# 1968–69 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/2/1968* no, no | | Butler | W 105-66 | 1-0 | Assembly Hall (11,833) Champaign, IL |
| 12/6/1968* no, no | | at Creighton | W 69-66 | 2-0 | Omaha Civic Auditorium (9,240) 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 (5,200) Houston, TX |
| 12/27/1968* no, no | No. 12 | vs. Creighton Hurricane Classic | W 90-77 | 8-0 | Miami Beach Convention Center (2,093) Miami, FL |
| 12/28/1968* no, no | No. 12 | at Miami (FL) Hurricane Classic | W 86-76 | 9-0 | Miami Beach Convention Center (2,486) Miami, FL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/4/1969 no, no | No. 8 | Minnesota | W 80-58 | 10-0 (1-0) | Assembly Hall (16,128) Champaign, IL |
| 1/7/1969 no, no | No. 4 | at Purdue | L 84-98 | 10-1 (1-1) | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| 1/11/1969 no, no | No. 4 | at No. 12 Northwestern Rivalry | W 82-77 $^{OT}$ | 11-1 (2-1) | McGaw Memorial Hall (8,388) Evanston, IL |
| 1/25/1969* no, no | No. 8 | vs. No. 15 Notre Dame | L 83-86 | 12-1 | Chicago Stadium (18,000) Chicago, IL |
| 1/28/1969 no, no | No. 7 | at No. 12 Ohio State | L 67-76 | 12-2 (2-2) | St. John Arena (13,374) Columbus, OH |
| 2/1/1969 no, no | No. 7 | Wisconsin | W 86-73 | 13-2 (3-2) | Assembly Hall (15,740) Champaign, IL |
| 2/8/1969 no, no | No. 10 | Iowa Rivalry | W 98-69 | 14-2 (4-2) | Assembly Hall (16,128) Champaign, IL |
| 2/11/1969 no, no | No. 10 | at Michigan | L 87-92 | 14-3 (4-3) | Crisler Arena (8,113) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 2/15/1969 no, no | No. 10 | at Michigan State | L 70-75 | 14-4 (4-4) | Jenison Fieldhouse (7,020) East Lansing, MI |
| 2/18/1969 no, no | No. 19 | No. 10 Ohio State | W 73-57 | 15-4 (5-4) | Assembly Hall (16,128) Champaign, IL |
| 2/23/1969 no, no | No. 19 | Michigan | W 100-92 | 16-4 (6-4) | Assembly Hall (16,128) Champaign, IL |
| 2/25/1969 no, no | No. 15 | at Iowa Rivalry | L 53-74 | 16-5 (6-5) | Iowa Field House (13,700) Iowa City, IA |
| 3/1/1969 no, no | No. 15 | at Indiana Rivalry | W 77-64 | 17-5 (7-5) | New Fieldhouse (5,425) Bloomington, IN |
| 3/4/1969 no, no | No. 20 | Michigan State | W 71-57 | 18-5 (8-5) | Assembly Hall (14,912) Champaign, IL |
| 3/8/1969 no, no | No. 20 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 78-68 | 19-5 (9-5) | 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 | 24 | 181 | 97 | 209 | 459 |
| Greg Jackson | 24 | 163 | 68 | 200 | 394 |
| Mike Price | 24 | 120 | 58 | 163 | 298 |
| Jodie Harrison | 24 | 87 | 80 | 96 | 254 |
| Fred Miller | 22 | 44 | 55 | 64 | 254 |
| Denny Pace | 24 | 56 | 27 | 86 | 139 |
| Randy Crews | 24 | 43 | 46 | 82 | 132 |
| Rick Howat | 22 | 34 | 10 | 14 | 78 |
| Bob Windmiller | 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

* Dave Scholz
** Team Most Valuable Player
** 1st team All-American (Helms)
** 3rd team All-American (AP)
** Honorable Mention All-American (Converse)

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| Steve Kuberski* | Boston Celtics | 4 | 9 |
| Dave Scholz | Philadelphia 76ers | 4 | 13 |
| Rich Jones* | Phoenix Suns | 5 | 1 |
| Jodie Harrison | Baltimore Bullets | 15 | 6 |
*Kuberski transferred to Bradley to finish his eligibility due to the "Slush-Fund" scandal of 1966. *Jones transferred to Memphis State to finish his eligibility due to the "Slush-Fund" scandal of 1966.