The Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team represents Illinois State University, located in Normal, Illinois, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They are currently led by head coach Ryan Pedon and play their home games at CEFCU Arena as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. They had the distinction of earning the most National Invitation Tournament berths (14) without making the semifinals, and also have the longest current NCAA tournament drought (27 seasons) among Missouri Valley Conference members. The Redbirds have appeared in the NCAA tournament six times, most recently in 1998.
Season-by-season records
NCAA Division I
Source
Postseason
NCAA Division I The Redbirds have appeared in six NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 3–6.
1983 #6 First Round vs. #11 Ohio L 49–51 1984 #8 First RoundSecond Round vs. #9 Alabamavs. #1 DePaul W 49–48L 61–75 1985 #9 First RoundSecond Round vs. #8 USCvs. #1 Oklahoma W 58–55L 69–75 1990 #14 First Round vs. #3 Michigan L 70–76 1997 #11 First Round vs. #6 Iowa State L 57–69 1998 #9 First RoundSecond Round vs. #8 vs. #1 Arizona W 82–81 OTL 49–82 Source
NCAA Division II Illinois State made the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament five times and had a combined record of 6–7. 1957 Round of 32 Evansville L 96–1081962 Regional SemifinalRegion Third Place Concordia (IL)Kentucky State L 61–79L 72–771967 Regional SemifinalRegional FinalElite EightFinal FourNational Third Place ParsonsLouisiana TechSan Diego StateSouthwest Missouri StateKentucky Wesleyan W 72–68W 89–66W 77–76 2OTL 76–93L 73–1121968 Regional SemifinalRegional Final DePauwIndiana State W 83–81L 93–981969 Regional SemifinalRegional FinalElite Eight North ParkValparaisoAshland W 87–82W 103–87L 35–41
NIT results The Redbirds have appeared in fifteen National Invitation Tournaments (NIT). Their combined record is 14–15.
1977 Regional RoundQuarterfinal at Creightonvs. Houston W 65–58L 90–91 1978 First Round at Indiana State L 71–73 1980 First RoundSecond Round West Texas Stateat Illinois W 80–63L 65–75 1987 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinal Akronat Cleveland Stateat La Salle W 79–72W 79–77L 50–70 1988 First Round at Cleveland State L 83–89 1995 First RoundSecond Round Utah StateWashington State W 93–87L 80–83 1996 First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinal Mount St. Mary'sat Wisconsinat Tulane W 73–49W 77–62L 72–83 2001 First Round at Purdue L 79–90 2008 At-large Ohio State (2) First RoundSecond Round (7) Utah State(3) Dayton W 61–57L 48–55 2009 At-large San Diego State (5) First Round at (4) Kansas State L 79–83 OT 2010 At-large Illinois (6) First Round at (3) Dayton L 42–63 2012 At-large Arizona (7) First RoundSecond Round at (2) Ole Missat (3) Stanford W 96–93 OTL 88–92 OT 2015 At-large Old Dominion (4) First RoundSecond Round (5) Green Bayat (1) Old Dominion W 69–56L 49–50 2017 Automatic Illinois State (1) First RoundSecond Round (8) UC Irvine(4) UCF W 85–71L 62–63 2026 Exempt Winston-Salem (4) First RoundSecond RoundQuarterfinalSemifinal Kent Stateat (1) Wake Forestat (2) Daytonvs. (1) Auburn W 79–58W 78–75W 61–55 L 66–88 Source
CBI results The Redbirds have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) twice. Their combined record is 5–1. They turned down a bid in the 2015–16 season and again in the 2017–18 season. They were the 2025 champion.
2014 First RoundQuarterfinalSemifinal Morehead State Texas A&Mat Siena W 77–67W 62–55L 49–61 2025 First RoundSemifinalFinal vs. Presbyterianvs. Incarnate Wordvs. Cleveland State W 78–70W 78–73W 79–68 Source
Players
Retired numbers
Illinois State has retired only one number in program history, that of first-team All-American and Olympian Doug Collins.
Illinois State Redbirds retired numbers No.PlayerCareerRef. 20 Doug Collins 1970–1973 All-time number roster at 2019–20 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball media guide, page 56
Redbirds drafted into the NBA Draft Year Player Position Round Overall NBA Team 1973Doug Collins SG 11 Philadelphia 76ers 1975Robert Hawkins SF 351 Golden State Warriors 1977Jeff Wilkins C 237 San Antonio Spurs 1999Rico Hill SF 231 Los Angeles Clippers
Redbirds in international leagues
Jackie Carmichael (born 1990) Daishon Knight (born 1991) Nic Moore (born 1992) Zach Lofton (born 1992) DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (born 1993) Deontae Hawkins (born 1993) Nick Banyard (born 1994) Kaza Kajami-Keane (born 1994) Reggie Lynch (born 1994), for Bnei Herzliya of the Israeli Basketball Premier League Paris Lee (born 1995) Elijah Clarance (born 1998)
Rivalries The I-74 Rivalry is the rivalry between Illinois State and Bradley.
Plane crash On April 7, 2015, while flying home from the NCAA Tournament Final game in Indianapolis, a plane carrying Illinois State assistant coach Torrey Ward and six others crashed just outside Bloomington, Illinois, leaving no survivors.
References
External links