1974–75 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1974–75 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record8–18 (4–14 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPRick Schmidt
CaptainRick Schmidt
Home arenaAssembly Hall
Seasons
1974–75 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Indiana 18 – 0   1.000 31 – 1   .969
No. 19 Michigan 12 – 6   .667 19 – 8   .704
Minnesota 11 – 7   .611 18 – 8   .692
Purdue 11 – 7   .611 17 – 11   .607
Michigan State 10 – 8   .556 17 – 9   .654
Ohio State 8 – 10   .444 14 – 14   .500
Iowa 7 – 11   .389 10 – 16   .385
Wisconsin 5 – 13   .278 8 – 18   .308
Illinois 4 – 14   .222 8 – 18   .308
Northwestern 4 – 14   .222 6 – 20   .231
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1974–75 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

Illinois finished ninth in the Big Ten going went 8-18 overall. Gene Bartow took over the team as head coach. Brought to Illinois to continue the magical rebuilding jobs he had undertaken at Valparaiso and Memphis State, Gene Bartow was counted on by Athletic Director Cecil Coleman to restore the successful level of play fans had become accustomed to in the past few decades. However, Bartow’s stay in Champaign was short-lived, lasting only one year. The lure away from Illinois was a strong one for Bartow; he was hired away by UCLA to replace legendary Bruin coach John Wooden.

Roster

1974–75 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 10 Nate Williams 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Crane High School Chicago, Illinois
G 11 Dave Roberts 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Proviso East High School Maywood, Illinois
F/C 15 Tom Carmichael 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Rochelle Township High School Rochelle, Illinois
G 20 Dennis Graff 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Gibson City High School Gibson City, Illinois
G 22 Howie Johnson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Marshall High School Marshall, Illinois
F 24 Tom Gerhardt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr De La Salle High School Chicago, Illinois
F 32 Rick Schmidt (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr St. Joseph-Ogden High School Royal, Illinois
G 33 Otho Tucker Injured Current redshirt 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Paris High School Paris, Illinois
G/F 34 Rick Leighty 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Lawrenceville High School Lawrenceville, Illinois
F 40 Rich Adams 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Colerain High School Cincinnati, Ohio
F/C 41 Dave Smith 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Hinsdale Central High School Clarendon Hills, Illinois
G/F 42 Tim Bushell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Lincoln Community High School Lincoln, Illinois
F 43 Brad Farnham 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Paris High School Paris, Illinois
G/F 44 Audie Matthews 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Bloom High School Chicago Heights, Illinois
C 53 Bill Rucks 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Jr Waukegan High School Waukegan, Illinois
C 54 Mike Washington 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Morgan Park High School Chicago, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[1] [2]

Schedule

Source[3]

Date
time, TV 		Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/3/1974*
no, no 		Valparaiso W 69-58  1 - 0
 Assembly Hall (5,990)
Champaign, IL
12/7/1974*
no, no 		DePauw W 96-53  2 - 0
 Assembly Hall (6,912)
Champaign, IL
12/9/1974*
no, no 		@ Iowa State W 77-71  3 - 0
 Hilton Coliseum (7,500)
Ames, IA
12/13/1974*
no, no 		No. 17 Arizona
Fiesta Bowl Classic 		L 66-78  3 - 1
 McKale Center (11,574)
Tucson, AZ
12/14/1974*
no, no 		Arizona State
Fiesta Bowl Classic 		L 69-91  3 - 2
 Wells Fargo Arena (8,136)
Tempe, AZ
12/27/1974*
no, no 		Stanford
Lobo Invitational Tournament 		L 76-89  3 - 3
 The Pit (14,163)
Albuquerque, NM
12/28/1974*
no, no 		Army
Lobo Invitational Tournament 		W 79-70  4 - 3
 The Pit (14,831)
Albuquerque, NM
Big Ten regular season
1/2/1975
no, no 		No. 17 Michigan L 84-86 2OT 4 - 4
(0 - 1) 		Assembly Hall (6,608)
Champaign, IL
1/4/1975
no, no 		@ Iowa
Rivalry 		L 70-95  4 - 5
(0 - 2) 		Iowa Field House (9,800)
Iowa City, IA
1/6/1975
no, no 		@ Minnesota L 47-75  4 - 6
(0 - 3) 		Williams Arena (17,573)
Minneapolis, MN
1/11/1975
no, no 		Northwestern W 64-60  5 - 6
(1 - 3 )) 		Assembly Hall (6,009)
Champaign, IL
1/13/1975
no, no 		Wisconsin W 72-56  6 - 6
(2 - 3) 		Assembly Hall (6,117)
Champaign, IL
1/18/1975
no, no 		Purdue L 67-86  6 - 7
(2 - 4) 		Assembly Hall (9,493)
Champaign, IL
1/23/1975*
no, no 		Tulane L 69-81  6 - 8
 Assembly Hall (7,107)
Champaign, IL
1/25/1975
no, no 		@ Ohio State W 66-62  7 - 8
(3 - 4) 		St. John Arena (8,778)
Columbus, OH
1/27/1975
no, no 		No. 1 @Indiana
Rivalry 		L 57-73  7 - 9
(3 - 5) 		Assembly Hall (17,581)
Bloomington, IN
2/1/1975
no, no 		Michigan State L 60-75  7 - 10
(3 - 6) 		Assembly Hall (8,327)
Champaign, IL
2/3/1975
no, no 		Minnesota L 50-56  7 - 11
(3 - 7) 		Assembly Hall (7,720)
Champaign, IL
2/8/1975
no, no 		@ Northwestern L 47-51  7 - 12
(3 - 8) 		McGaw Memorial Hall (4,007)
Evanston, IL
2/10/1975
no, no 		@ Wisconsin L 70-76  7 - 13
(3 - 9) 		Wisconsin Field House (4,492)
Madison, WI
2/15/1975
no, no 		@ Purdue L 91-114  7 - 14
(3 - 10) 		Mackey Arena (13,936)
West Lafayette, IN
2/22/1975
no, no 		Ohio State W 83-78 OT 8 - 14
(4 - 10) 		Assembly Hall (9,192)
Champaign, IL
2/24/1975
no, no 		No. 1 Indiana
Rivalry 		L 89-112  8 - 15
(4 - 11) 		Assembly Hall (14,127)
Champaign, IL
3/1/1975
no, no 		@ Michigan State L 82-96  8 - 16
(4 - 12) 		Jenison Fieldhouse (4,851)
East Lansing, MI
3/3/1975
no, no 		@ Michigan L 75-77  8 - 17
(4 - 13) 		Crisler Center (6,309)
Ann Arbor, MI
3/8/1975
no, no 		Iowa
Rivalry 		L 70-73  8 - 18
(4 - 14) 		Assembly Hall (9,171)
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 Assists Points
Rick Schmidt[4] 26 190 144 139 73 524
Otho Tucker[5] 24 114 54 78 72 282
Nate Williams[6] 24 107 42 55 71 256
Mike Washington[7] 26 84 38 126 27 206
Rich Adams[8] 26 50 33 107 19 133
Tom Carmichael[9] 26 54 23 127 31 131
Audi Matthews[10] 26 41 18 87 19 100
Brad Farnham 21 19 22 52 13 60
Howie Johnson 20 25 5 19 39 55
Dave Roberts 11 20 11 17 12 41
Bill Rucks 16 10 8 19 2 28
Tim Bushell 11 20 11 17 12 51
Tom Gerhardt 5 2 0 4 1 4
Rick Leighty 9 1 2 10 8 4
Dave Smith 4 0 0 6 1 0

Awards and honors

  • Rick Schmidt
    • Converse Honorable Mention All-American
    • Team Most Valuable Player [11]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA Club Round Pick
Rick Schmidt New Orleans Jazz 6 91

[12]

Rankings

References

  1. ^ Men's Basketball Roster
  2. ^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1974-75 Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  4. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  5. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  6. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  7. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  8. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  9. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  10. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  11. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  12. ^ 1975 NBA Draft Archived 2013-05-23 at the Wayback Machine
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