1989–90 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1989–90 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1989–90 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Illini Classic, Champion; Old Style Classic, Champion
NCAA men's Division I tournament, first round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
AP	No. 18
Record	21–8 (11–7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lou Henson;
Assistant coaches	Dick Nagy; Jimmy Collins; Mark Coomes; Scott Nagy;
MVP	Kendall Gill
Captain	Kendall Gill; Stephen Bardo
Home arena	Assembly Hall
	Seasons ← 1988–89 1990–91 →

1989–90 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Michigan State	15	–	3	.833	28	–	6	.824
No. 10 Purdue	13	–	5	.722	22	–	8	.733
No. 13 Michigan	12	–	6	.667	23	–	8	.742
No. 18 Illinois	11	–	7	.611	21	–	8	.724
No. 20 Minnesota	11	–	7	.611	23	–	9	.719
Ohio State	10	–	8	.556	17	–	13	.567
Indiana	8	–	10	.444	18	–	11	.621
Wisconsin	4	–	14	.222	14	–	17	.452
Iowa	4	–	14	.222	12	–	16	.429
Northwestern	2	–	16	.111	9	–	19	.321

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1989–90 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

Coming off the Final Four season a year earlier, Illinois went 21-8 overall, 11-7 in the Big Ten in 1990. Kendall Gill, a senior, became the first player since Ken Norman in 1987 to average 20 points per game. Gill was named a First-Team All-American by UPI. Gill led the Big Ten in scoring and was a finalist for the John Wooden Player of the Year Award. He was the fifth overall pick in the NBA draft, going to the Charlotte Hornets.

Roster

1989–90 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)	Fr	De La Salle High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	4	Brooks Taylor	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Fr	De La Salle High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	10	P.J. Bowman	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Centennial High School	Champaign, Illinois
G	12	Travis Smith	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Gallatin High School	Ridgway, Illinois
G	13	Kendall Gill (C)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Rich Central High School	Matteson, Illinois
G	20	Ken Gibson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Bloomington High School	Bloomington, Illinois
F/C	21	Rodney Jones	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	West Philadelphia High School	Philadelphia, PA
G	23	Larry Smith	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	RS Sr	Alton High School	Alton, Illinois
F	24	Ervin Small	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	222 lb (101 kg)	Sr	Simeon High School	Chicago, Illinois
F	25	Deon Thomas	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS Fr	Simeon High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	30	Marcus Liberty	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	King 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)	So	Jacksonville High School	Jacksonville, Illinois
G/F	35	Stephen Bardo (C)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Carbondale Community High School	Carbondale, Illinois
F	40	Matt Schnaderbeck	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Maine West High School	Des Plaines, Illinois
G/F	42	Brian O'Connell	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Schaumburg High School	Schaumburg, Illinois
C	50	Andy Kpedi	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jr	Kankakee Community College	Warri, Nigeria

Head coach

Lou Henson (New Mexico State University) (15th year)

Assistant coach(es)

Jimmy Collins (New Mexico State) (7th year)
Dick Nagy (Hardin-Simmons University) (9th year)
Mark Coomes (New Mexico State) (5th year)
Scott Nagy GA (Delta State University) (2nd year)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

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
11/28/1989* no, no	No. 8	@ Mississippi	W 83-72	1-0	Tad Smith Coliseum (8,439) Oxford, Mississippi
12/2/1989* no, no	No. 8	vs. Chicago State	W 82-62	2-0	Assembly Hall (15,940) Champaign, Illinois
12/5/1989* no, no	No. 7	@ #25 Florida	W 74-69	3-0	O'Connell Center (11,929) Gainesville, Florida
12/8/1989* no, no	No. 7	vs. Indiana State Illini Classic	W 93-59	4-0	Assembly Hall (16,111) Champaign, Illinois
12/9/1989* no, no	No. 7	vs. Metro State Illini Classic	W 96-62	5-0	Assembly Hall (16,016) Champaign
12/16/1989* no, ABC	No. 5	vs. Temple	W 78-61	6-0	Assembly Hall (16,034) Champaign
12/20/1989* no, no	No. 5	vs. #4 Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 101-93	7-0	St. Louis Arena (18,398) St. Louis, Missouri
12/23/1989* no, no	No. 5	vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay	W 71-47	8-0	Assembly Hall (15,530) Champaign, Illinois
12/29/1989* no, no	No. 4	vs. Grambling Old Style Classic	W 97-73	9-0	Rosemont Horizon (10,009) Rosemont, Illinois
12/30/1989* no, no	No. 4	vs. #15 Memphis State Old Style Classic	W 83-71	10-0	Rosemont Horizon (13,103) Rosemont, Illinois
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1990 no, no	No. 4	vs. Wisconsin	W 73-59	11-0 (1-0)	Assembly Hall (15,636) Champaign, Illinois
1/6/1990 no, no	No. 4	@ Minnesota	L 74-91	11-1 (1-1)	Williams Arena (16,545) Minneapolis
1/13/1990 no, no	No. 8	@ Northwestern	W 85-78	12-1 (2-1)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, Illinois
1/15/1990 no, ESPN	No. 7	vs. #6 Michigan	L 70-74	12-2 (2-2)	Assembly Hall (16,136) Champaign, Illinois
1/18/1990 no, no	No. 7	vs. Michigan State	W 73-64	13-2 (3-2)	Assembly Hall (16,037) Champaign, Illinois
1/20/1990 no, no	No. 7	@ #24 Purdue	L 68-81	13-3 (3-3)	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, Indiana
1/25/1990 no, no	No. 10	@ Wisconsin	W 66-63	14-3 (4-3)	Wisconsin Field House (11,666) Madison, Wisconsin
1/27/1990 no, no	No. 10	vs. Ohio State	W 92-81	15-3 (5-3)	Assembly Hall (16,154) Champaign, Illinois
1/29/1990 no, no	No. 10	@ Iowa Rivalry	L 67-69	15-4 (5-4)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, Iowa
2/4/1990 no, no	No. 11	vs. #22 Indiana Rivalry	W 70-65	16-4 (6-4)	Assembly Hall (16,289) Champaign, Illinois
2/8/1990 no, no	No. 12	vs. #17 Minnesota	W 99-72	17-4 (7-4)	Assembly Hall (16,105) Champaign, Illinois
2/11/1990 no, no	No. 12	@ #7 Michigan	L 79-93	17-5 (7-5)	Crisler Arena (13,609) Ann Arbor, Michigan
2/14/1990 no, no	No. 15	vs. Northwestern	W 88-75	18-5 (8-5)	Assembly Hall (16,108) Champaign, Illinois
2/17/1990 no, no	No. 15	@ #21 Michigan State	L 63-70	18-6 (8-6)	Breslin Student Events Center (15,138) East Lansing, Michigan
2/21/1990 no, no	No. 19	vs. #9 Purdue	W 90-78	19-6 (9-6)	Assembly Hall (16,218) Champaign, Illinois
2/21/1990 no, no	No. 19	@ Ohio State	L 80-86	19-7 (9-7)	St. John Arena (13,276) Columbus, Ohio
3/4/1990 no, no	No. 18	vs. Iowa Rivalry	W 118-85	20-7 (10-7)	Assembly Hall (16,219) Champaign, Illinois
3/11/1990 no, no	No. 20	@ Indiana Rivalry	W 69-63	21-7 (11-7)	Assembly Hall (17,228) Bloomington, Indiana
NCAA tournament^[4]
3/15/1990* no, no	No. 18	vs. Dayton first round	L 86-88	21-8	Frank Erwin Center (11,578) Austin, Texas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Minutes Played	2 pt. Field Goals	3 pt. Field Goals	Free Throws	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	Points
Kendall Gill^[5]	29	1000	188	23	136	143	96	16	63	581
Marcus Liberty^[6]	29	958	195	8	103	206	39	26	32	517
Andy Kaufmann^[7]	29	682	69	22	81	93	54	5	27	285
Steve Bardo ^[8]	29	944	71	28	55	178	137	14	37	281
Rodney Jones^[9]	29	542	88	0	40	126	9	18	17	216
Ervin Small^[10]	29	577	74	1	49	151	12	5	23	200
P.J. Bowman^[11]	29	571	16	23	21	35	73	2	16	122
Andy Kpedi	19	201	17	0	20	54	2	11	4	54
Brooks Taylor	24	154	12	0	13	25	24	5	10	37
Ken Gibson	20	54	7	4	8	8	1	0	2	34
Tim Geers	20	104	11	0	11	19	9	1	5	33
Travis Smith	19	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2

Awards and honors

Kendall Gill
- Consensus 2nd team All-American
- United Press International 1st team All-American
- Associated Press 3rd team All-American
- National Association of Basketball Coaches 3rd team All-American
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[12]
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
Deon Thomas
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

NCAA basketball tournament

Midwest
- Dayton 88, Illinois 86

^[13]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Kendall Gill	Charlotte Hornets	1	5
Stephen Bardo	Atlanta Hawks	2	41
Marcus Liberty	Denver Nuggets	2	42

^[14]

Rankings

References

^ Men's Basketball Roster
^ All-Time Illini Rosters Archived 2010-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1989-90 Archived 2014-02-03 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
^ 1990 NCAA Tournament
^ Season Stats Archived 2007-10-30 at the Wayback Machine
^ Season Stats Archived 2007-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
^ Season Stats Archived 2007-11-30 at the Wayback Machine
^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
^ "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2013-01-15.
^ 1990 NCAA Tournament
^ 1990 NBA draft Archived 2010-03-17 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 1989-90 Archived 2014-02-03 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com

[4] 1990 NCAA Tournament

[5] Season Stats Archived 2007-10-30 at the Wayback Machine

[6] Season Stats Archived 2007-11-11 at the Wayback Machine

[7] "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-17.

[8] Season Stats Archived 2007-11-30 at the Wayback Machine

[9] "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-17.

[10] "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-17.

[11] "pg. 122 Season Stats" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-03-17.

[12] "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2013-01-15.

[13] 1990 NCAA Tournament

[14] 1990 NBA draft Archived 2010-03-17 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	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