1971–72 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team American college basketball season
The 1971–72 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
The 1971-72 Fighting Illini men's basketball season, led by head coach Harv Schmidt , experienced the a tale of two years, 1971 and 1972. The Fighting Illini opened the season December 1, 1971, with a win over Butler and proceeded to win 7 of their next 8 games, finishing 1971 with an 8–1 record. That streak would continue into January 1972 for one more game, the opening game of the Big Ten season. After beating Northwestern the Fighting Illini would go on to drop 9 of their next 14 games, finishing the season with a 14–10 record, tied for 8th place in the conference.
The brightest spot of the season would shine upon junior forward Nick Weatherspoon . Weatherspoon would return from a terrific sophomore campaign where he scored 381 points, averaging 16.5 points per game and collected 246 rebounds. During this season, 1971–72, he would score 500 total points, averaging 20.8 points and pull down 262 rebounds.
The 1971-72 team's starting lineup included Weatherspoon and Nick Conner at the forward spots, Jim Krelle and Garvin Roberson as guards and Bill Morris at center.
Roster
1971–72 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)
185 lb (84 kg)
So
Elkhart Central High School
Elkhart, Indiana
F
12
Nick Weatherspoon
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)
So
Davenport West High School
Davenport, Iowa
G
21
Larry Cohen
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Jr
New Trier East High School
Wilmette, Illinois
G
25
Jim Krelle (C)
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Sr
Aurora West High School
Aurora, Illinois
F
30
Mike Wente
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
So
St. Anthony High School
Effingham, Illinois
G
34
Greg Wilson
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
So
McKinley High School
Sebring, Ohio
C
35
Bill Morris
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
235 lb (107 kg)
So
Beaumont High School
St. Louis, Missouri
F
40
John McBride
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
Jr
Carl Sandburg High School
Orland Park, Illinois
F
42
Jim Rucks
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Jr
Waukegan High School
Waukegan, Illinois
G
43
Kim Jolley
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
So
Jamaica High School
Indianola, Illinois
F
44
Jed Foster
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Jr
Fairfield High School
Fairfield, Illinois
F/C
45
Nick Conner
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
Jr
East High School
Columbus, Ohio
F/C
54
Jim DeDecker
6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
Jr
Alleman High School
Moline, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Roster
Schedule
Source[ 1]
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/1/1971 *no, no
Butler
W 73-71
1 - 0
Assembly Hall (12,959)Champaign, IL
12/4/1971 *no, no
at No. 20 Oklahoma
W 70-65
2 - 0
McCasland Field House (8,326)Norman, OK
12/7/1971 *no, no
South Dakota
W 96-56
3 - 0
Assembly Hall (12,206)Champaign, IL
12/10/1971 *no, no
at Tulane
W 79-68
4 - 0
Devlin Fieldhouse (3,250)New Orleans, LA
12/11/1971 *no, no
vs. Loyola (New Orleans)
W 94-74
5 - 0
Devlin Fieldhouse (1,345)New Orleans, LA
12/16/1971 *no, no
Georgia
W 84-78
6 - 0
Assembly Hall (12,447)Champaign, IL
12/23/1971 *no, no
at Vanderbilt
L 92-95
6 - 1
Memorial Gymnasium (14,000)Nashville, TN
12/28/1971 *no, no
vs. North Carolina State Gator Bowl Tournament
W 74-72
7 - 1
Jacksonville Coliseum (6,506)Jacksonville, FL
12/29/1971 *no, no
vs. Florida Gator Bowl Tournament
W 76-75
8 - 1
Jacksonville Coliseum (8,248)Jacksonville, FL
Big Ten regular season
1/8/1972 no, no
at Northwestern Rivalry
W 67-63
9 - 1 (1 - 0)
McGaw Memorial Hall (5,885)Evanston, IL
1/11/1972 no, no
No. 16
Michigan
W 76-75
9 - 2 (1 - 1)
Assembly Hall (14,836)Champaign, IL
1/15/1972 no, no
No. 16
Purdue
L 74-85
9 - 3 (1 - 2)
Assembly Hall (16,017)Champaign, IL
1/28/1972 *no, no
vs. Notre Dame
W 81-59
10 - 3
Chicago Stadium (11,255)Chicago, IL
2/5/1972 no, no
Northwestern Rivalry
W 68-59
11 - 3 (2 - 2)
Assembly Hall (13,628)Champaign, IL
2/8/1972 no, no
at Michigan State
L 79-89
11 - 4 (2 - 3)
Jenison Fieldhouse (6,132)East Lansing, MI
2/12/1972 no, no
at Michigan
L 83-105
11 - 5 (2 - 4)
Crisler Center (12,562)Ann Arbor, MI
2/15/1972 no, no
at Iowa Rivalry
L 84-87
11 - 6 (2 - 5)
Iowa Field House (12,559)Iowa City, IA
2/17/1973 no, no
No. 8 Ohio State
W 64-62
12 - 6 (3 - 5)
Assembly Hall (15,236)Champaign, IL
2/22/1972 no, no
Indiana Rivalry
L 71-90
12 - 7 (3 - 6)
Assembly Hall (14,083)Champaign, IL
2/26/1972 no, no
Wisconsin
W 91-86
13 - 7 (4 - 6)
Assembly Hall (14,006)Champaign, IL
2/29/1972 no, no
at No. 14 Ohio State
L 70-103
13 - 8 (4 - 7)
St. John Arena (13,489)Columbus, OH
3/4/1972 no, no
at Minnesota
L 62-91
13 - 9 (4 - 8)
Williams Arena (14,666)Minneapolis, MN
3/7/1972 no, no
Iowa Rivalry
W 91-84
14 - 9 (5 - 8)
Assembly Hall (11,554)Champaign, IL
3/11/1972 no
at Wisconsin
L 84-97
14 - 10 (5 - 9)
Wisconsin Field House (7,242)Madison, WI
*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
Nick Weatherspoon [ 2]
24
200
100
262
500
Bill Morris[ 2]
21
113
93
197
319
Jim Krelle[ 2]
23
104
70
78
278
Nick Conner[ 2]
24
101
51
204
253
Larry Cohen[ 2]
21
42
39
28
123
Garvin Roberson[ 2]
24
39
42
51
120
Jed Foster[ 2]
19
38
42
67
118
C.J. Schroeder[ 2]
21
23
30
33
76
Jim DeDecker
19
20
17
33
57
Jim Rucks
8
8
3
9
19
Greg Wilson
4
5
2
1
12
Mike Wente
7
1
0
6
2
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
Rankings
References
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics
Information related to 1971–72 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team