The 1986–87 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
The 1986–87 season saw the addition of an outstanding group of young players to the roster. Guards
Steve Bardo,
Kendall Gill and
Larry Smith joined forward
Nick Anderson in a highly touted recruiting class. This group produced another 20-win season (23-8) and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, where Illinois was beaten 68-67 by
Austin Peay in arguably the school's most shocking upset.
This marked the first season in
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
basketball history where two teams finished with 30 or more victories. This season also marks the NCAA's first unified 3-point line of 19 feet 9 inches after 5 years of experimentation.
Roster
Schedule
Source
, -
!colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;", Non-Conference regular season
, -
!colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;",
Big Ten regular season
, -
!colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38",
NCAA Tournament
, -
Rankings
Player stats
Awards and honors
*
Ken Norman
Kenneth Darnel Norman (born September 5, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. After graduating from Crane High School in Chicago, Kenny was an outstanding forward for the Illinois Fighting Illini who was selected 19th ove ...
**
Associated Press 2nd team All-American
**
United States Basketball Writers Association 2nd team All-American
**
National Association of Basketball Coaches 3rd team All-American
**Team Most Valuable Player
**
Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
*
Kendall Gill
**
Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
Team players drafted into the NBA
Rankings
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1986-87 Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball Team
Illinois Fighting Illini
The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports.
The university op ...
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons
1986 in sports in Illinois
1987 in sports in Illinois