1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Illini Classic, Champion Rainbow Classic, Champion^[1]
National Invitation Tournament, Third Place
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. Not ranked
AP	No. Not ranked
Record	22–13 (8–10 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lou Henson (5th season)
Assistant coaches	Tony Yates (6th season) Dick Nagy (1st season) Larry Lubin (1st season)
MVP	Eddie Johnson
Captains	Levi Cobb Neil Bresnahan
Home arena	Assembly Hall
Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 →

1979–80 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 7 Indiana	13	–	5	.722	21	–	8	.724
No. 10 Ohio State	12	–	6	.667	21	–	8	.724
No. 20 Purdue	11	–	7	.611	23	–	10	.697
Iowa	10	–	8	.556	23	–	10	.697
Minnesota	10	–	8	.556	21	–	11	.656
Illinois	8	–	10	.444	22	–	13	.629
Michigan	8	–	10	.444	17	–	13	.567
Wisconsin	7	–	11	.389	15	–	14	.517
Michigan State	6	–	12	.333	12	–	15	.444
Northwestern	5	–	13	.278	10	–	17	.370

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

For the 1979-80 season, head coach Lou Henson returned everyone from a team that finished with 19 wins. The team gave the head coach his first of 11, 20-win seasons at Illinois. That year, Illinois made its first postseason appearance since 1963, finishing third in the NIT. During the course of the season, the Illini would defeat eventual NCAA Tournament Champion, Louisville

Roster

1979–80 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	10	Reno Gray	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	RS Sr	Hales Franciscan High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	12	Kevin Westervelt	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sr	Richwoods High School	Peoria, Illinois
C	13	James Griffin	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Dunbar High School	Grandview, Texas
G	20	Kevin Bontemps	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Morton High School	Morton, Illinois
G	21	Quinn Richardson	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Eisenhower High School	Robbins, Illinois
G	22	Perry Range	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	South Beloit High School	South Beloit, Illinois
G	30	Rob Judson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Zion-Benton High School	Zion, Illinois
F	31	Neil Bresnahan (C)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Fenwick High School	Oak Park, Illinois
F	32	Levi Cobb (C)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Morgan Park High School	Chicago, Illinois
F	33	Eddie Johnson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Westinghouse High School	Chicago, Illinois
F	42	Mark Smith	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Richwoods High School	Peoria, Illinois
F	43	Bryan Leonard	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Belleville High School-East	Belleville, Illinois
C	44	Derek Holcomb	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	Richwoods High School	Peoria, Illinois

Head coach

Lou Henson (New Mexico State University) (5th year)

Assistant coach(es)

Tony Yates (University of Cincinnati) (6th year)
Dick Nagy (Hardin-Simmons University) (1st year)
Larry Lubin (University of Illinois) (1st year)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule

Source^[2]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/30/1979* no, no		at No. 15 BYU	W 86-76	1-0	Marriott Center (23,042) Provo, UT
12/4/1979* no, no		Missouri Show-Me Classic	L 66-67 ^OT	1-1	Assembly Hall (14,004) Champaign, IL
12/6/1979* no, no		Kent State	W 74-65	2-1	Assembly Hall (13,090) Champaign, IL
12/8/1979* no, no		Long Beach State	W 77-60	3-1	Assembly Hall (14,075) Champaign, IL
12/10/1979* no, no		at TCU	W 79-64	4-1	Daniel–Meyer Coliseum (4,110) Fort Worth, TX
12/11/1979* no, no		Missouri-St. Louis	W 91-65	5-1	Assembly Hall (13,021) Champaign, IL
12/14/1979* no, no		Kentucky State Illini Classic	W 94-65	6-1	Assembly Hall (14,363) Champaign, IL
12/15/1979* no, no		Illinois State Illini Classic	W 47-40	7-1	Assembly Hall (16,257) Champaign, IL
12/22/1979* no, no		Marquette	L 78-80	7-2	Assembly Hall (12,618) Champaign, IL
12/28/1979* no, no		vs. Army Rainbow Classic	W 75-48	8-2	Neal S. Blaisdell Center (-) Honolulu, HI
12/29/1979* no, no		vs. No. 12 Louisville Rainbow Classic	W 77-64	9-2	Neal S. Blaisdell Center (-) Honolulu, HI
12/30/1979* no, no		at Hawaii Rainbow Classic	W 94-82	10-2	Neal S. Blaisdell Center (-) Honolulu, HI
Big Ten regular season
1/3/1980 no, no	No. 20	No. 10 Iowa Rivalry	L 71-72	10-3 (0-1)	Assembly Hall (10,839) Champaign, IL
1/5/1980 no, no	No. 20	Northwestern Rivalry	W 81-71	11-3 (1-1)	Assembly Hall (9,174) Champaign, IL
1/10/1980 no, no		at No. 10 Purdue	L 66-74	11-4 (1-2)	Mackey Arena (12,982) West Lafayette, IN
1/12/1980 no, no		at Minnesota	L 75-79	11-5 (1-3)	Williams Arena (15,381) Minneapolis, MN
1/17/1980 no, no		Michigan	W 80-69	12-5 (2-3)	Assembly Hall (14,746) Champaign, IL
1/19/1980 no, no		at Wisconsin	W 69-64	13-5 (3-3)	Wisconsin Field House (10,386) Madison, WI
1/24/1980 no, no		No. 4 Ohio State	L 76-79	13-6 (3-4)	Assembly Hall (16,383) Champaign, IL
1/26/1980 no, no		Michigan State	W 74-65	14-6 (4-4)	Assembly Hall (16,490) Champaign, IL
1/31/1980 no, no		at No. 18 Indiana Rivalry	L 54-60	14-7 (4-5)	Assembly Hall (16,723) Bloomington, IN
2/2/1980 no, no		at Michigan State	L 59-68	14-8 (4-6)	Jenison Fieldhouse (10,004) East Lansing, MI
2/7/1980 no, no		Wisconsin	W 67-50	15-8 (5-6)	Assembly Hall (13,873) Champaign, IL
2/9/1980 no, no		No. 20 Indiana Rivalry	W 89-68	16-8 (6-6)	Assembly Hall (16,614) Champaign, IL
2/14/1980 no, no		at Michigan	L 76-78	16-9 (6-7)	Crisler Center (9,738) Ann Arbor, MI
2/16/1980 no, no		at No. 9 Ohio State	L 57-71	16-10 (6-8)	St. John Arena (13,591) Columbus, OH
2/21/1980 no, no		Minnesota	W 60-58 ^OT	17-10 (7-8)	Assembly Hall (14,592) Champaign, IL
2/23/1980 no, no		No. 15 Purdue	L 69-72	17-11 (7-9)	Assembly Hall (16,647) Champaign, IL
2/28/1980 no, no		at Northwestern Rivalry	W 90-66	18-11 (8-9)	McGaw Memorial Hall (5,426) Evanston, IL
3/1/1980 no, no		at Iowa Rivalry	L 71-75	18-12 (8-10)	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
National Invitation Tournament
3/5/1980* no, no		Loyola Chicago NIT First round	W 105-87	19-12	Assembly Hall (13,326) Champaign, IL
3/10/1980* no, no		Illinois State NIT Second round	W 75-65	20-12	Assembly Hall (16,193) Champaign, IL
3/13/1980* no, no		Murray State NIT Quarterfinals	W 65-63	21-12	Assembly Hall (15,070) Champaign, IL
3/17/1980* no, no		vs. Minnesota NIT Semifinals	L 63-65	21-13	Madison Square Garden (11,223) New York, NY
3/19/1980* no, no		vs. UNLV NIT Third-place game	W 84-74	22-13	Madison Square Garden (-) New York, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Minutes Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	Points
Eddie Johnson^[3]	35	1215	266	78	310	71	7	13	610
Mark Smith^[4]	35	1026	187	161	214	95	11	35	535
Reno Gray^[5]	35	858	131	57	47	109	2	39	319
James Griffin^[6]	35	676	119	36	154	25	39	18	274
Perry Range^[7]	35	809	90	63	85	64	2	36	243
Derek Holcomb^[8]	31	636	72	36	164	44	46	15	180
Neil Bresnahan^[9]	35	599	67	27	121	64	11	14	161
Rob Judson^[10]	31	595	59	32	44	47	0	15	150
Kevin Bontempts	30	363	15	26	28	67	1	16	56
Levi Cobb	25	140	20	7	36	14	2	9	47
Quinn Richardson	16	101	8	7	9	17	0	4	23
Kevin Westervelt	18	34	6	4	8	1	0	1	16

Awards and honors

Eddie Johnson
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
- Team Most Valuable Player^[11]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Neil Bresnahan	Golden State Warriors	6	117

^[12]

Rankings

References

^ "Rainbow Classic History". Archived from the original on March 18, 2005. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1979-80 Archived 2013-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
^ "Season Stats pg. 119" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 119" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 119" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 119" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 119" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 119" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 119" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 119" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
^ 1980 NBA Draft Archived 2010-03-18 at the Wayback Machine

v t e Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)
Rivalries	Indiana Iowa Missouri Northwestern
Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics