1961–62 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. Not Ranked
APNo. Not Ranked
Record15-8 (7-7 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPDave Downey
CaptainJerry Colangelo
Home arenaHuff Hall
1961–62 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 1 Ohio State13–1 .92926–2  .929
Wisconsin10–4 .71417–7  .708
Purdue9–5 .64317–7  .708
Illinois7–7 .50015–8  .652
Indiana7–7 .50013–11  .542
Iowa7–7 .50013–11  .542
Minnesota6–8 .42910–14  .417
Michigan5–9 .3577–17  .292
Michigan State3–11 .2148–14  .364
Northwestern3–11 .2148–15  .348
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1961–62 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1961-62 Fighting Illini basketball team bounced back from a miserable season the year prior. Head coach Harry Combes non-conference season was nearly perfect with an 8-1 record. The only blemish for the University of Illinois was a home loss to Cornell. The most unusual thing about this season was the fact that the Illini played three neutral court games in Chicago. This would also be the final full season that the Fighting Illini would play their home games at Huff Hall.

The 1961-62 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer and team "MVP" Dave Downey. It also saw the return of team captain Jerry Colangelo, juniors Bill Burwell, Bill Small, Bob Starnes as well as senior Doug Mills. The Illini also added sophomore John Love to their lineup. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 7 wins and 7 losses, finishing in a 4th place tie in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 15 wins and 8 losses. The starting lineup included Bill Burwell at the center position, Bill Small and Jerry Colangelo at guard and Dave Downey and Bob Starnes at the forward slots.[2]

Roster

1961–62 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
F 14 John Love 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)190 lb (86 kg) SoOttawa Township High School Ottawa, Illinois
F 20 Jerry Renner 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)180 lb (82 kg) SrEast High School Aurora, Illinois
G 21 Sam Leeper 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)165 lb (75 kg) SrUnity High School Tolono, Illinois
G 22 Jay Lovelace 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)165 lb (75 kg) JrCarbondale Community High School Carbondale, Illinois
G 23 Jerry Colangelo (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)175 lb (79 kg) SrBloom High School Chicago Heights, Illinois
C 25 Bill Burwell 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)243 lb (110 kg) JrBoys High School Brooklyn, New York
G 30 Jeff Ferguson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)180 lb (82 kg) SoBenton Consolidated High School Benton, Illinois
G 31 Doug Mills 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)165 lb (75 kg) SrGalesburg High School Galesburg, Illinois
G 32 Bill Edwards 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)190 lb (86 kg) SoWindsor High School Windsor, Illinois
F 35 Clyde Kramer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)185 lb (84 kg) SoErie High School Erie, Illinois
F 40 Dave Downey 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)195 lb (88 kg) JrCanton High School Canton, Illinois
G 41 Jerry Curless 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)165 lb (75 kg) SrVIT High School Table Grove, Illinois
F 44 Bob Starnes 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrGage Park High School Chicago, Illinois
G 53 Bill Small 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)185 lb (84 kg) JrWest Aurora High School Aurora, Illinois
C 54 Phil LaRussa 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)210 lb (95 kg) SoWalnut High School Walnut, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (25th year)
  • Jim Wright (University of Illinois) (4th year)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[3]

Schedule

Source[4]

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state[5]
Non-Conference regular season
12/1/1961*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Butler W 82-72  1-0
 Huff Hall (4,960)
Champaign, IL
12/9/1961*
no, no		 No. NR @ Oklahoma W 72–60  2-0
 McCasland Field House (3,000)
Norman, OK
12/12/1961*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Creighton W 70-61  3-0
 Huff Hall (6,017)
Champaign, IL
12/16/1961*
1:30 pm, no		 No. NR vs. Iowa State W 82-73  4-0
 Huff Hall (6,437)
Champaign, IL
12/18/1961*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Xavier W 81-69  5-0
 Huff Hall (6,717)
Champaign, IL
12/23/1961*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Cornell L 60-72  5-1
 Huff Hall (5,258)
Champaign, IL
12/28/1961*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Manhattan W 61-56  6-1
 Chicago Stadium (3,000)
Chicago, IL
12/30/1961*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Colgate W 88-50  7-1
 Chicago Stadium (6,000)
Chicago, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/6/1962
no, no		 No. NR vs. Michigan W 91-71  8-1 (1-0)
 Huff Hall (6,509)
Champaign, IL
1/8/1962
no, no		 No. NR @ Purdue L 89-96  8-2 (1-1)
 Lambert Fieldhouse (6,500)
West Lafayette, IN
1/13/1962
no, no		 No. NR @ Michigan State W 66-65  9-2 (2-1)
 Jenison Fieldhouse (7,068)
East Lansing, MI
1/27/1962*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Notre Dame W 85-77  10-2
 Chicago Stadium (12,224)
Chicago, IL
1/29/1962
no, no		 No. NR vs. Wisconsin L 81-85  10-3 (2-2)
 Huff Hall (6,740)
Champaign, IL
2/3/1962
no, no		 No. NR vs. Indiana
Rivalry		 W 96-85  11-3 (3-2)
 Huff Hall (6,557)
Champaign, IL
2/5/1962
no, no		 No. NR vs. Minnesota W 89-80  12-3 (4-2)
 Huff Hall (5,927)
Champaign, IL
2/10/1962
no, no		 No. NR @ Iowa
Rivalry		 W 91-81  13-3 (5-2)
 Iowa Field House (12,300)
Iowa City, IA
2/12/1962
no, no		 No. NR vs. Northwestern W 88-70  14-3 (6-2)
 Huff Hall (6,673)
Champaign, IL
2/17/1962
no, no		 No. NR vs. Purdue L 88-100  14-4 (6-3)
 Huff Hall (6,912)
Champaign, IL
2/19/1962
no, no		 No. NR @ Wisconsin L 101-103  14-5 (6-4)
 Wisconsin Field House (7,399)
Madison, WI
2/24/1962
no, no		 No. NR @ Ohio State (#1) L 79-102  14-6 (6-5)
 St. John Arena (13,497)
Columbus, OH
3/3/1962
no, no		 No. NR vs. Iowa
Rivalry		 L 78-88  14-7 (6-6)
 Huff Hall (6,669)
Champaign, IL
3/5/1962
no, no		 No. NR @ Indiana
Rivalry		 L 92-104  14-8 (6-7)
 New Fieldhouse (5,000)
Bloomington, IN
3/10/1962
no, no		 No. NR vs. Northwestern W 73–68  15-8 (7-7)
 McGaw Memorial Hall (5,000)
Evanston, 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 Points
Dave Downey2217497269445
Bill Burwell23151124266426
Bill Small231337090336
Jerry Colangelo231117395295
Bob Starnes238158147220
Doug Mills152591859
John Love2218158651
Jay Lovelace13461014
Jerry Curless1062814
Bill Edwards1451911
Jerry Renner542610
Sam Leeper50232
Jeff Ferguson30020

[6]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA Club Round Pick
No Player Selected

[8]

Rankings

References

  1. ↑ "1961-62 Big Ten Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference.
  2. ↑ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  3. ↑ Men's Basketball Roster
  4. ↑ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1961-62, FightingIllini.com
  5. ↑ Schedule
  6. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  7. ↑ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  8. ↑ 1962 NBA Draft Archived 2013-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
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