# 2010–11 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 2010–11 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Bruce Weber's eighth season at Illinois. They played their home games at Assembly Hall and are members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 20–14, 9–9 in Big Ten play and lost in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament to Michigan. They received an at-large bid in the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where they beat UNLV in the second round before falling to Kansas in the third round.

## Pre-season

Illinois welcomes back all five starters and its top seven players from last season. The Illini return 89.4 percent of its points, 79 percent of its rebounds, and 85 percent of its minutes played from the 2009–10 campaign. In addition to the returning players, Illinois adds a top-15 ranked recruiting class to its roster. Three true freshmen join the squad this season in guard/forward Jereme Richmond, center Meyers Leonard, and guard Crandall Head. The 2010 recruiting class is ranked No. 11 by Scout.com and No. 13 by both Rivals.com and ESPNU. Richmond earned Illinois Mr. Basketball honors and was selected to play in the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game, becoming Illinois' 13th McDonald's All-American and first since Dee Brown. A top-25 recruit, Richmond averaged 21 points, 11.5 rebounds, three assists and three blocks as a senior. Leonard was a consensus first-team all-state selection who led Robinson High School to the 2010 Illinois state title in Class 2A. A top-50 recruit, Leonard averaged 19 points, 11 rebounds and 4.5 blocks as a senior. Head is the younger brother of former Illini All-American Luther Head. Crandall missed his senior season after having surgery to repair a torn ACL. He is a top-75 recruit who earned all-state honors as a junior, averaging 21 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Jeffrey Jordan | 13 | G | 6'1" | 175 | Junior | Highland Park, IL | Transferred to Central Florida |
| Bubba Chisholm | 15 | G | 5'11" | 180 | Senior | Champaign, IL | Graduated |
| Stan Simpson | 21 | C | 6'10" | 230 | RS Freshman | Chicago, IL | Transferred to John A. Logan College then to Memphis |
| Dominique Keller | 23 | F | 6'7" | 230 | Senior | Port Arthur, TX | Graduated |
| Alex Legion | 33 | G | 6'5" | 200 | RS Junior | Detroit | Transferred to Florida International |
| Richard Semrau | 50 | F | 6'10" | 245 | RS Junior | Grafton, OH | Graduated |

### 2010 additions

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Meyers Leonard C | Robinson, IL | Robinson High School | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Jul 29, 2008 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Crandall Head SG | Chicago, IL | Crane Technical Prep | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jan 4, 2008 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Jereme Richmond SF | Waukegan, IL | Waukegan High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Oct 26, 2006 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 11 Rivals: 13 247Sports: 12 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Illinois Commit List for 2010". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 18, 2010. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved November 18, 2010. "ESPN – Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball Recruiting 2010". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 18, 2010. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 18, 2010. "2010 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 18, 2010. "2010–11 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team". 247sports.com. Retrieved November 18, 2010. ||||||

## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Fri, Oct 29* 7:00 pm, BTN.com | | Lewis | W 75–65 | | 15 – Davis | 7 – Davis | 3 – Richmond | Assembly Hall (14,737) Champaign, IL |
| Tue, Nov 02* 7:00 pm, BTN.com | | Southern Indiana | W 76–67 | | 21 – Tisdale | 14 – Davis | 7 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (14,637) Champaign, IL |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||||||
| Mon, Nov 08* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 13 | UC Irvine | W 79–65 | 1–0 | 18 – Paul | 8 – Davis, Tisdale | 8 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (15,287) Champaign, IL |
| Wed, Nov 10* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 13 | Toledo | W 84–45 | 2–0 | 13 – McCamey | 8 – Tisdale | 7 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (15,333) Champaign, IL |
| Sat, Nov 13* 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 13 | Southern Illinois | W 85–63 | 3–0 | 18 – McCamey | 7 – Davis | 9 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| Thu, Nov 18* 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | vs. Texas Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic | L 84–90 $^{OT}$ | 3–1 | 22 – McCamey | 13 – Davis | 8 – McCamey | Madison Square Garden (12,210) New York, NY |
| Fri, Nov 19* 4:00pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | vs. Maryland Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic | W 80–76 | 4–1 | 20 – McCamey | 6 – Richmond | 7 – McCamey | Madison Square Garden (11,723) New York, NY |
| Tue, Nov 23* 8:45 pm, ESPNU | No. 19 | Yale | W 73–47 | 5–1 | 16 – Richardson | 13 – Tisdale | 7 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (13,858) Champaign, IL |
| Sat, Nov 27* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 19 | at Western Michigan | W 78–63 | 6–1 | 18 – Tisdale | 7 – Tisdale | 10 – McCamey | University Arena (4,532) Kalamazoo, MI |
| Tue, Nov 30* 8:30 pm, ESPN | No. 20 | North Carolina ACC – Big Ten Challenge | W 79–67 | 7–1 | 20 – Davis | 10 – Davis | 5 – Davis | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| Sat, Dec 04* 4:00 pm, ESPN | No. 20 | vs. Gonzaga Battle in Seattle | W 73–61 | 8–1 | 15 – Davis, Richardson | 6 – Davis | 7 – McCamey | KeyArena (14,789) Seattle, WA |
| Wed, Dec 08* 7:00 pm, BTN.com | No. 16 | Oakland | W 74–63 | 9–1 | 30 – McCamey | 12 – Tisdale | 3 – McCamey, Tisdale | Assembly Hall (15,256) Champaign, IL |
| Sun, Dec 12* 5:00 pm, BTN | No. 16 | Northern Colorado | W 86–76 | 10–1 | 14 – Tisdale, Richardson | 10 – Davis | 8 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (14,814) Champaign, IL |
| Sat, Dec 18* 1:00 pm, BTN | No. 12 | vs. Illinois-Chicago | L 54–57 | 10–2 | 16 – McCamey | 12 – Richmond | 6 – McCamey | United Center (13,117) Chicago, IL |
| Wed, Dec 22* 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 21 | vs. No. 9 Missouri Braggin' Rights | L 64–75 | 10–3 | 17 – Davis | 13 – Tisdale | 6 – McCamey | Scottrade Center (21,906) St. Louis, MO |
| Big Ten regular season |||||||||
| Wed, Dec 29 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 23 | at Iowa Rivalry | W 87–77 | 11–3 (1–0) | 20 – McCamey | 7 – Tisdale | 10 – McCamey | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| Sun, Jan 02 5:00 pm, BTN | No. 23 | Wisconsin | W 69–61 | 12–3 (2–0) | 21 – McCamey | 14 – Davis | 7 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| Thu, Jan 06 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 20 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 88–63 | 13–3 (3–0) | 14 – McCamey | 7 – Davis | 7 – Davis, McCamey | Assembly Hall (14,862) Champaign, IL |
| Tue, Jan 11 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 16 | at Penn State | L 55–57 | 13–4 (3–1) | 16 – Tisdale | 14 – Tisdale | 5 – McCamey | Bryce Jordan Center (6,353) University Park, PA |
| Sat, Jan 15 2:00 pm, BTN | No. 16 | at No. 20 Wisconsin | L 66–76 | 13–5 (3–2) | 23 – McCamey | 9 – Tisdale | 5 – McCamey | Kohl Center (17,230) Madison, WI |
| Tue, Jan 18 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 23 | No. 17 Michigan State | W 71–62 | 14–5 (4–2) | 20 – Paul | 11 – Davis | 11 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| Sat, Jan 22 11:00 am, CBS | No. 23 | No. 1 Ohio State | L 68–73 | 14–6 (4–3) | 18 – Richmond | 10 – Richmond | 5 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| Thu, Jan 27 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 20 | at Indiana Rivalry | L 49–52 | 14–7 (4–4) | 14 – Davis | 18 – Richmond | 3 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (16,297) Bloomington, IN |
| Tue, Feb 01 8:00 pm, BTN | | Penn State | W 68–51 | 15–7 (5–4) | 22 – Davis | 10 – Richmond | 5 – McCamey, Paul | Assembly Hall (14,996) Champaign, IL |
| Sat, Feb 05 12:00PM, CBS | | at Northwestern Rivalry | L 70–71 | 15–8 (5–5) | 21 – Paul | 6 – Davis | 4 – McCamey, Richmond | Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL |
| Thu, Feb 10 8:00 pm, ESPN(2) | | at Minnesota | W 71–62 | 16–8 (6–5) | 17 – McCamey, Davis | 9 – Davis | 4 – McCamey, Richmond | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| Sun, Feb 13 12:00 pm, CBS | | No. 14 Purdue | L 70–81 | 16–9 (6–6) | 23 – Paul | 7 – Davis | 4 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| Wed, Feb 16 7:30 pm, BTN | | Michigan | W 54–52 | 17–9 (7–6) | 18 – McCamey | 10 – Davis | 5 – Davis | Assembly Hall (16,273) Champaign, IL |
| Sat, Feb 19 8:00 pm, ESPN | | at Michigan State ESPN College GameDay | L 57–61 | 17–10 (7–7) | 15 – McCamey | 5 – Davis | 5 – McCamey | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| Tue, Feb 22 6:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 2 Ohio State | L 70–89 | 17–11 (7–8) | 18 – Davis | 9 – Richmond | 6 – McCamey | Schottenstein Center (18,085) Columbus, OH |
| Sat, Feb 26 6:00 pm, BTN | | Iowa Rivalry | W 81–68 | 18–11 (8–8) | 25 – Tisdale | 9 – Davis | 7 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| Tue, Mar 01 6:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 6 Purdue | L 67–75 | 18–12 (8–9) | 18 – McCamey | 10 – Davis | 4 – McCamey, Tisdale | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| Sat, Mar 05 11:00 am, BTN | | Indiana Rivalry | W 72–48 | 19–12 (9–9) | 22 – McCamey | 9 – Davis, Tisdale | 4 – McCamey | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| Fri, Mar 11 1:30 pm, ESPN | (5) | vs. (4) Michigan Quarterfinals | L 55–60 | 19–13 | 10 – McCamey, Tisdale, Paul | 7 – Davis, Tisdale | 5 – McCamey | Conseco Fieldhouse (17,975) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Fri, Mar 18* 8:20 pm, TBS | (9 SW) | vs. (8 SW) UNLV First Round | W 73–62 | 20–13 | 22 – Davis | 9 – Davis | 7 – McCamey | BOK Center (14,353) Tulsa, OK |
| Sun, Mar 20* 7:40 pm, TNT | (9 SW) | vs. (1 SW) No. 2 Kansas Second Round | L 59–73 | 20–14 | 17 – Davis | 11 – Tisdale | 7 – McCamey | BOK Center (15,839) Tulsa, OK |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||

## National rankings

Various publications and news sources released their preseason rankings prior to the start of the 2010–11 season. Illinois has been ranked by the publications below. The Fighting Illini were ranked 13th in the AP Poll and 16th in the Coaches Poll in their respective pre-season polls.
Pre-season Rankings :
| Athlon | Lindy's | Sporting News | Fox Sports | CBS Sports | Rivals.com | Blue Ribbon |
| 19 | 9 | 15 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 9 |
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | No Change |
| (RV) | Received Votes |

## Season statistics

Individual Player Statistics :
| | | | Minutes | Minutes | Total FGs | Total FGs | Total FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | Free-throws | Free-throws | Free-throws | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | | | | | | | Scoring | Scoring |
| Player | GP | GS | Tot | Avg | FG | FGA | Pct | 3FG | 3FA | Pct | FT | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | Avg | PF | FO | A | TO | Blk | Stl | Pts | Avg |
| McCamey, Demetri | 31 | 29 | 1026 | 33.1 | 153 | 335 | .457 | 68 | 147 | .463 | 91 | 124 | .734 | 16 | 90 | 106 | 3.4 | 62 | 0 | 189 | 89 | 6 | 31 | 465 | 15.0 |
| Davis, Mike | 31 | 31 | 1009 | 32.5 | 158 | 295 | .536 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 61 | 90 | .678 | 50 | 170 | 220 | 7.1 | 73 | 1 | 51 | 41 | 26 | 28 | 377 | 12.2 |
| Tisdale, Mike | 31 | 29 | 792 | 25.5 | 119 | 230 | .517 | 18 | 42 | .429 | 56 | 70 | .800 | 70 | 129 | 199 | 6.4 | 111 | 5 | 36 | 52 | 50 | 15 | 312 | 10.1 |
| Paul, Brandon | 31 | 8 | 673 | 21.7 | 90 | 225 | .400 | 38 | 108 | .352 | 66 | 84 | .786 | 18 | 71 | 89 | 2.9 | 53 | 0 | 61 | 55 | 10 | 29 | 284 | 9.2 |
| Richardson, D.J. | 31 | 29 | 853 | 27.5 | 91 | 224 | .406 | 50 | 130 | .385 | 25 | 33 | .758 | 11 | 46 | 57 | 1.8 | 63 | 1 | 60 | 36 | 5 | 20 | 257 | 8.3 |
| Richmond, Jereme | 30 | 6 | 669 | 22.3 | 101 | 193 | .523 | 2 | 11 | .182 | 26 | 43 | .605 | 53 | 101 | 154 | 5.1 | 50 | 1 | 57 | 51 | 13 | 13 | 230 | 7.7 |
| Cole, Bill | 31 | 21 | 627 | 20.2 | 53 | 117 | .453 | 29 | 80 | .363 | 17 | 21 | .810 | 29 | 51 | 80 | 2.6 | 53 | 0 | 40 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 152 | 4.9 |
| Leonard, Meyers | 30 | 1 | 260 | 8.7 | 27 | 57 | .474 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 10 | 15 | .667 | 10 | 31 | 41 | 1.4 | 46 | 0 | 5 | 24 | 12 | 5 | 64 | 2.1 |
| Griffey, Tyler | 24 | 0 | 166 | 6.9 | 14 | 42 | .333 | 4 | 11 | .364 | 10 | 15 | .667 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 1.2 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 42 | 1.8 |
| Bertrand, Joseph | 13 | 0 | 49 | 3.8 | 7 | 13 | .538 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0.5 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 1.3 |
| Head, Crandall | 15 | 1 | 83 | 5.5 | 7 | 18 | .389 | 1 | 7 | .143 | 4 | 6 | .667 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.2 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 1.3 |
| Berardini, Kevin | 8 | 0 | 14 | 1.8 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 4 | 6 | .667 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0.4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.8 |
| Selus, Jean | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Team | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 47 | 49 | 96 | | 1 | | | 7 | | | | |
| Total | 31 | | 6226 | | 821 | 1751 | .469 | 210 | 540 | .389 | 374 | 513 | .729 | 318 | 765 | 1083 | 34.9 | 549 | 8 | 515 | 395 | 143 | 171 | 2226 | 71.8 |
| Opponents | 31 | | 6227 | | 712 | 1777 | .401 | 183 | 612 | .299 | 420 | 582 | .722 | 361 | 670 | 1031 | 33.3 | 509 | 5 | 375 | 382 | 91 | 171 | 2027 | 65.4 |