1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team.jpg
Illini Classic, Champion
Rainbow Classic, Champion[1]
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. Not ranked
APNo. Not ranked
1979–80 record22–13 (8–10 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPEddie Johnson
Captain
Home arenaAssembly Hall
Seasons
 Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
No. 7 Indiana 13 – 5   .722     21 – 8   .724
No. 10 Ohio State 12 – 6   .667     21 – 8   .724
No. 20 Purdue 11 – 7   .611     23 – 10   .697
Iowa 10 – 8   .556     23 – 10   .697
Minnesota 10 – 8   .556     21 – 11   .656
Illinois 8 – 10   .444     22 – 13   .629
Michigan 8 – 10   .444     17 – 13   .567
Wisconsin 7 – 11   .389     15 – 14   .517
Michigan State 6 – 12   .333     12 – 15   .444
Northwestern 5 – 13   .278     10 – 17   .370
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season[]

For the 1979-80 season, head coach Lou Henson returned everyone from a team that finished with 19 wins. The team gave the head coach his first of 11, 20-win seasons at Illinois. That year, Illinois made its first postseason appearance since 1963, finishing third in the NIT. During the course of the season, the Illini would defeat eventual NCAA Tournament Champion, Louisville

Roster[]

1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 10 Reno Gray 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS Sr Hales Franciscan High School Chicago, Illinois
G 12 Kevin Westervelt 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
C 13 James Griffin 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Dunbar High School Grandview, Texas
G 20 Kevin Bontemps 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Morton High School Morton, Illinois
G 21 Quinn Richardson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Eisenhower High School Robbins, Illinois
G 22 Perry Range 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So South Beloit, Illinois
G 30 Rob Judson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Zion-Benton High School Zion, Illinois
F 31 Neil Bresnahan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Fenwick High School Oak Park, Illinois
F 32 Levi Cobb (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Morgan Park High School Chicago, Illinois
F 33 Eddie Johnson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Westinghouse High School Chicago, Illinois
F 42 Mark Smith 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
F 43 Bryan Leonard 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Belleville High School-East Belleville, Illinois
C 44 Derek Holcomb 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[2] [3]

Schedule[]

Source[4]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/30/1979*
no, no 		No. NR BYU (#15) W 86-76  1-0
 Marriott Center (23,042)
Provo, UT
12/4/1979*
no, no 		No. NR Missouri
Show-Me Classic 		L 66-67 OT 1-1
 Assembly Hall (14,004)
Champaign, IL
12/6/1979*
no, no 		No. NR Kent State W 74-65  2-1
 Assembly Hall (13,090)
Champaign, IL
12/8/1979*
no, no 		No. NR Long Beach State W 77-60  3-1
 Assembly Hall (14,075)
Champaign, IL
12/10/1979*
no, no 		No. NR TCU W 79-64  4-1
 Daniel–Meyer Coliseum (4,110)
Fort Worth, TX
12/11/1979*
no, no 		No. NR Missouri-St. Louis W 91-65  5-1
 Assembly Hall (13,021)
Champaign, IL
12/14/1979*
no, no 		No. NR Kentucky State
W 94-65  6-1
 Assembly Hall (14,363)
Champaign, IL
12/15/1979*
no, no 		No. NR Illinois State
W 47-40  7-1
 Assembly Hall (16,257)
Champaign, IL
12/22/1979*
no, no 		No. NR Marquette L 78-80  7-2
 Assembly Hall (12,618)
Champaign, IL
12/28/1979*
no, no 		No. NR Army
W 75-48  8-2
 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (-)
Honolulu, HI
12/29/1979*
no, no 		No. NR Louisville (#12)
W 77-64  9-2
 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (-)
Honolulu, HI
12/30/1979*
no, no 		No. NR Hawaii
W 94-82  10-2
 Neal S. Blaisdell Center (-)
Honolulu, HI
1/3/1980
no, no 		No. 20 Iowa (#10)
Rivalry 		L 71-72  10-3 (0-1)
 Assembly Hall (10,839)
Champaign, IL
1/5/1980
no, no 		No. 20 Northwestern W 81-71  11-3 (1-1)
 Assembly Hall (9,174)
Champaign, IL
1/10/1980
no, no 		No. NR Purdue (#10) L 66-74  11-4 (1-2)
 Mackey Arena (12,982)
West Lafayette, IN
1/12/1980
no, no 		No. NR Minnesota L 75-79  11-5 (1-3)
 Williams Arena (15,381)
Minneapolis, MN
1/17/1980
no, no 		No. NR Michigan W 80-69  12-5 (2-3)
 Assembly Hall (14,746)
Champaign, IL
1/19/1980
no, no 		No. NR Wisconsin W 69-64  13-5 (3-3)
 Wisconsin Field House (10,386)
Madison, WI
1/24/1980
no, no 		No. NR Ohio State (#4) L 76-79  13-6 (3-4)
 Assembly Hall (16,383)
Champaign, IL
1/26/1980
no, no 		No. NR Michigan State W 74-65  14-6 (4-4)
 Assembly Hall (16,490)
Champaign, IL
1/31/1980
no, no 		No. NR Indiana (#18)
Rivalry 		L 54-60  14-7 (4-5)
 Assembly Hall (16,723)
Bloomington, IN
2/2/1980
no, no 		No. NR Michigan State L 59-68  14-8 (4-6)
 Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004)
East Lansing, MI
2/7/1980
no, no 		No. NR Wisconsin W 67-50  15-8 (5-6)
 Assembly Hall (13,873)
Champaign, IL
2/9/1980
no, no 		No. NR Indiana (#20)
Rivalry 		W 89-68  16-8 (6-6)
 Assembly Hall (16,614)
Champaign, IL
2/14/1980
no, no 		No. NR Michigan L 76-78  16-9 (6-7)
 Crisler Center (9,738)
Ann Arbor, MI
2/16/1980
no, no 		No. NR Ohio State (#9) L 57-71  16-10 (6-8)
 St. John Arena (13,591)
Columbus, OH
2/21/1980
no, no 		No. NR Minnesota W 60-58 OT 17-10 (7-8)
 Assembly Hall (14,592)
Champaign, IL
2/23/1980
no, no 		No. NR Purdue (#15) L 69-72  17-11 (7-9)
 Assembly Hall (16,647)
Champaign, IL
2/28/1980
no, no 		No. NR Northwestern W 90-66  18-11 (8-9)
 McGaw Memorial Hall (5,426)
Evanston, IL
3/1/1980
no, no 		No. NR Iowa
Rivalry 		L 71-75  18-12 (8-10)
 Iowa Field House (13,365)
Iowa City, IA
National Invitation Tournament
3/5/1980*
no, no 		No. NR Loyola Chicago
NIT First Round 		W 105-87  19-12
 Assembly Hall (13,326)
Champaign, IL
3/10/1980*
no, no 		No. NR Illinois State
NIT Second Round 		W 75-65  20-12
 Assembly Hall (16,193)
Champaign, IL
3/13/1980*
no, no 		No. NR Murray State
NIT Quarterfinals 		W 65-63  21-12
 Assembly Hall (15,070)
Champaign, IL
3/17/1980*
no, no 		No. NR Minnesota
NIT Semifinals 		L 63-65  21-13
 Madison Square Garden (11,223)
New York, NY
3/19/1980*
no, no 		No. NR UNLV
NIT Third Place Game 		W 84-74  22-13
 Madison Square Garden (-)
New York, NY
*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 Assists Blocks Steals Points
Eddie Johnson[5] 35 1215 266 78 310 71 7 13 610
Mark Smith[6] 35 1026 187 161 214 95 11 35 535
Reno Gray[7] 35 858 131 57 47 109 2 39 319
James Griffin[8] 35 676 119 36 154 25 39 18 274
Perry Range[9] 35 809 90 63 85 64 2 36 243
Derek Holcomb[10] 31 636 72 36 164 44 46 15 180
Neil Bresnahan[11] 35 599 67 27 121 64 11 14 161
Rob Judson[12] 31 595 59 32 44 47 0 15 150
Kevin Bontempts 30 363 15 26 28 67 1 16 56
Levi Cobb 25 140 20 7 36 14 2 9 47
Quinn Richardson 16 101 8 7 9 17 0 4 23
Kevin Westervelt 18 34 6 4 8 1 0 1 16

Awards and honors[]

Team players drafted into the NBA[]

Player NBA Club Round Pick
Neil Bresnahan Golden State Warriors 6 117

[14]

Rankings[]

Main article: 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References[]

  1. ^ "Rainbow Classic History". Archived from the original on 2005-03-18. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  2. ^ Men's Basketball Roster
  3. ^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1979-80 Archived 2013-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  5. ^ Season Stats pg. 119
  6. ^ Season Stats pg. 119
  7. ^ Season Stats pg. 119
  8. ^ Season Stats pg. 119
  9. ^ Season Stats pg. 119
  10. ^ Season Stats pg. 119
  11. ^ Season Stats pg. 119
  12. ^ Season Stats pg. 119
  13. ^ List of MVPs
  14. ^ 1980 NBA Draft Archived 2010-03-18 at the Wayback Machine
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