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.Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC
Roster
Schedule
SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1960-61, FightingIllini.com
Schedule |- !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 Field goals Free throws Rebounds PointsDave Downey 2415788267402Jerry Colangelo 241287194327John Wessels2411983217321Bill Burwell 2411757207291Bill Small22734256188Bob Starnes2429256183Doug Mills 2126201572Ed Searcy 1323126258Jerry Curless 2217133847Jerry Renner191122224Jeff Ferguson112549Jay Lovelace72226Sam Leeper71252Bill Mohlenbrock 20010Butch Jones 10010
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 PickJohn WesselsChicago Packers88
Rankings
References