary Bruin coach John Wooden.

This marked the first time that a Big Ten school would finish with a record of 30 or more wins.

Roster[]

1974–75 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	10	Nate Williams	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Crane High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	11	Dave Roberts	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Proviso East High School	Maywood, Illinois
F/C	15	Tom Carmichael	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Rochelle Township High School	Rochelle, Illinois
G	20	Dennis Graff	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Gibson City High School	Gibson City, Illinois
G	22	Howie Johnson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	So	Marshall High School	Marshall, Illinois
F	24	Tom Gerhardt	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	De La Salle High School	Chicago, Illinois
F	32	Rick Schmidt (C)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	St. Joseph-Ogden High School	Royal, Illinois
G	33	Otho Tucker	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Jr	Paris High School	Paris, Illinois
G/F	34	Rick Leighty	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Lawrenceville High School	Lawrenceville, Illinois
F	40	Rich Adams	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Colerain High School	Cincinnati, Ohio
F/C	41	Dave Smith	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Hinsdale Central High School	Clarendon Hills, Illinois
G/F	42	Tim Bushell	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Lincoln Community High School	Lincoln, Illinois
F	43	Brad Farnham	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Paris High School	Paris, Illinois
G/F	44	Audie Matthews	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Bloom High School	Chicago Heights, Illinois
C	53	Bill Rucks	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Jr	Waukegan High School	Waukegan, Illinois
C	54	Mike Washington	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Morgan Park High School	Chicago, Illinois

Head coach

Gene Bartow (Northeast Missouri State University) (1st year)

Assistant coach(es)

Tony Yates (University of Cincinnati) (1st year)
LeRoy Hunt (University of Central Missouri) (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
12/3/1974* no, no	vs. Valparaiso	W 69-58	1 - 0	Assembly Hall (5,990) Champaign, IL
12/7/1974* no, no	vs. DePauw	W 96-53	2 - 0	Assembly Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
12/9/1974* no, no	@ Iowa State	W 77-71	3 - 0	Hilton Coliseum (7,500) Ames, IA
12/13/1974* no, no	vs. #17 Arizona	L 66-78	3 - 1	McKale Center (11,574) Tucson, AZ
12/14/1974* no, no	vs. Arizona State Fiesta Bowl Classic	L 69-91	3 - 2	Wells Fargo Arena (8,136) Tempe, AZ
12/27/1974* no, no	vs. Stanford	L 76-89	3 - 3	The Pit (14,163) Albuquerque, NM
12/28/1974* no, no	vs. Army Lobo Invitational Tournament	W 79-70	4 - 3	The Pit (14,831) Albuquerque, NM

1/2/1975 no, no	vs. #17 Michigan	L 84-86 ^2OT	4 - 4 ( 0 - 1 )	Assembly Hall (6,608) Champaign, IL
1/4/1975 no, no	@ Iowa Rivalry	L 70-95	4 - 5 ( 0 - 2 )	Iowa Field House (9,800) Iowa City, IA
1/6/1975 no, no	@ Minnesota	L 47-75	4 - 6 ( 0 - 3 )	Williams Arena (17,573) Minneapolis, MN
1/11/1975 no, no	vs. Northwestern	W 64-60	5 - 6 ( 1 - 3 )	Assembly Hall (6,009) Champaign, IL
1/13/1975 no, no	vs. Wisconsin	W 72-56	6 - 6 ( 2 - 3 )	Assembly Hall (6,117) Champaign, IL
1/18/1975 no, no	vs. Purdue	L 67-86	6 - 7 ( 2 - 4 )	Assembly Hall (9,493) Champaign, IL
1/23/1975* no, no	vs. Tulane	L 69-81	6 - 8	Assembly Hall (7,107) Champaign, IL
1/25/1975 no, no	@ Ohio State	W 66-62	7 - 8 ( 3 - 4 )	St. John Arena (8,778) Columbus, OH
1/27/1975 no, no	@ #1 Indiana Rivalry	L 57-73	7 - 9 ( 3 - 5 )	Assembly Hall (17,581) Bloomington, IN
2/1/1975 no, no	vs. Michigan State	L 60-75	7 - 10 ( 3 - 6 )	Assembly Hall (8,327) Champaign, IL
2/3/1975 no, no	vs. Minnesota	L 50-56	7 - 11 ( 3 - 7 )	Assembly Hall (7,720) Champaign, IL
2/8/1975 no, no	@ Northwestern	L 47-51	7 - 12 ( 3 - 8 )	McGaw Memorial Hall (4,007) Evanston, IL
2/10/1975 no, no	@ Wisconsin	L 70-76	7 - 13 ( 3 - 9 )	Wisconsin Field House (4,492) Madison, WI
2/15/1975 no, no	@ Purdue	L 91-114	7 - 14 ( 3 - 10 )	Mackey Arena (13,936) West Lafayette, IN
2/22/1975 no, no	vs. Ohio State	W 83-78 ^OT	8 - 14 ( 4 - 10 )	Assembly Hall (9,192) Champaign, IL
2/24/1975 no, no	vs. #1 Indiana Rivalry	L 89-112	8 - 15 ( 4 - 11 )	Assembly Hall (14,127) Champaign, IL
3/1/1975 no, no	@ Michigan State	L 82-96	8 - 16 ( 4 - 12 )	Jenison Fieldhouse (4,851) East Lansing, MI
3/3/1975 no, no	@ Michigan	L 75-77	8 - 17 ( 4 - 13 )	Crisler Center (6,309) Ann Arbor, MI
3/8/1975 no, no	vs. Iowa Rivalry	L 70-73	8 - 18 ( 4 - 14 )	Assembly Hall (9,171) Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats[]

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Rick Schmidt^[4]	26	190	144	139	73	524
Otho Tucker^[5]	24	114	54	78	72	282
Nate Williams^[6]	24	107	42	55	71	256
Mike Washington^[7]	26	84	38	126	27	206
Rich Adams^[8]	26	50	33	107	19	133
Tom Carmichael^[9]	26	54	23	127	31	131
Audi Matthews^[10]	26	41	18	87	19	100
Brad Farnham	21	19	22	52	13	60
Howie Johnson	20	25	5	19	39	55
Dave Roberts	11	20	11	17	12	41
Bill Rucks	16	10	8	19	2	28
Tim Bushell	11	20	11	17	12	51
Tom Gerhardt	5	2	0	4	1	4
Rick Leighty	9	1	2	10	8	4
Dave Smith	4	0	0	6	1	0

Awards and honors[]

- Converse Honorable Mention All-American
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[11]

Team players drafted into the NBA[]

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Rick Schmidt	New Orleans Jazz	6	91

^[12]

Rankings[]

References[]

^ Men's Basketball Roster
^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1974-75 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
^ List of MVPs
^ 1975 NBA Draft Archived 2013-05-23 at the Wayback Machine

[1] Men's Basketball Roster

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

[3] University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1974-75 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] List of MVPs

[12] 1975 NBA Draft Archived 2013-05-23 at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

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. 3 Indiana	18	–	0	1.000	31	–	1	.969
No. 19 Michigan	12	–	6	.667	19	–	8	.704
Minnesota	11	–	7	.611	18	–	8	.692
Purdue	11	–	7	.611	17	–	11	.607
Michigan State	10	–	8	.556	17	–	9	.654
Ohio State	8	–	10	.444	14	–	14	.500
Iowa	7	–	11	.389	10	–	16	.385
Wisconsin	5	–	13	.278	8	–	18	.308
Illinois	4	–	14	.222	8	–	18	.308
Northwestern	4	–	14	.222	6	–	20	.231

Rankings from AP Poll