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 a 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
This marked the first season in Big Ten Conference 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
SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1986-87 , FightingIllini.com
!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 PlayerGames PlayedMinutes Played2 pt. Field Goals3 pt. Field GoalsFree ThrowsReboundsAssistsBlocksStealsPointsKen Norman3111122551128303684837641Doug Altenberger3099663765513891641409Tony Wysinger30948100285456192240338Lowell Hamilton 31729149036121283124334Glynn Blackwell 3167911466110664431307Jens Kujawa3149953035109221414141Stephen Bardo316304113492851523119Kendall Gill31345400344227839114Larry Smith 201081201413162638Phil Kunz 231611301030311436Olaf Blab 81520250204Jeff Finke 62510251014Jim Green 121610130103Bryan Brickner 2300011000Dave Wells 4500010000
Awards and honors Ken Norman 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 Player NBA club Round Pick Ken NormanLos Angeles Clippers 1 19 Doug AltenbergerChicago Bulls 6 125
Rankings
References