1967–68 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1967–68 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1967–68 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. Not Ranked
APNo. Not Ranked
1967–68 record11–13 (6–8 Big Ten)
Head coachHarv Schmidt
Assistant coachDick Campbell
MVPDave Scholz
CaptainBen Louis
Home arenaAssembly Hall
1967–68 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Ohio State10–4 .714  21–8  .724
Iowa10–4 .714  16–9  .640
Purdue9–5 .643  15–9  .625
Northwestern8–6 .571  13–10  .565
Wisconsin7–7 .500  13–11  .542
Michigan State6–8 .429  12–12  .500
Illinois6–8 .429  11–13  .458
Michigan6–8 .429  11–13  .458
Indiana4–10 .286  10–14  .417
Minnesota4–10 .286  7–17  .292
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

Harv Schmidt, the 1957 Illini MVP and team captain, returned to his alma mater in 1967 after serving as an assistant at New Mexico for three years. Schmidt succeeded legendary coach Harry Combes after his dismissal related to a "slush-fund" scandal that devastated both the basketball and football programs for many years into the future. Schmidt, originally from Kankakee, was the slender 6 foot 6 inch star Illini forward who came highly recommended as both a coach and recruiter. Unfortunately, he had never been a head coach before, but he was considered the best the under the circumstances. Within three years of his arrival, he had brought Illinois back to among the elite programs in the Big Ten. The beginning of his tenure marked what possibly was the high-water mark in fan enthusiasm. Illinois led the nation in attendance in 1970, averaging 16,128 per home contest, with students routinely camped out for tickets outside the state-of-the-art Assembly Hall.

Even though Schmidt lacked coaching experience, he believed in the importance of an aggressive, overplaying defense with the intent of frustrating opponents, generating turnovers and creating easy baskets. He was a stickler to detail and used scouting techniques to learn ways of shutting down opponents offenses. Schmidt was always teaching, as well as coaching his teams, in order to compete favorably against any competition.

Due to the scandal that plagued the Illini, Schmidt's first team was primarily made up of walk-ons. Expectations of the 1967–68 team were low, however, they began to surprise even the experts when, in just their second game of the season, the Illini took on hall of fame player Elvin Hayes and the nationally ranked Houston Cougars at the Assembly Hall. During the matchup, Randy Crews, a 6-foot 5 inch high school All-American guard from Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School, became a defensive stopper in just his second varsity game by taking on the 6 foot 9 inch Hayes. The Illini were forced to use a slow-down style to keep the game close and stayed with the Cougars the whole game, losing by a final score of 54-46.

During the remainder of the season, the Illini defeated such teams as Georgia Tech, Texas El Paso, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Iowa and Michigan. Unfortunately, the Ilini would lose 7 of their last 9 games of the Big Ten season to finish with a 6-8 conference record and an 11-13 mark overall, good for a second straight 7th-place finish in the Big Ten.

Positive signs for the Illini included a freshman team that included future varsity players Greg Jackson, Fred Miller, Rick Howat and Bob Windmiller. As sophomores, they would combine with returnees Dave Scholz, Randy Crews, future New York Knicks draft pick Mike Price, Alabama transfer Jodie Harrison, Dennis Pace and walk-on Les Busboom to form the best group Schmidt would ever coach. Scholz would finish this season by being named 1st team All-American by the Helms Foundation and to the Converse honorable mention All-American team.

The 1967-68 team's starting lineup included Crews and Benny Louis at the forward spots, Price and Harrison as guards and Scholz at center.

Roster
1967–68 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 11 Benny Louis (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)180 lb (82 kg) SrPinckneyville Community High School Pinckneyville, Illinois
F/C 12 Paul Nitz 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)195 lb (88 kg) JrMarian Central Catholic High School Woodstock, Illinois
G 15 Mike Price 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)195 lb (88 kg) SoArsenal Technical High School Indianapolis, Indiana
G/F 24 Dan Kuemmerle 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)190 lb (86 kg) SrSchlarman High School Danville, Illinois
G 25 Steve Kohn 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)190 lb (86 kg) SoLadue High School Creve Coeur, Missouri
F 30 Randy Crews 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)210 lb (95 kg) SoBradley-Bourbonnais Community High School Kankakee, Illinois
G/F 32 Les Busboom 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)190 lb (86 kg) JrSt. Joseph-Ogden High School Royal, Illinois
G 33 Jodie Harrison 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)200 lb (91 kg) JrStreator High School Streator, Illinois
G/F 34 Denny Pace 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)175 lb (79 kg) JrCollinsville High School Collinsville, Illinois
C 40 Dave Scholz 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)210 lb (95 kg) JrStephen Decatur High School Decatur, Illinois
F 42 Jim Skarda 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)190 lb (86 kg) SoBadger High School Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
F 43 Rich Crusius 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)190 lb (86 kg) SrBloomington High School Bloomington, Illinois
G 44 Ron Armbrust 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)180 lb (82 kg) SoLincoln High School Lincoln, Illinois
G 45 Bill Jones 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)195 lb (88 kg) SoWaller High School Chicago, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Dick Campbell (1st year)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[1] [2]

Schedule

Source[3]

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/2/1967*
no, no		 No. NR vs.Butler W 75-57  1-0
 Hinkle Fieldhouse (5,875)
Indianapolis
12/9/1967*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Houston L 46-54  1-1
 Assembly Hall (7,605)
Champaign, Illinois
12/14/1967*
no, no		 No. NR vs. BYU W 63-55  2-1
 Assembly Hall (6,842)
Champaign, Illinois
12/15/1967*
no, no		 No. NR @ Tennessee
Volunteer Classic		 L 42-66  2-2
 Stokely Athletic Center (8,500)
Knoxville, Tennessee
12/16/1967*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Army
Volunteer Classic		 L 57-65  2-3
 Stokely Athletic Center (9,650)
Knoxville, Tennessee
12/22/1967*
no, no		 No. NR @ Stanford L 72-74  2-4
 Maples Pavilion (1,800)
Stanford, California
12/23/1967*
no, no		 No. NR @ California L 72-89  2-5
 Haas Pavilion (3,400)
Berkeley, California
12/28/1967*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Georgia Tech W 65-54  3-5
 Chicago Stadium (5,212)
Chicago
12/30/1967*
no, no		 No. NR vs. UTEP W 68-50  4-5
 Chicago Stadium (5,108)
Chicago
Big Ten regular season
1/6/1968
no, no		 No. NR vs. Michigan State W 66-56  5-5 (1-0)
 Assembly Hall (7,932)
Champaign, Illinois
1/9/1968
no, no		 No. NR vs. Indiana
Rivalry		 L 60-61 ot 5-6 (1-1)
 Assembly Hall (6,396)
Champaign, Il
1/13/1968
no, no		 No. NR @ Minnesota W 61-60  6-6 (2-1)
 Williams Arena (6,676)
Minneapolis
1/27/1968*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Notre Dame W 68-67  7-6
 Chicago Stadium (13,472)
Chicago
2/3/1968
no, no		 No. NR vs. Iowa
Rivalry		 W 66-63  8-6 (3-1)
 Assembly Hall (8,553)
Champaign, Illinois
2/6/1968
no, no		 No. NR @ Wisconsin W 68-60  9-6 (4-1)
 Wisconsin Field House (10,094)
Madison, Wisconsin
2/10/1968
no, no		 No. NR @ Northwestern L 71-78  9-7 (4-2)
 McGaw Memorial Hall (8,349)
Evanston, Illinois
2/13/1968
no, no		 No. NR vs. Michigan L 65-67  9-8 (4-3)
 Assembly Hall (8,850)
Champaign, Illinois
2/17/1968
no, no		 No. NR vs. Purdue L 68-75  9-9 (4-4)
 Assembly Hall (11,941)
Champaign, Illinois
2/20/1968
no, no		 No. NR @ Michigan W 72-64  10-9 (5-4)
 Crisler Arena (6,500)
Ann Arbor, Michigan
2/24/1968
no, no		 No. NR vs. Northwestern W 62-61  11-9 (6-4)
 Assembly Hall (12,857)
Champaign, Illinois
2/26/1968
no, no		 No. NR @ Ohio State L 75-95  11-10 (6-5)
 St. John Arena (12,591)
Columbus, Ohio
3/2/1968
no, no		 No. NR @ Iowa
Rivalry		 L 56-61  11-11 (6-6)
 Iowa Field House (12,900)
Iowa City, Iowa
3/4/1968
no, no		 No. NR vs. Ohio State L 64-67  11-12 (6-7)
 Assembly Hall (9,227)
Champaign, Illinois
3/9/1968
no, no		 No. NR @ Michigan State L 59-62  11-13 (6-8)
 Jenison Fieldhouse (5,112)
East Lansing, Michigan
*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 Points
Dave Scholz[4]2422383230529
Jodie Harrison[5]248861100237
Randy Crews[6]238860155236
Mike Price[7]247162123204
Denny Pace[8]19532256128
Benny Louis[9]2437195093
Les Busboom[10]2433209286
Paul Nitz9681120
Ron Armbrust61103
Dan Kuemmerle51032
Jim Skarda21002
Rich Crusius50111
Bill Jones40010
Steven Kohn10000

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA
Player NBA Club Round Pick
Ron Dunlap*Chicago Bulls25

[12]

*Dunlap was forced to skip his last two years of basketball due to the "Slush-Fund" scandal in 1966.

Rankings
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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 1967-68 Archived 2014-01-10 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  4. "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  5. "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  6. "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  7. "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  8. "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  9. "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  10. "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  11. List of MVPs
  12. 1968 NBA Draft Archived 2013-12-31 at the Wayback Machine
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