1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Illini Classic, Champion
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Regional semifinals
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
AP	No. 19
Record	21–8 (12–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lou Henson (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Tony Yates (7th season); Dick Nagy (2nd season); Bob Hull (1st season);
MVP	Eddie Johnson
Captains	Derek Holcomb; Eddie Johnson; Mark Smith;
Home arena	Assembly Hall
	Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 9 Indiana	14	–	4	.778	26	–	9	.743
No. 13 Iowa	13	–	5	.722	21	–	7	.750
No. 19 Illinois	12	–	6	.667	21	–	8	.724
Purdue	10	–	8	.556	21	–	11	.656
Minnesota	9	–	9	.500	19	–	11	.633
Ohio State	9	–	9	.500	14	–	13	.519
Michigan	8	–	10	.444	19	–	11	.633
Michigan State	7	–	11	.389	13	–	14	.481
Wisconsin	5	–	13	.278	11	–	16	.407
Northwestern	3	–	15	.167	9	–	18	.333

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

In 1981, Illinois made strides in its return to the national spotlight with a 21-8 record, a third-place Big Ten finish and an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The team received a first-round bye in the NCAA tournament and beat Wyoming, 67-65, in Los Angeles to advance to the regionals in Salt Lake City, where Illinois lost to Kansas State, 57-52. During this season, the Fighting Illini led the Big Ten in scoring for the second consecutive season and were again led by Eddie Johnson and Mark Smith. Guards Craig Tucker and Derek Harper arrived to add backcourt punch, and Harper began his Illini career being named First-Team Freshman All-America by ESPN and ABC.

This season marked a change in location and name for the annual game with Missouri. The name was altered from the "Show-Me Classic" to the "Braggin' Rights" and took on a permanent location, St. Louis, with the St. Louis Arena as its original home. Prior to 1980, the location of the game alternated from Assembly Hall and the Hearnes Center. Since 1994, the game is played at the Scottrade Center.

Roster

1980–81 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	10	Craig Tucker	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Flint Northern High School	Flint, Michigan
G	12	Derek Harper	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	North Shore High School	West Palm Beach, Florida
C	13	James Griffin	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Dunbar High School	Grandview, Texas
G	14	Sherrod Arnold	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	So	Wendell Phillips High School	Chicago, Illinois
G/F	15	Mitch Arnold	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Effingham High School	Effingham, Illinois
G	20	Kevin Bontemps	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Morton High School	Morton, Illinois
G	21	Quinn Richardson	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Eisenhower High School	Robbins, Illinois
G	22	Perry Range	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	South Beloit High School	South Beloit, Illinois
F	33	Eddie Johnson (C)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Westinghouse High School	Chicago, Illinois
F	42	Mark Smith (C)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Richwoods High School	Peoria, Illinois
F	43	Bryan Leonard	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS So	Belleville High School-East	Belleville, Illinois
C	44	Derek Holcomb (C)	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Sr	Richwoods High School	Peoria, Illinois

Head coach

Lou Henson (New Mexico State University) (6th year)

Assistant coach(es)

Tony Yates (University of Cincinnati) (7th year)
Dick Nagy (Hardin-Simmons University) (2nd year)
Bob Hull (1st year)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule

Source^[1]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/29/1980*		Loyola Marymount	W 98-65	1-0	Assembly Hall (11,168) Champaign, IL
12/6/1980*		TCU	W 84-62	2-0	Assembly Hall (14,370) Champaign, IL
12/10/1980*		vs. No. 14 Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 84-62	3-0	St. Louis Arena (14,370) St. Louis, MO
12/13/1980*		Marquette	W 69-68	4-0	U.S. Cellular Arena (11,052) Milwaukee, WI
12/19/1980*	No. 17	vs. No. 18 BYU Volunteer Classic	L 75-88	4-1	Stokely Athletic Center (12,700) Knoxville, TN
12/20/1980*	No. 17	vs. Iona Volunteer Classic	W 106-84	5-1	Stokely Athletic Center (12,700) Knoxville, TN
12/26/1980*	No. 18	Ohio Illini Classic	W 84-54	6-1	Assembly Hall (14,230) Champaign, IL
12/27/1980*	No. 18	Oklahoma Illini Classic	W 93-63	7-1	Assembly Hall (15,411) Champaign, IL
1/3/1981*	No. 16	SIU Edwardsville	W 108-68	8-1	Assembly Hall (11,443) Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/8/1981	No. 12	at Northwestern Rivalry	W 88-64	9-1 (1-0)	McGaw Memorial Hall (7,741) Evanston, IL
1/10/1981	No. 12	at Indiana Rivalry	L 61-78	9-2 (1-1)	Assembly Hall (17,083) Bloomington, IN
1/15/1981	No. 18	Purdue	W 87-65	10-2 (2-1)	Assembly Hall (16,506) Champaign, IL
1/17/1981	No. 18	No. 20 Minnesota	W 80-76	11-2 (3-1)	Assembly Hall (16,630) Champaign, IL
1/22/1981	No. 15	at No. 16 Michigan	L 76-80	11-3 (3-2)	Crisler Center (11,055) Ann Arbor, MI
1/24/1981	No. 15	Wisconsin	L 45-54	11-4 (3-3)	Assembly Hall (16,495) Champaign, IL
1/29/1981		at Michigan State	W 71-70	12-4 (4-3)	Jenison Fieldhouse (7,443) East Lansing, MI
1/31/1981		No. 13 Iowa Rivalry	W 79-66	13-4 (5-3)	Assembly Hall (16,555) Champaign, IL
2/5/1981	No. 18	Ohio State	W 82-63	14-4 (6-3)	Assembly Hall (16,586) Champaign, IL
2/7/1981	No. 18	at No. 15 Iowa Rivalry	L 66-72	14-5 (6-4)	Iowa Field House (13,365) Iowa City, IA
2/12/1981	No. 17	at Wisconsin	W 84-65	15-5 (7-4)	Wisconsin Field House (7,334) Madison, WI
2/14/1981	No. 17	at Ohio State	W 63-57	16-5 (8-4)	St. John Arena (13,591) Columbus, OH
2/19/1981	No. 15	No. 18 Michigan	W 67-64	17-5 (9-4)	Assembly Hall (16,492) Champaign, IL
2/21/1981	No. 15	Michigan State	W 82-62	18-5 (10-4)	Assembly Hall (16,559) Champaign, IL
2/26/1981	No. 14	at Minnesota	L 59-76	18-6 (10-5)	Williams Arena (16,290) Minneapolis, MN
2/28/1981	No. 14	at Purdue	W 81-70	19-6 (11-5)	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
3/5/1981	No. 16	No. 14 Indiana Rivalry	L 66-69	19-7 (11-6)	Assembly Hall (16,663) Champaign, IL
3/7/1981	No. 16	Northwestern Rivalry	W 98-76	20-7 (12-6)	Assembly Hall (16,622) Champaign, IL
NCAA Tournament
3/14/1981*	(4 W) No. 19	vs. (5 W) No. 17 Wyoming Second Round	W 67-65^[2]	21-7	Pauley Pavilion (12,340) Los Angeles, CA
3/19/1981*	(4 W) No. 19	vs. (8 W) Kansas State Regional semifinals	L 52-57	21-7	Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,450) Salt Lake City, UT
*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]	29	1009	219	62	267	70	6	30	500
Mark Smith^[4]	29	914	150	102	172	98	18	36	402
Craig Tucker^[5]	29	615	117	76	39	58	3	19	310
Perry Range^[6]	29	815	101	65	115	70	0	33	267
Derek Harper^[7]	29	934	104	33	75	156	8	39	241
James Griffin^[8]	29	519	117	76	39	58	3	18	227
Derek Holcomb^[9]	29	635	70	31	148	40	42	14	171
Bryan Leonard	25	200	26	7	44	12	8	3	59
Kevin Bontempts	19	78	12	12	7	17	1	2	36
Quinn Richardson	22	62	9	7	9	7	0	5	25
Sherrod Arnold	7	44	4	6	10	5	0	1	14
Mitch Arnold	3	27	1	0	5	2	0	0	2

Awards and honors

Eddie Johnson
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[10]
Derek Harper
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Eddie Johnson	Kansas City Kings	2	29
Derek Holcomb	Portland Trail Blazers	3	50
Mark Smith	Milwaukee Bucks	3	67

^[11]

Rankings

References

^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1980-81 Archived 2013-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
^ "Illinois 67, Wyoming 65". The New York Times. March 15, 1981. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
^ "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 120" (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.
^ 1981 NBA Draft^[usurped]

[1] University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1980-81 Archived 2013-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com

[2] "Illinois 67, Wyoming 65". The New York Times. March 15, 1981. Retrieved February 25, 2023.

[3] "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.

[4] "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.

[5] "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.

[6] "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.

[7] "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.

[8] "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.

[9] "Season Stats pg. 120" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011.

[10] "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.

[11] 1981 NBA Draft^[usurped]

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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 2025–26
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics