1990–91 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1990–91 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1990–91 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Illini Classic, Champion
Banned from any postseason tournament
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	21–10 (11–7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lou Henson;
Assistant coaches	Dick Nagy; Jimmy Collins; Mark Coomes; Anthony Welch;
MVP	Andy Kpedi
MVP	Larry Smith
Captains	Andy Kpedi; Larry Smith;
Home arena	Assembly Hall
	Seasons ← 1989–90 1991–92 →

1990–91 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 Ohio State	15	–	3	.833	27	–	4	.871
No. 3 Indiana	15	–	3	.833	29	–	5	.853
Illinois	11	–	7	.611	21	–	10	.677
Michigan State	11	–	7	.611	19	–	11	.633
Iowa	9	–	9	.500	21	–	11	.656
Purdue	9	–	9	.500	17	–	12	.586
Wisconsin	8	–	10	.444	15	–	15	.500
Michigan	7	–	11	.389	14	–	15	.483
Minnesota	5	–	13	.278	12	–	16	.429
Northwestern	0	–	18	.000	5	–	23	.179

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1990–91 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season[edit]

Entering the 1990–91 season, Illinois, faced with the loss of Kendall Gill, Steve Bardo and Marcus Liberty, who declared himself eligible for the NBA draft after his junior season, was picked to finish as low as ninth in the Big Ten by some publications. But, junior forward Andy Kaufmann burst onto the scene scoring 660 points, the second largest single-season total in Illinois history. He and the Illini proved the preseason expectations wrong by going 21-10 and finishing third in the Big Ten.

Roster[edit]

1990–91 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	3	Tim Geers	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	De La Salle High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	4	Brooks Taylor	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	De La Salle High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	10	Rennie Clemons	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Calvary Academy	Springfield, Illinois
G	12	Pat Kennedy	—	—	Sr
G	23	Larry Smith (C)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	RS Sr	Alton High School	Alton, Illinois
F	24	Scott Pierce	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Trinity High School	Euless, Texas
F	25	Deon Thomas	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Fr	Simeon High School	Chicago, Illinois
F	32	Tom Michael	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	RS Fr	Carlyle High School	Hoffman, Illinois
F	34	Andy Kaufmann	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Jacksonville High School	Jacksonville, Illinois
F	40	Matt Schnaderbeck	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Maine West High School	Des Plaines, Illinois
G	41	Scott Spitz	—	—	Sr
G	42	Gene Cross	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Rich Central High School	Olympia Fields, Illinois
G	44	T.J. Wheeler	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Christopher High School	Buckner, Illinois
C	50	Andy Kpedi (C)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Kankakee Community College	Warri, Nigeria

Head coach

Lou Henson (New Mexico State University) (16th year)

Assistant coach(es)

Jimmy Collins (New Mexico State) (8th year)
Dick Nagy (Hardin-Simmons University) (10th year)
Mark Coomes (New Mexico State) (6th year)
Anthony Welch GA (University of Illinois) (1st year)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

All-Time Illini Roster

Source^[1] ^[2]

Schedule[edit]

Source^[3]

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
11/23/1990* no, no	@ American-Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Classic	W 103-84	1-0	Mario Morales Coliseum (400) Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
11/24/1990* no, no	Nebraska Puerto Rico Classic	L 73-100	1-1	Mario Morales Coliseum (400) Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
11/25/1990* no, no	Old Dominion Puerto Rico Classic	W 80-62	2-1	Mario Morales Coliseum (400) Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
11/29/1990* no, no	Illinois-Chicago	L 60-71	2-2	Assembly Hall (11,117) Champaign, IL
12/1/1990* no, no	Eastern Illinois	W 106-87	3-2	Assembly Hall (12,643) Champaign, IL
12/3/1990* no, no	Wisconsin-Milwaukee	W 120-116 ^2ot	4-2	Assembly Hall (11,835) Champaign, IL
12/5/1990* no, no	@ Penn State	L 68-78	4-3	Rec Hall (7,347) University Park, PA
12/7/1990* no, no	Oregon State Illini Classic	W 112-78	5-3	Assembly Hall (12,631) Champaign, IL
12/8/1990* no, no	Georgia Southern Illini Classic	W 85-67	6-3	Assembly Hall (12,098) Champaign, IL
12/15/1990* no, no	Arkansas-Little Rock Illini Classic	W 83-72	7-3	Assembly Hall (12,213) Champaign, IL
12/19/1990* no, no	Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 84-81	8-3	St. Louis Arena (17,253) St. Louis, MO
12/22/1990* no, no	#10 Louisiana State	W 102-96	9-3	Assembly Hall (14,824) Champaign, IL
12/29/1990* no, no	@ Memphis State	W 84-75	10-3	Pyramid Arena (11,200) Memphis, TN
Big Ten regular season
1/2/1991 no, no	@ #5 Indiana Rivalry	L 74-109	10-4 (0-1)	Assembly Hall (17,283) Bloomington, IN
1/5/1991 no, no	Purdue	W 63-61	11-4 (1-1)	Assembly Hall (15,721) Champaign, IL
1/10/1991 no, no	Minnesota	W 67-66	12-4 (2-1)	Assembly Hall (12,435) Champaign, IL
1/17/1991 no, no	Michigan State	L 68-71	12-5 (2-2)	Assembly Hall (13,487) Champaign, IL
1/19/1991 no, no	@ #4 Ohio State	L 55-89	12-6 (2-3)	St. John Arena (13,276) Columbus, OH
1/26/1991 no, no	@ Michigan	W 72-67	13-6 (3-3)	Crisler Arena (11,707) Ann Arbor, MI
1/28/1991 no, no	Iowa Rivalry	W 53-50	14-6 (4-3)	Assembly Hall (14,846) Champaign, IL
2/2/1991 no, no	Wisconsin	W 70-62	15-6 (5-3)	Assembly Hall (16,295) Champaign, IL
2/4/1991 no, no	Northwestern	W 73-59	16-6 (6-3)	Assembly Hall (12,068) Champaign, IL
2/6/1991 no, no	@ Purdue	W 59-56	17-6 (7-3)	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
2/10/1991 no, no	@ Minnesota	W 94-74	18-6 (8-3)	Williams Arena (16,305) Minneapolis, MN
2/16/1991 no, no	@ Michigan State	L 58-62	18-7 (8-4)	Breslin Student Events Center (15,138) East Lansing, MI
2/20/1991 no, no	#2 Ohio State	L 64-73	18-8 (8-5)	Assembly Hall (13,885) Champaign, IL
2/23/1991 no, no	@ Iowa Rivalry	W 79-74	19-8 (9-5)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA
2/28/1991 no, no	Michigan	W 68-65	20-8 (10-5)	Assembly Hall (14,584) Champaign, IL
3/2/1991 no, no	@ Northwestern	W 91-81	21-8 (11-5)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL
3/6/1991 no, no	@ Wisconsin	L 77-85	21-9 (11-6)	Wisconsin Field House (11,189) Madison, WI
3/10/1991 no, no	#3 Indiana Rivalry	L 58-70	21-10 (11-7)	Assembly Hall (16,321) Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats[edit]

Player	Games Played	Minutes Played	2 pt. Field Goals	3 pt. Field Goals	Free Throws	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	Points
Andy Kaufmann^[4]	31	967	184	41	169	154	67	0	18	660
Deon Thomas ^[5]	30	933	172	0	108	203	18	54	10	452
Larry Smith^[6]	29	989	116	24	90	168	144	8	42	394
Rennie Clemons^[7]	31	834	82	8	76	99	96	7	43	264
Andy Kpedi^[8]	31	766	83	0	35	197	15	27	13	201
Scott Pierce^[9]	31	512	50	0	25	96	18	7	11	135
Tom Michael^[10]	31	515	31	18	15	84	31	10	17	131
T.J. Wheeler	13	202	14	4	19	28	20	2	11	59
Brooks Taylor	27	362	21	1	13	54	28	4	27	58
Tim Geers	22	123	5	5	16	18	8	4	5	41
Matt Schnaderbeck	2	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2
Pat Kennedy	11	17	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	1
Gene Cross	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Scott Spitz	11	20	0	0	0	4	0	0	1	0

Awards and honors[edit]

Deon Thomas
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
Andy Kpedi
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[11]

NCAA basketball tournament[edit]

Postseason ban due to NCAA violations^[12]

Team players drafted into the NBA[edit]

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick

^[13]

Rankings[edit]

References[edit]

^ Men's Basketball Roster
^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1990-91 Archived 2014-02-03 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
^ "Season Stats pg. 115" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 115" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 115" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
^ "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
^ "Illinois Banned From '91 NCAA Tournament". Los Angeles Times. November 8, 1990.
^ 1991 NBA Draft Archived 2011-01-01 at the Wayback Machine

[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 1990-91 Archived 2014-02-03 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com

[4] "Season Stats pg. 115" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.

[5] "Season Stats pg. 115" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.

[6] "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.

[7] "Season Stats pg. 115" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.

[8] "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.

[9] "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.

[10] "Season Stats pg. 122" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.

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

[12] "Illinois Banned From '91 NCAA Tournament". Los Angeles Times. November 8, 1990.

[13] 1991 NBA Draft Archived 2011-01-01 at the Wayback Machine

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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	List of 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
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics