1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team.jpg
Illini Classic, Champion
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 18
APNo. 19
1980–81 record21–8 (12–6 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPEddie Johnson
Captain
Eddie Johnson
Mark Smith
Home arenaAssembly Hall
Seasons
1980–81 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
No. 9 Indiana 14 – 4   .778     26 – 9   .743
No. 13 Iowa 13 – 5   .722     21 – 7   .750
No. 19 Illinois 12 – 6   .667     21 – 8   .724
Purdue 10 – 8   .556     21 – 11   .656
Minnesota 9 – 9   .500     19 – 11   .633
Ohio State 9 – 9   .500     14 – 13   .519
Michigan 8 – 10   .444     19 – 11   .633
Michigan State 7 – 11   .389     13 – 14   .481
Wisconsin 5 – 13   .278     11 – 16   .407
Northwestern 3 – 15   .167     9 – 18   .333
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season[]

In 1981, Illinois made strides in its return to the national spotlight with a 21-8 record, a third-place Big Ten finish and an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The team received a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament and beat Wyoming, 67-65, in Los Angeles to advance to the regionals in Salt Lake City, where Illinois lost to Kansas State, 57-52. During this season, the Fighting Illini led the Big Ten in scoring for the second consecutive season and were again led by Eddie Johnson and Mark Smith. Guards and Derek Harper arrived to add backcourt punch, and Harper began his Illini career being named First-Team Freshman All-America by ESPN and ABC.

This season marked a change in location and name for the annual game with Missouri. The name was altered from the "Show-Me Classic" to the "Braggin' Rights" and took on a permanent location, St. Louis, with the St. Louis Arena as its original home. Prior to 1980, the location of the game alternated from Assembly Hall and the Hearnes Center. Since 1994, the game is played at the Scottrade Center.

Roster[]

1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 10 Craig Tucker 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Flint Northern High School Flint, Michigan
G 12 Derek Harper 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr North Shore High School West Palm Beach, Florida
C 13 James Griffin 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Dunbar High School Grandview, Texas
G 14 Sherrod Arnold 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 150 lb (68 kg) So Wendell Phillips High School Chicago, Illinois
G/F 15 Mitch Arnold 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Effingham, Illinois
G 20 Kevin Bontemps 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Morton High School Morton, Illinois
G 21 Quinn Richardson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Eisenhower High School Robbins, Illinois
G 22 Perry Range 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr South Beloit, Illinois
F 33 Eddie Johnson (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Westinghouse High School Chicago, Illinois
F 42 Mark Smith (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
F 43 Bryan Leonard Current redshirt 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS So Belleville High School-East Belleville, Illinois
C 44 Derek Holcomb (C) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Richwoods High School Peoria, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Tony Yates (University of Cincinnati) (7th year)
  • (Hardin-Simmons University) (2nd year)
  • Bob Hull (1st year)
  • GA (University of Illinois) (1st year)
  • GA (University of Illinois) (1st year)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[1] [2]

Schedule[]

Source[3]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/29/1980*
no, no 		No. NR Loyola Marymount W 98-65  1-0
 Assembly Hall (11,168)
Champaign, IL
12/6/1980*
no, no 		No. NR TCU W 84-62  2-0
 Assembly Hall (14,370)
Champaign, IL
12/10/1980*
no, no 		No. NR Missouri (#14)
Braggin' Rights 		W 84-62  3-0
 St. Louis Arena (14,370)
St. Louis, MO
12/13/1980*
no, no 		No. NR Marquette W 69-68  4-0
 U.S. Cellular Arena (11,052)
Milwaukee, WI
12/19/1980*
no, no 		No. 17 BYU (#18)
L 75-88  4-1
 Stokely Athletic Center (12,700)
Knoxville, TN
12/20/1980*
no, no 		No. 17 Iona
W 106-84  5-1
 Stokely Athletic Center (12,700)
Knoxville, TN
12/26/1980*
no, no 		No. 18 Ohio
W 84-54  6-1
 Assembly Hall (14,230)
Champaign, IL
12/27/1980*
no, no 		No. 18 Oklahoma
W 93-63  7-1
 Assembly Hall (15,411)
Champaign, IL
1/3/1981*
no, no 		No. 16 SIU Edwardsville W 108-68  8-1
 Assembly Hall (11,443)
Champaign, IL
1/8/1981
no, no 		No. 12 Northwestern W 88-64  9-1 (1-0)
 McGaw Memorial Hall (7,741)
Evanston, IL
1/10/1981
no, no 		No. 12 Indiana
Rivalry 		L 61-78  9-2 (1-1)
 Assembly Hall (17,083)
Bloomington, IN
1/15/1981
no, no 		No. 18 Purdue W 87-65  10-2 (2-1)
 Assembly Hall (16,506)
Champaign, IL
1/17/1981
no, no 		No. 18 Minnesota (#20) W 80-76  11-2 (3-1)
 Assembly Hall (16,630)
Champaign, IL
1/22/1981
no, no 		No. 15 Michigan (#16) L 76-80  11-3 (3-2)
 Crisler Center (11,055)
Ann Arbor, MI
1/24/1981
no, no 		No. 15 Wisconsin L 45-54  11-4 (3-3)
 Assembly Hall (16,495)
Champaign, IL
1/29/1981
no, no 		No. NR Michigan State W 71-70  12-4 (4-3)
 Jenison Fieldhouse (7,443)
East Lansing, MI
1/31/1981
no, no 		No. NR Iowa (#13)
Rivalry 		W 79-66  13-4 (5-3)
 Assembly Hall (16,555)
Champaign, IL
2/5/1981
no, no 		No. 18 Ohio State W 82-63  14-4 (6-3)
 Assembly Hall (16,586)
Champaign, IL
2/7/1981
no, no 		No. 18 Iowa (#15)
Rivalry 		L 66-72  14-5 (6-4)
 Iowa Field House (13,365)
Iowa City, IA
2/12/1981
no, no 		No. 17 Wisconsin W 84-65  15-5 (7-4)
 Wisconsin Field House (7,334)
Madison, WI
2/14/1981
no, no 		No. 17 Ohio State W 63-57  16-5 (8-4)
 St. John Arena (13,591)
Columbus, OH
2/19/1981
no, no 		No. 15 Michigan (#18) W 67-64  17-5 (9-4)
 Assembly Hall (16,492)
Champaign, IL
2/21/1981
no, no 		No. 15 Michigan State W 82-62  18-5 (10-4)
 Assembly Hall (16,559)
Champaign, IL
2/26/1981
no, no 		No. 14 Minnesota L 59-76  18-6 (10-5)
 Williams Arena (16,290)
Minneapolis, MN
2/28/1981
no, no 		No. 14 Purdue W 81-70  19-6 (11-5)
 Mackey Arena (14,123)
West Lafayette, IN
3/5/1981
no, no 		No. 16 Indiana (#14)
Rivalry 		L 66-69  19-7 (11-6)
 Assembly Hall (16,663)
Champaign, IL
3/7/1981
no, no 		No. 16 Northwestern W 98-76  20-7 (12-6)
 Assembly Hall (16,622)
Champaign, IL
NCAA Tournament
3/14/1981*
no, no 		No. 19 Wyoming (#17)
Second Round 		W 67-65  21-7
 Pauley Pavilion (12,340)
Los Angeles, CA
3/19/1981*
no, no 		No. 19 Kansas State
Regional Semifinals 		L 52-57  21-7
 Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,450)
Salt Lake City, UT
*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[4] 29 1009 219 62 267 70 6 30 500
Mark Smith[5] 29 914 150 102 172 98 18 36 402
Craig Tucker[6] 29 615 117 76 39 58 3 19 310
Perry Range[7] 29 815 101 65 115 70 0 33 267
Derek Harper[8] 29 934 104 33 75 156 8 39 241
James Griffin[9] 29 519 117 76 39 58 3 18 227
Derek Holcomb[10] 29 635 70 31 148 40 42 14 171
Bryan Leonard 25 200 26 7 44 12 8 3 59
Kevin Bontempts 19 78 12 12 7 17 1 2 36
Quinn Richardson 22 62 9 7 9 7 0 5 25
Sherrod Arnold 7 44 4 6 10 5 0 1 14
Mitch Arnold 3 27 1 0 5 2 0 0 2

Awards and honors[]

Team players drafted into the NBA[]

Player NBA Club Round Pick
Eddie Johnson Kansas City Kings 2 29
Derek Holcomb Portland Trail Blazers 3 50
Mark Smith Milwaukee Bucks 3 67

[12]

Rankings[]

Main article: 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References[]

  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 1980-81 Archived 2013-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  4. ^ Season Stats pg. 120
  5. ^ Season Stats pg. 120
  6. ^ Season Stats pg. 120
  7. ^ Season Stats pg. 120
  8. ^ Season Stats pg. 120
  9. ^ Season Stats pg. 120
  10. ^ Season Stats pg. 120
  11. ^ List of MVPs
  12. ^ 1981 NBA Draft Archived 2010-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
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