1968–69 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team American college basketball season
The 1968–69 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
In only his second season as the Head coach of the Fighting Illini , Harv Schmidt guided his basketball team to a high-point of an Associated Press ranking of number 4 by the beginning of January, 1969. Schmidt and his Illini won their first ten games of the season with the single biggest win occurring December 21, 1968, as they stopped the Houston Cougars' 60 game home winning streak, 97–84. After the win, the Illini, just two days short of two years after the original "Slush Fund" announcement, appeared to be back in their prime. During the season the Illini defeated a total of 4 top 20 teams, including a tenth ranked Ohio State in February. Like so many years before, the Illini's only losses came at the hands of the competition provided by the other teams within the Big Ten Conference. The team completed the season with only 5 losses, all coming within the league. The final totals were 19 wins overall with 9 of those wins coming within the conference. The team was led in scoring for the season by Dave Scholz , Greg Jackson , Mike Price and Jodie Harrison . Scholz would finish his senior season by being named 1st team All-American by the Helms Foundation , 3rd team All-American by the Associated Press and to the Converse honorable mention All-American team. The Fighting Illini would go on to finish the season with a 19-5 overall record and tied for 2nd place in the conference with a 9–5 record.
The 1968-69 team's starting lineup included Scholz and Fred Miller at the forward spots, Price and Harrison as guards and Jackson at center.
Roster
1968–69 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
G 10
Rick Howat 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 160 lb (73 kg)
So Downers Grove North High School
Downers Grove, Illinois
G 11
Bob Windmiller 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg)
So Ossian High School
Ossian, Indiana
F 14
Fred Miller 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg)
So Pekin High School
Pekin, Illinois
G/F 15
Mike Price 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg)
Jr Arsenal Technical High School
Indianapolis, Indiana
F 20
Brad Richardson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg)
So East Richland High School
Olney, Illinois
F 30
Randy Crews 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg)
Jr Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School
Kankakee, Illinois
C 31
Greg Jackson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 255 lb (116 kg)
So St. Philip High School
Chicago, Illinois
G 32
Les Busboom 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg)
Sr St. Joseph-Ogden High School
Royal, Illinois
G 33
Jodie Harrison 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg)
Sr Streator High School
Streator, Illinois
G/F 34
Denny Pace 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg)
Sr Collinsville High School
Collinsville, Illinois
F/C 40
Dave Scholz (C)
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg)
Sr Stephen Decatur High School
Decatur, Illinois
G 43
Bob Shapland 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg)
So Central High School
Champaign, Illinois
G 44
Ron Armbrust 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg)
Jr Lincoln High School
Lincoln, Illinois
Head coach Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible(W) Walk-on Roster
Schedule
Source[ 2]
Date
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance)
Non-Conference regular season
12/2/1968 *no, no
Butler W 105-66 1-0
Assembly Hall Champaign, IL
12/6/1968 *no, no
at Creighton
W 69-66 2-0
Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, NE
12/9/1968 *no, no
North Dakota W 83-51 3-0
Assembly Hall (11,795)Champaign, IL
12/14/1968 *no, no
Iowa State W 75-48 4-0
Assembly Hall (10,051)Champaign, IL
12/17/1968 *no, no
Ohio W 95-82 5-0
Assembly Hall (10,031)Champaign, IL
12/19/1968 *no, no
Tulane W 105-71 6-0
Assembly Hall (10,252)Champaign, IL
12/21/1968 *no, no
at No. 20 Houston
W 97-84 7-0
Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX
12/27/1968 *no, no
No. 12
vs. Creighton Hurricane Classic W 90-77 8-0
Miami Beach Convention Center Miami, FL
12/28/1968 *no, no
No. 12
at Miami (FL) Hurricane Classic W 86-76 9-0
Miami Beach Convention Center Miami, FL
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1969 no, no
No. 8
Minnesota W 80-58 10-0
Assembly Hall (16,128)Champaign, IL
1/7/1969 no, no
No. 4
at Purdue
L 84-98 10-1
Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
1/11/1969 no, no
No. 4
at No. 12 Northwestern Rivalry W 82-77 OT
11-1
McGaw Memorial Hall Evanston, IL
1/25/1969 *no, no
No. 8
vs. No. 15 Notre Dame
L 83-86 12-1
Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL
1/28/1969 no, no
No. 7
at No. 12 Ohio State
L 67-76 12-2
St. John Arena Columbus, OH
2/1/1969 no, no
No. 7
Wisconsin W 86-73 13-2
Assembly Hall (15,740)Champaign, IL
2/8/1969 no, no
No. 10
Iowa Rivalry W 98-69 14-2
Assembly Hall (16,128)Champaign, IL
2/11/1969 no, no
No. 10
at Michigan
L 87-92 14-3
Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI
2/15/1969 no, no
No. 10
at Michigan State
L 70-75 14-4
Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
2/18/1969 no, no
No. 19
No. 10 Ohio State
W 73-57 15-4
Assembly Hall (16,128)Champaign, IL
2/23/1969 no, no
No. 19
Michigan W 100-92 16-4
Assembly Hall (16,128)Champaign, IL
2/25/1969 no, no
No. 15
at Iowa Rivalry L 53-74 16-5
Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA
3/1/1969 no, no
No. 15
at Indiana Rivalry W 77-64 17-5
New Fieldhouse Bloomington, IN
3/4/1969 no, no
No. 20
Michigan State W 71-57 18-5
Assembly Hall (14,912)Champaign, IL
3/8/1969 no, no
No. 20
Northwestern Rivalry W 78-68 19-5
Assembly Hall (16,128)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
Points
Dave Scholz[ 3]
24
181
97
209
459
Greg Jackson[ 4]
24
163
68
200
394
Mike Price[ 5]
24
120
58
163
298
Jodie Harrison[ 6]
24
87
80
96
254
Fred Miller[ 7]
22
44
55
64
254
Denny Pace[ 8]
24
56
27
86
139
Randy Crews[ 9]
24
43
46
82
132
Rick Howat[ 10]
22
34
10
14
78
Bob Windmiller[ 11]
15
23
10
14
56
Les Busboom
10
5
6
11
16
Bob Shapland
8
3
0
3
6
Brad Richardson
8
1
3
10
5
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
[ 13]
*Kuberski transferred to Bradley to finish his eligibility due to the "Slush-Fund" scandal of 1966.Memphis State to finish his eligibility due to the "Slush-Fund" scandal of 1966.
Rankings
References
^ sports-reference.com 1968-69 Big Ten Conference Season Summary ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1968-69 Archived 2013-12-30 at the Wayback Machine , FightingIllini.com^ "Season Stats" . Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013 .^ "Season Stats" . Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013 .^ "Season Stats" . Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013 .^ "Season Stats" . Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013 .^ "Season Stats" . Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013 .^ "Season Stats" . Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013 .^ "Season Stats" . Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013 .^ "Season Stats" . Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013 .^ "Season Stats" . Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013 .^ "List of MVPs" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2013 .^ 1969 NBA Draft Archived 2010-03-18 at the Wayback Machine
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics
