1973–74 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1973–74 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1973–74 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record5–18 (2–12 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPRick Schmidt
CaptainJeff Dawson
Home arenaAssembly Hall
Seasons
1973–74 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 Indiana 12 2   .857 23 5   .821
No. 6 Michigan 12 2   .857 22 5   .815
No. 11 Purdue 10 4   .714 21 9   .700
Wisconsin 8 6   .571 16 8   .667
Michigan State 8 6   .571 13 11   .542
Minnesota 6 8   .429 12 12   .500
Iowa 5 9   .357 8 16   .333
Ohio State 4 10   .286 9 15   .375
Northwestern 3 11   .214 9 15   .375
Illinois 2 12   .143 5 18   .217
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

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The 1973-74 Fighting Illini men's basketball team had done something that no other Illinois team in history had accomplished, finishing last in the Big Ten, tenth place. In the history of the school, Illinois has only had one worse finish, the 1998-99 season, where they ended the year in eleventh place. However, the 1998-99 team played for the Big Ten tournament championship, losing to Michigan State in the championship game.

The 1973-74 season also witnessed the conclusion of a very difficult tenure at the position of head coach. Harv Schmidt, a former player turned head coach, finished his seventh season at Illinois with an overall record of 89 wins and 77 losses. Unfortunately for Schmidt, several situations contributed to his demise, most of the problems being not of his doing. He was a disciplinarian and demanded attention to detail. He worked his players hard yet he was fair and considerate of their needs. Schmidt had high expectations from his team and set a good example by working as hard as he expected his players to work.

Roster

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1973–74 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) Sr Elkhart Central High School Elkhart, Indiana
G 11 Dave Roberts 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Proviso East High School Maywood, Illinois
G 14 C.J. Schroeder 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Davenport West High School Davenport, Iowa
C 15 Tom Carmichael 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Rochelle Township High School Rochelle, Illinois
G 20 Dennis Graff 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Gibson City High School Gibson City, Illinois
G 22 Howie Johnson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Marshall High School Marshall, Illinois
G 24 Jeff Dawson (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Downers Grove North High School Oak Park, Illinois
G 25 Donn Deputy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Pekin High School Pekin, Illinois
F 30 Mike Wente 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr St. Anthony High School Effingham, Illinois
F 31 Mark Bondeson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Maine East High School Des Plaines, Illinois
F 32 Rick Schmidt 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr St. Joseph-Ogden High School Royal, Illinois
G 33 Otho Tucker 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Paris High School Paris, Illinois
F/C 41 Dave Smith 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Hinsdale Central High School Clarendon Hills, Illinois
G/F 42 Tim Bushell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Lincoln Community High School Lincoln, Illinois
F 43 Brad Farnham 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Paris High School Paris, Illinois
C 53 Bill Rucks 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So Waukegan High School Waukegan, Illinois
C 54 Mike Dempsey 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Moline High School Moline, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster

Schedule

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Source[1]

Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/30/1973*
no, no
at No. 15 Arizona L 80-101  0 - 1
McKale Center (13,658)
Tucson, AZ
12/3/1973*
no, no
Tulane W 99-78  1 - 1
Assembly Hall (5,676)
Champaign, IL
12/8/1973*
no, no
Southern California L 60-71  1 - 2
Assembly Hall (6,450)
Champaign, IL
12/11/1973*
no, no
Detroit W 64-60  2 - 2
Assembly Hall (6,121)
Champaign, IL
12/14/1973*
no, no
Northern Michigan W 82-72  3 - 2
Assembly Hall (5,617)
Champaign, IL
12/27/1973*
no, no
St. Johns
ECAC Holiday Festival
L 60-76  3 - 3
Madison Square Garden (8,403)
New York, NY
12/29/1973*
no, no
Duquesne
ECAC Holiday Festival
L 83-85  3 - 4
Madison Square Garden (-)
New York, NY
Big Ten regular season
1/5/1974
no, no
at Ohio State W 75-73  4 - 4
(1 - 0)
St. John Arena (10,641)
Columbus, OH
1/12/1974
no, no
Purdue L 69-91  4 - 5
(1 - 1)
Assembly Hall (7,163)
Champaign, IL
1/14/1974
no, no
Michigan State L 82-90  4 - 6
(1 - 2)
Assembly Hall (4,685)
Champaign, IL
1/19/1974
no, no
at No. 19 Wisconsin L 75-101  4 - 7
(1 - 3)
Wisconsin Field House (9,173)
Madison, WI
1/24/1974*
no, no
Bradley L 88-105  4 - 8
Chicago Stadium (4,415)
Chicago, IL
1/26/1974*
no, no
Jacksonville L 86-89  4 - 9
Chicago Stadium (-)
Chicago, IL
1/28/1974
no, no
at Michigan State L 82-93  4 - 10
(1 - 4)
Jenison Fieldhouse (6,758)
East Lansing, MI
2/2/1974
no, no
No. 20 Michigan L 77-101  4 - 11
(1 - 5)
Assembly Hall (7,771)
Champaign, IL
2/9/1974
no, no
at No. 12 Indiana
Rivalry
L 67-107  4 - 12
(1 - 6)
Assembly Hall (17,054)
Bloomington, IN
2/11/1974
no, no
at Minnesota L 61-80  4 - 13
(1 - 7)
Williams Arena (10,925)
Minneapolis, MN
2/16/1974
no, no
at Northwestern
Rivalry
L 75-86  4 - 14
(1 - 8)
McGaw Memorial Hall (3,798)
Evanston, IL
2/18/1974
no, no
No. 12 Indiana
Rivalry
L 83-101  4 - 15
(1 - 9)
Assembly Hall (7,368)
Champaign, IL
2/23/1974
no, no
Iowa
Rivalry
W 91-84  5 - 15
(2 - 9)
Assembly Hall (7,667)
Champaign, IL
2/25/1974
no, no
Minnesota L 52-72  5 - 16
(2 - 10)
Assembly Hall (7,720)
Champaign, IL
3/2/1974
no, no
at Purdue L 83-94  5 - 17
(2 - 11)
Mackey Arena (10,307)
West Lafayette, IN
3/9/1974
no, no
Ohio State L 78-79  5 - 18
(2 - 12)
Assembly Hall (7,697)
Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

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Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Assists Points
Rick Schmidt[2] 23 191 111 165 34 493
Jeff Dawson[3] 23 173 72 41 73 418
Dennis Graff[4] 18 125 50 18 13 162
Dave Roberts[5] 23 42 37 75 22 121
Tom Carmichael[6] 23 48 21 127 17 117
Brad Farnham 15 35 16 67 22 86
Don Deputy 17 35 12 61 16 182
Bill Rucks 20 35 11 94 8 81
Howard Johnson 14 30 12 16 18 72
Mike Wente 17 19 12 39 5 150
Dave Smith 10 9 8 18 3 26
Tim Bushell 11 9 5 23 7 23
C.J. Schroeder 8 4 4 4 3 12
Otho Tucker 1 5 0 3 1 10
Mark Bondeson 3 1 2 2 0 4
Mike Dempsey 3 1 0 5 1 2

Awards and honors

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Team players drafted into the NBA

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Player NBA Club Round Pick
Jeff Dawson Kansas City Kings 9 168

[8]

Rankings

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References

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  1. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1973-74 Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  2. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  3. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  4. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  5. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  6. ^ "Season Stats pg. 118" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  7. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  8. ^ 1974 NBA Draft Archived 2013-12-25 at the Wayback Machine