The 1977–78 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season The most significant recruit of the first three years of Head Coach Lou Henson's tenure at Illinois arrived this season. Eddie Johnson was considered to be the most significant piece to reviving the Illini basketball program, a program that had not been to a post-season tournament for 16 years. Johnson, who played at Chicago Westinghouse High School, was one of the state's top seniors and a Parade Magazine All-American. During his senior year at Westinghouse, Johnson, along with teammate Mark Aguirre, became part of a team that went 29–0, losing only in the Public League Final to Wendell Phillips. Prior to choosing Illinois, Johnson visited Southern Cal, Iowa, Michigan and DePaul, but with the encouragement of assistant coach Tony Yates, he selected Illinois.

Along with Johnson, Henson recruited Mark Smith from Peoria Richwoods High School. By season's end, Smith would develop into the team's second leading scorer, finishing the season with 312 points. The team's starting lineup included Neil Bresnahan and Levi Cobb as forwards, Audie Matthews and Reno Gray at the guard positions, and Rich Adams playing center.

Roster

Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1977–78 , FightingIllini.com

!colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season

!colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season

Player stats Player Games played Minutes played Field goals Free throws Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals PointsAudie Matthews27780136558750012327Mark Smith276801119016336737312Rich Adams 2761810858133373225274Eddie Johnson27469100208416811220Rob Judson 2760576454957120197Neil Bresnahan 27670943119568221219Reno Gray 204349062966118186Levi Cobb276107228131231017172Mike Jones 2723235216202872Ken Ferdinand 15801351822231Larry Lubin 17112889190624Tom Gerhardt 21105422230110Matt Meyer 650011000

Awards and honors Eddie Johnson Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Audie Matthews Team Most Valuable Player

Team players drafted into the NBA Player NBA club Round PickRich AdamsSan Antonio Spurs486Audie MatthewsDetroit Pistons6117

Rankings

References