David John Downey (born October 28, 1941) is a former collegiate
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player for the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
Fighting Illini
The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports.
The University operates a number of athletic faci ...
basketball team. He is best known for setting the
Illinois single-game scoring record with 53 points at
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
on February 16, 1963.
Downey's 18.9 career scoring average ranks fourth in school history while his 11.0 career rebounding average ranks third, with his 790 career rebounds ranking seventh on the career list. Downey earned the 1963
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
Medal of Honor for excellence in both academics and athletics. He was
drafted into the NBA in 1963 by the
San Francisco Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 1 ...
; however, he never played a game in the league.
Downey was elected to the "
Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004.
Downey was the leading scorer for his hometown high school,
Canton High School. His record was then broken by Kevin Rhodes. When asked about this accomplishment, Downey simply said, "It was only a matter of time until Kevin Rhodes broke my record."
Honors
Basketball
* 1961 – Team MVP
* 1961 – 2nd Team All-
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
* 1961 – Honorable Mention
All American
* 1962 – Team MVP
* 1962 – 2nd Team All-Big Ten
* 1962 – Honorable Mention
All American
* 1963 – Team MVP
* 1963 – 1st Team All-Big Ten
* 1963 – 1st Team
All American
* 1963 –
Big Ten Medal of Honor
One of the most prestigious conference awards in college athletics, the Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had “attained the greatest proficiency in athletics ...
recipient
* 1963 – NCAA All-Regional Team
* 1973 – Inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame as a player.
* 2004 – Elected to the "
Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team".
* 2008 – Honored as one of the thirty-three
honored jerseys which hang in the
State Farm Center to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history.
* 2018 – Inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame
Statistics
Sports-Reference.com
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References
External links
Further biography
at The Downey Group, Inc.
at basketball-reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, Dave
1941 births
Living people
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from Illinois
Forwards (basketball)
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players
San Francisco Warriors draft picks