1972–73 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team American college basketball season
"1972-73 Fighting Illini men's basketball team" The 1972–73 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
Head coach Harv Schmidt entered his sixth season with the Fighting Illini with high expectations. The 1971-72 team returned one of the top senior athletes in the country, Nick Weatherspoon . As a sophomore, Weatherspoon scored 381 points, averaging 16.5 points per game, while collecting 246 rebounds. His junior year was even better, scoring 500 total points, averaging 20.8 points and pulling down 262 rebounds. Nothing, however, would be better than Weatherspoon's senior year. During this season he would score 600 points, averaging 25.0 points per game, while amassing 295 total rebounds. Weatherspoon remains as number 11 on the all-time leading scores list at the University of Illinois , only surpassed by players that completed four years of varsity basketball. His three year average of 20.9 points per game and 11.3 rebounds per game still remain number one for the Fighting Illini.
The 1972-73 team's starting lineup included Weatherspoon and Rick Schmidt at the forward spots, Jeff Dawson and Otho Tucker as guards and Nick Conner at center. The roster included the teams first 7 foot tall player, Bill Rucks a freshman from Waukegan High School .
Roster
1972–73 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
G 10
Garvin Roberson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg)
Jr Elkhart Central High School
Elkhart, Indiana
G 11
Dave Roberts 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg)
So Proviso East High School
Maywood, Illinois
F 12
Nick Weatherspoon (C)
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg)
Jr McKinley High School
Canton, Ohio
G 14
C.J. Schroeder 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg)
Jr Davenport West High School
Davenport, Iowa
G 20
Dennis Graff 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg)
Fr Gibson City High School
Gibson City, Illinois
G 21
Larry Cohen 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg)
Sr New Trier East High School
Wilmette, Illinois
G 22
Rich Connell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg)
Fr St. Joseph-Ogden High School
St. Joseph, Illinois
G 24
Jeff Dawson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg)
Jr Downers Grove North High School
Oak Park, Illinois
G 25
Donn Deputy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg)
Jr Pekin High School
Pekin, Illinois
F 30
Mike Wente 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg)
Jr St. Anthony High School
Effingham, Illinois
F 31
Mark Bondeson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg)
Fr Maine East High School
Des Plaines, Illinois
F 32
Rick Schmidt 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg)
So St. Joseph-Ogden High School
Royal, Illinois
G 33
Otho Tucker 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg)
So Paris High School
Paris, Illinois
F 40
John McBride 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg)
Sr Carl Sandburg High School
Orland Park, Illinois
F/C 41
Dave Smith 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg)
Fr Hinsdale Central High School
Clarendon Hills, Illinois
F 42
Jim Rucks 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg)
Sr Waukegan High School
Waukegan, Illinois
F 44
Jed Foster 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg)
Sr Fairfield High School
Fairfield, Illinois
F/C 45
Nick Conner 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg)
Sr East High School
Columbus, Ohio
C 53
Bill Rucks 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg)
Fr Waukegan High School
Waukegan, Illinois
C 54
Jim DeDecker 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg)
Sr Alleman High School
Moline, Illinois
Head coach Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible(W) Walk-on Roster
Schedule
Source[ 1]
Date
Opponent
Result
Record
Site (attendance)
Non-Conference regular season
12/2/1972 *no, no
DePauw W 100-68 1 - 0
Assembly Hall Champaign, IL
12/4/1972 *no, no
Valparaiso W 80-62 2 - 0
Assembly Hall (8,326)Champaign, IL
12/9/1973 *no, no
at Detroit
L 77-79 ot
2 - 1
Calihan Hall Detroit, MI
12/13/1972 *no, no
Iowa State W 74-60 3 - 1
Assembly Hall (8,501)Champaign, IL
12/19/1972 *no, no
Furman W 86-81 4 - 1
Assembly Hall (9,418)Champaign, IL
12/22/1972 *no, no
at Southern California
L 72-75 4 - 2
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA
12/29/1972 *no, no
vs. Temple Sugar Bowl Classic W 82-77 5 - 2
Municipal Auditorium New Orleans, LA
12/30/1972 *no, no
vs. No. 1 UCLA Sugar Bowl Classic L 64-71 5 - 3
Municipal Auditorium (7,123)New Orleans, LA
Big Ten regular season
1/6/1973 no, no
at Purdue
L 80-91 5 - 4
Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
1/8/1973 no, no
Wisconsin W 76-74 6 - 4
Assembly Hall (8,607)Champaign, IL
1/13/1973 no, no
Iowa Rivalry W 80-78 7 - 4
Assembly Hall (9,916)Champaign, IL
1/25/1973 *no, no
Notre Dame W 87-84 8 - 4
Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL
1/27/1973 *no, no
South Carolina L 76-86 8 - 5
Assembly Hall (6,000)Champaign, IL
2/3/1973 no, no
Michigan W 76-75 9 - 5
Assembly Hall (11,117)Champaign, IL
2/5/1973 no, no
at Northwestern Rivalry W 84-77 10 - 5
McGaw Memorial Hall Evanston, IL
2/10/1973 no, no
at Wisconsin
L 88-99 10 - 6
Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
2/12/1973 no, no
at No. 4 Indiana Rivalry L 67-87 10 - 7
Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN
2/17/1973 no, no
Ohio State W 79-68 11 - 7
Assembly Hall (11,892)Champaign, IL
2/19/1973 no, no
No. 4 Minnesota
L 52-72 11 - 8
Assembly Hall (11,367)Champaign, IL
2/24/1973 no, no
Michigan State L 82-90 12 - 8
Assembly Hall (10,677)Champaign, IL
2/26/1973 no, no
at Michigan
W 96-89 13 - 8
Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI
3/3/1973 no, no
at Ohio State
L 64-65 13 - 9
St. John Arena Columbus, OH
3/5/1973 no, no
Northwestern Rivalry W 77-76 14 - 9
Assembly Hall (10,857)Champaign, IL
3/10/1973 no, no
at Iowa Rivalry L 76-93 14 - 10
Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA
*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
Points
Nick Weatherspoon [ 2] 24
880
247
106
295
600
Jeff Dawson[ 3]
24
930
182
83
68
447
Nick Conner[ 4]
24
845
136
43
221
315
Otho Tucker[ 5]
24
822
92
53
79
237
Jed Foster[ 6]
24
487
38
37
99
113
Rick Schmidt[ 7]
23
471
39
10
90
88
C.J. Schroeder[ 8]
20
163
9
14
28
32
Dave Roberts[ 9]
15
8
94
9
7
25
Don Deputy
7
27
4
4
3
12
Bill Rucks
5
31
5
1
10
11
Larry Cohen
3
12
3
0
1
6
Garvin Roberts
8
38
1
2
4
4
Jim Rucks
3
31
1
2
1
4
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
[ 11]
Rankings
References
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1972-73 Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine , FightingIllini.com^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2013 .^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2013 .^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2013 .^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2013 .^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2013 .^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2013 .^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2013 .^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2013 .^ "List of MVPs" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2013 .^ 1973 NBA Draft Archived 2014-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics
