# 1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1960–61 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

Head coach Harry Combes experienced the worst record of his 20 years at the University of Illinois. His Fighting Illini basketball team, for the second year in a row, played in a mid-season tournament. The tournament they would compete in would be the Kentucky Invitational Tournament held at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky December 21–22.
The 1960-61 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer and team "MVP" Dave Downey. It also saw the return of Jerry Colangelo, John Wessels, Bill Burwell, Bill Small, as well as Doug Mills. The Illini also added sophomore Bob Starnes to their lineup. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 5 wins and 9 losses, finishing 7th in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 9 wins and 15 losses. The starting lineup included Bill Burwell at the center position, Bill Small and Jerry Colangelo at guard and Dave Downey and John Wessels at the forward slots.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/1/1960* no, no | Creighton | W 99-74 | 1-0 | Huff Hall (6,708) Champaign, IL |
| 12/6/1960* no, no | Butler | W 84-52 | 2-0 | Huff Hall (6,689) Champaign, IL |
| 12/12/1960* no, no | at Colorado | L 81-90 | 2-1 | Balch Fieldhouse (4,100) Boulder, CO |
| 12/17/1960* no, no | at Marquette | L 88-96 | 2-2 | Marquette Gymnasium (8,440) Milwaukee, WI |
| 12/19/1960* no, no | Washington State | W 79-58 | 3-2 | Huff Hall (3,507) Champaign, IL |
| 12/21/1960* no, no | at Kentucky Kentucky Invitational Tournament | L 78-83 | 3-3 | Memorial Coliseum (7,500) Lexington, KY |
| 12/22/1960* no, no | vs. California Kentucky Invitational Tournament | L 54-72 | 3-4 | Memorial Coliseum (8,000) Lexington, KY |
| 12/27/1960* no, no | at Butler | L 68-70 | 3-5 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,100) Indianapolis, IN |
| 12/28/1960* no, no | vs. Notre Dame | L 66-69 | 3-6 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,591) Indianapolis, IN |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/7/1961 no, no | at No. 1 Ohio State | L 65-91 | 3-7 (0-1) | St. John Arena (13,408) Columbus, OH |
| 1/14/1961 no, no | Michigan | W 88-64 | 4-7 (1-1) | Huff Hall (6,705) Champaign, IL |
| 1/16/1961 no, no | at No. 6 Iowa Rivalry | L 71-78 | 4-8 (1-2) | Iowa Field House (12,700) Iowa City, IA |
| 1/28/1961* no, no | vs. Notre Dame | W 77-62 | 5-8 | Chicago Stadium (11,800) Chicago, IL |
| 1/30/1961 no, no | Michigan State | W 93-92 | 6-8 (2-2) | Huff Hall (3,132) Champaign, IL |
| 2/4/1961 no, no | at Minnesota | W 65-60 | 7-8 (3-2) | Williams Arena (12,001) Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/6/1961 no, no | Wisconsin | W 77-73 | 8-8 (4-2) | Huff Hall (6,775) Champaign, IL |
| 2/11/1961 no, no | at Purdue | L 73-89 | 8-9 (4-3) | Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/18/1961 no, no | Northwestern Rivalry | L 72-78 | 8-10 (4-4) | Huff Hall (6,569) Champaign, IL |
| 2/20/1961 no, no | at Michigan State | L 80-90 | 8-11 (4-5) | Jenison Fieldhouse (4,185) East Lansing, MI |
| 2/25/1961 no, no | at Indiana Rivalry | L 82-93 | 8-12 (4-6) | New Fieldhouse (600) Bloomington, IN |
| 2/27/1961 no, no | Minnesota | L 76-85 | 8-13 (4-7) | Huff Hall (6,569) Champaign, IL |
| 3/4/1961 no, no | Purdue | W 85-75 | 9-13 (5-7) | Huff Hall (6,891) Champaign, IL |
| 3/6/1961 no, no | at Michigan | L 66-74 | 9-14 (5-8) | Yost Field House (2,000) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 3/11/1961 no, no | No. 1 Ohio State | L 66–95 | 9-15 (5-9) | Huff Hall (6,912) 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 Downey | 24 | 157 | 88 | 267 | 402 |
| Jerry Colangelo | 24 | 128 | 71 | 94 | 327 |
| John Wessels | 24 | 119 | 83 | 217 | 321 |
| Bill Burwell | 24 | 117 | 57 | 207 | 291 |
| Bill Small | 22 | 73 | 42 | 56 | 188 |
| Bob Starnes | 24 | 29 | 25 | 61 | 83 |
| Doug Mills | 21 | 26 | 20 | 15 | 72 |
| Ed Searcy | 13 | 23 | 12 | 62 | 58 |
| Jerry Curless | 22 | 17 | 13 | 38 | 47 |
| Jerry Renner | 19 | 11 | 2 | 22 | 24 |
| Jeff Ferguson | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Jay Lovelace | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Sam Leeper | 7 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Bill Mohlenbrock | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Butch Jones | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Dave Downey
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American
** Team Most Valuable Player
* John Wessels
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| John Wessels | Chicago Packers | 8 | 8 |