1990–91 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team American college basketball season
The 1990–91 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
Entering the 1990–91 season, Illinois, faced with the loss of Kendall Gill , Steve Bardo and Marcus Liberty , who declared himself eligible for the NBA draft after his junior season, was picked to finish as low as ninth in the Big Ten by some publications. But, junior forward Andy Kaufmann burst onto the scene scoring 660 points, the second largest single-season total in Illinois history. He and
the Illini proved the preseason expectations wrong by going 21-10 and finishing third in the Big Ten.
Roster
1990–91 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
F
3
Tim Geers
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
So
De La Salle High School
Chicago, Illinois
G
4
Brooks Taylor
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
So
De La Salle High School
Chicago, Illinois
G
10
Rennie Clemons
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Fr
Calvary Academy
Springfield, Illinois
G
12
Pat Kennedy
—
—
Sr
G
23
Larry Smith (C)
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
RS Sr
Alton High School
Alton, Illinois
F
24
Scott Pierce
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
Fr
Trinity High School
Euless, Texas
F
25
Deon Thomas
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
RS Fr
Simeon High School
Chicago, Illinois
F
32
Tom Michael
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
RS Fr
Carlyle High School
Hoffman, Illinois
F
34
Andy Kaufmann
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
Jr
Jacksonville High School
Jacksonville, Illinois
F
40
Matt Schnaderbeck
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
Jr
Maine West High School
Des Plaines, Illinois
G
41
Scott Spitz
—
—
Sr
G
42
Gene Cross
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
Fr
Rich Central High School
Olympia Fields, Illinois
G
44
T.J. Wheeler
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
Fr
Christopher High School
Buckner, Illinois
C
50
Andy Kpedi (C)
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
215 lb (98 kg)
Sr
Kankakee Community College
Warri, Nigeria
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
11/23/1990 *no, no
at American-Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Classic
W 103-84
1-0
Mario Morales Coliseum (400)Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
11/24/1990 *no, no
vs. Nebraska Puerto Rico Classic
L 73-100
1-1
Mario Morales Coliseum (400)Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
11/25/1990 *no, no
vs. Old Dominion Puerto Rico Classic
W 80-62
2-1
Mario Morales Coliseum (400)Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
11/29/1990 *no, no
Illinois-Chicago
L 60-71
2-2
Assembly Hall (11,117)Champaign, IL
12/1/1990 *no, no
Eastern Illinois
W 106-87
3-2
Assembly Hall (12,643)Champaign, IL
12/3/1990 *no, no
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
W 120-116 2ot
4-2
Assembly Hall (11,835)Champaign, IL
12/5/1990 *no, no
at Penn State
L 68-78
4-3
Rec Hall (7,347)University Park, PA
12/7/1990 *no, no
Oregon State Illini Classic
W 112-78
5-3
Assembly Hall (12,631)Champaign, IL
12/8/1990 *no, no
Georgia Southern Illini Classic
W 85-67
6-3
Assembly Hall (12,098)Champaign, IL
12/15/1990 *no, no
Arkansas-Little Rock Illini Classic
W 83-72
7-3
Assembly Hall (12,213)Champaign, IL
12/19/1990 *no, no
vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights
W 84-81
8-3
St. Louis Arena (17,253)St. Louis, MO
12/22/1990 *no, no
No. 10 Louisiana State
W 102-96
9-3
Assembly Hall (14,824)Champaign, IL
12/29/1990 *no, no
at Memphis State
W 84-75
10-3
Pyramid Arena (11,200)Memphis, TN
Big Ten regular season
1/2/1991 no, no
at No. 5 Indiana Rivalry
L 74-109
10-4 (0-1)
Assembly Hall (17,283)Bloomington, IN
1/5/1991 no, no
Purdue
W 63-61
11-4 (1-1)
Assembly Hall (15,721)Champaign, IL
1/10/1991 no, no
Minnesota
W 67-66
12-4 (2-1)
Assembly Hall (12,435)Champaign, IL
1/17/1991 no, no
Michigan State
L 68-71
12-5 (2-2)
Assembly Hall (13,487)Champaign, IL
1/19/1991 no, no
at No. 4 Ohio State
L 55-89
12-6 (2-3)
St. John Arena (13,276)Columbus, OH
1/26/1991 no, no
at Michigan
W 72-67
13-6 (3-3)
Crisler Arena (11,707)Ann Arbor, MI
1/28/1991 no, no
Iowa Rivalry
W 53-50
14-6 (4-3)
Assembly Hall (14,846)Champaign, IL
2/2/1991 no, no
Wisconsin
W 70-62
15-6 (5-3)
Assembly Hall (16,295)Champaign, IL
2/4/1991 no, no
Northwestern Rivalry
W 73-59
16-6 (6-3)
Assembly Hall (12,068)Champaign, IL
2/6/1991 no, no
at Purdue
W 59-56
17-6 (7-3)
Mackey Arena (14,123)West Lafayette, IN
2/10/1991 no, no
at Minnesota
W 94-74
18-6 (8-3)
Williams Arena (16,305)Minneapolis, MN
2/16/1991 no, no
at Michigan State
L 58-62
18-7 (8-4)
Breslin Student Events Center (15,138)East Lansing, MI
2/20/1991 no, no
No. 2 Ohio State
L 64-73
18-8 (8-5)
Assembly Hall (13,885)Champaign, IL
2/23/1991 no, no
at Iowa Rivalry
W 79-74
19-8 (9-5)
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500)Iowa City, IA
2/28/1991 no, no
Michigan
W 68-65
20-8 (10-5)
Assembly Hall (14,584)Champaign, IL
3/2/1991 no, no
at Northwestern Rivalry
W 91-81
21-8 (11-5)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117)Evanston, IL
3/6/1991 no, no
at Wisconsin
L 77-85
21-9 (11-6)
Wisconsin Field House (11,189)Madison, WI
3/10/1991 no, no
No. 3 Indiana Rivalry
L 58-70
21-10 (11-7)
Assembly Hall (16,321)Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Central Time .
Player stats
Player
Games Played
Minutes Played
2 pt. Field Goals
3 pt. Field Goals
Free Throws
Rebounds
Assists
Blocks
Steals
Points
Andy Kaufmann[ 2]
31
967
184
41
169
154
67
0
18
660
Deon Thomas [ 3]
30
933
172
0
108
203
18
54
10
452
Larry Smith[ 4]
29
989
116
24
90
168
144
8
42
394
Rennie Clemons[ 5]
31
834
82
8
76
99
96
7
43
264
Andy Kpedi[ 6]
31
766
83
0
35
197
15
27
13
201
Scott Pierce[ 7]
31
512
50
0
25
96
18
7
11
135
Tom Michael[ 8]
31
515
31
18
15
84
31
10
17
131
T.J. Wheeler
13
202
14
4
19
28
20
2
11
59
Brooks Taylor
27
362
21
1
13
54
28
4
27
58
Tim Geers
22
123
5
5
16
18
8
4
5
41
Matt Schnaderbeck
2
2
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
Pat Kennedy
11
17
0
0
1
2
1
0
0
1
Gene Cross
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
Scott Spitz
11
20
0
0
0
4
0
0
1
0
Awards and honors
NCAA basketball tournament
Postseason ban due to NCAA violations[ 10]
Team players drafted into the NBA
Player
NBA Club
Round
Pick
[ 11]
Rankings
References
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1990-91 Archived 2014-02-03 at the Wayback Machine , FightingIllini.com
^ "Season Stats pg. 115" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 115" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 115" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011 .
^ "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011 .
^ "List of MVPs" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013 .
^ "Illinois Banned From '91 NCAA Tournament" . Los Angeles Times . November 8, 1990.
^ 1991 NBA Draft Archived 2011-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics
Information related to 1990–91 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team