Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball

Illinois State Redbirds
2024–25 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team
UniversityIllinois State University
All-time record940–698 (.574)
Head coachRyan Pedon (3rd season)
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
LocationNormal, Illinois
ArenaCEFCU Arena
(capacity: 10,200)
NicknameRedbirds
ColorsRed and white[1]
   
Uniforms
Home jersey
Team colours
Home
Away jersey
Team colours
Away


NCAA tournament Final Four
1967*
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1967*, 1969*
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1967*, 1968*, 1969*
NCAA tournament round of 32
1984, 1985, 1998
NCAA tournament appearances
1957*, 1962*, 1967*, 1968*, 1969*, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1997, 1998
* at Division II level
Conference tournament champions
1983, 1990, 1997, 1998
Conference regular season champions
1930*, 1931*, 1932*, 1935*, 1936*, 1941*, 1942*, 1943*, 1984, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2017
* Division II

The Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team represents Illinois State University, located in Normal, Illinois, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They are currently led by head coach Ryan Pedon and play their home games at CEFCU Arena as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. They have the distinction of earning the most National Invitation Tournament berths (14) without making the semifinals, and also have the longest current NCAA tournament drought (26 seasons) among Missouri Valley Conference members.

Season-by-season records

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NCAA Division I

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Will Robinson (Conference of Midwestern Universities) (1970–1972)
1970–71 First 16–10 3–5 4th
1971–72 Second 16–10 6–2 2nd
Will Robinson (Independent) (1972–1975)
1972–73 Third 13–12
1973–74 Fourth 17–9
1974–75 Fifth 16–10
Will Robinson: 78–51 (.602) 9–7 (.563)
Gene Smithson (Independent) (1975–1978)
1975–76 First 20–7
1976–77 Second 22–7 NIT Quarterfinal
1977–78 Third 24–4 NIT First Round
Gene Smithson: 66–18 (.786)
Bob Donewald (Independent) (1978–1981)
1978–79 First 20–10
1979–80 Second 20–9 NIT Second Round
1980–81 Third 16–11
Bob Donewald (Missouri Valley Conference) (1981–1989)
1981–82 Fourth 17–12 9–7 5th
1982–83 Fifth 24–7 13–5 2nd NCAA first round
1983–84 Sixth 23–8 13–3 T–1st NCAA second round
1984–85 Seventh 22–8 11–5 T–2nd NCAA second round
1985–86 Eighth 15–14 9–7 4th
1986–87 Ninth 19–13 7–7 4th NIT Quarterfinal
1987–88 Tenth 18–13 9–5 3rd NIT First Round
1988–89 Eleventh 13–17 6–8 T–5th
Bob Donewald: 207–122 (.629) 77–47 (.621)
Bob Bender (Missouri Valley Conference) (1989–1993)
1989–90 First 18–13 9–5 T–2nd NCAA first round
1990–91 Second 5–23 4–12 T–8th
1991–92 Third 18–11 14–4 T–1st
1992–93 Fourth 19–10 13–5 1st
Bob Bender: 60–57 (.513) 40–26 (.606)
Kevin Stallings (Missouri Valley Conference) (1993–1999)
1993–94 First 16–11 12–6 4th
1994–95 Second 20–13 13–5 T–2nd NIT Second Round
1995–96 Third 22–12 13–5 2nd NIT Quarterfinal
1996–97 Fourth 24–6 14–4 1st NCAA first round
1997–98 Fifth 25–6 16–2 1st NCAA second round
1998–99 Sixth 16–15 7–11 7th
Kevin Stallings: 123–63 (.661) 75–33 (.694)
Tom Richardson (Missouri Valley Conference) (1999–2003)
1999–2000 First 10–20 5–13 T–8th
2000–01 Second 21–9 12–6 T–2nd NIT First Round
2001–02 Third 17–14 12–6 3rd
2002–03 Fourth 8–21 5–13 10th
Tom Richardson: 56–64 (.467) 34–38 (.472)
Porter Moser (Missouri Valley Conference) (2003–2007)
2003–04 First 10–19 4–14 10th
2004–05 Second 17–13 8–10 6th
2005–06 Third 9–19 4–14 T–9th
2006–07 Fourth 15–16 6–12 T–7th
Porter Moser: 51–67 (.432) 22–50 (.306)
Tim Jankovich (Missouri Valley Conference) (2007–2012)
2007–08 First 25–10 13–5 2nd NIT Second Round
2008–09 Second 24–10 11–7 3rd NIT First Round
2009–10 Third 22–11 11–7 3rd NIT First Round
2010–11 Fourth 12–19 4–14 T–9th
2011–12 Fifth 21–14 9–9 T–3rd NIT Second Round
Tim Jankovich: 104–64 (.619) 48–42 (.533)
Dan Muller (Missouri Valley Conference) (2012–2022)
2012–13 First 18–15 8–10 6th
2013–14 Second 18–16 9–9 T–4th CBI Semifinal
2014–15 Third 22–13 11–7 T–3rd NIT Second Round
2015–16 Fourth 18–14 12–6 T–2nd
2016–17 Fifth 28–7 17–1 T–1st NIT Second Round
2017–18 Sixth 18–15 10–8 3rd
2018–19 Seventh 17–16 9–9 7th
2019–20 Eighth 10–21 5–13 9th
2020–21 Ninth 7–18 4–14 10th
2021–22 Tenth 13–20 5–13 8th
Dan Muller: 167–150 (.527) 89–86 (.509)
Ryan Pedon (Missouri Valley Conference) (2022–present)
2022–23 First 11–21 6–14 9th
2023–24 Second 15–16 9–11 T–7th
Ryan Pedon: 26–37 (.413) 15–25 (.375)
Total: 940–698 (.574)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Source[2]

Postseason

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NCAA Division I

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The Redbirds have appeared in six NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 3–6.

Year Seed Round Opponent Result
1983 #6 First Round #11 Ohio L 49–51
1984 #8 First Round
Second Round
#9 Alabama
#1DePaul
W 49–48
L 61–75
1985 #9 First Round
Second Round
#8 USC
#1 Oklahoma
W 58–55
L 69–75
1990 #14 First Round #3 Michigan L 70–76
1997 #11 First Round #6 Iowa State L 57–69
1998 #9 First Round
Second Round
#8 Tennessee
vs. #1 Arizona
W 82–81 OT
L 49–82

Source[3]

NCAA Division II

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Illinois State made the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament five times and had a combined record of 6–7.

Year Round Opponent Result
1957 Round of 32 Evansville L 96–108
1962 Regional Semifinals
Region Third Place
Concordia (IL)
Kentucky State
L 61–79
L 72–77
1967 Regional Semifinals
Regional Finals
Elite Eight
Final Four
National Third Place
Parsons
Louisiana Tech
San Diego State
Southwest Missouri State
Kentucky Wesleyan
W 72–68
W 89–66
W 77–76 (2OT)
L 76–93
L 73–112
1968 Regional Semifinals
Regional Finals
DePauw
Indiana State
W 83–81
L 93–98
1969 Regional Semifinals
Regional Finals
Elite Eight
North Park
Valparaiso
Ashland
W 87–82
W 103–87
L 35–41

NIT results

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The Redbirds have appeared in 14 National Invitation Tournaments (NIT). Their combined record is 11–14.

Year Bid Regional Seed Round Opponent Result
1977 Regional Round
Quarterfinal
at Creighton
vs. Houston
W 65–58
L 90–91
1978 First Round at Indiana State L 71–73
1980 First Round
Second Round
West Texas State
at Illinois
W 80–63
L 65–75
1987 First Round
Second Round
Quarterfinal
Akron
at Cleveland State
at La Salle
W 79–72
W 79–77
L 50–70
1988 First Round at Cleveland State L 83–89
1995 First Round
Second Round
Utah State
Washington State
W 93–87
L 80–83
1996 First Round
Second Round
Quarterfinal
Mount St. Mary's
at Wisconsin
at Tulane
W 73–49
W 77–62
L 72–83
2001 First Round at Purdue L 79–90
2008 At-large Ohio State (2) First Round
Second Round
(7) Utah State
(3) Dayton
W 61–57
L 48–55
2009 At-large San Diego State (5) First Round at (4) Kansas State L 79–83 OT
2010 At-large Illinois (6) First Round at (3) Dayton L 42–63
2012 At-large Arizona (7) First Round
Second Round
at (2) Ole Miss
at (3) Stanford
W 96–93 OT
L 88–92 OT
2015 At-large Old Dominion (4) First Round
Second Round
(5) Green Bay
at (1) Old Dominion
W 69–56
L 49–50
2017 Automatic Illinois State (1) First Round
Second Round
(8) UC Irvine
(4) UCF
W 85–71
L 62–63

Source[3]

CBI results

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The Redbirds have appeared in one College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Their record is 2–1. They turned down a bid in the 2015–16 season and again in the 2017–18 season.

Year Round Opponent Result
2014 First Round
Quarterfinal
Semifinal
Morehead State
Texas A&M
at Siena
W 77–67
W 62–55
L 49–61

Source[3]

Players

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Doug Collins is the only Redbird whose number has been retired.

Retired numbers

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Illinois State has retired only one number in program history, that of first-team All-American and Olympian Doug Collins.

Illinois State Redbirds retired numbers
No. Player Career Ref.
20 Doug Collins 1970–1973 [4]

Redbirds drafted into the NBA

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Draft Year Player Position Round Overall NBA Team
1973 Doug Collins SG 1 1 Philadelphia 76ers
1975 Robert Hawkins SF 3 51 Golden State Warriors
1977 Jeff Wilkins C 2 37 San Antonio Spurs
1999 Rico Hill SF 2 31 Los Angeles Clippers

Redbirds in international leagues

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Rivalries

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The I-74 Rivalry is the rivalry between Illinois State and Bradley.

Plane crash

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On April 7, 2015, while flying home from the NCAA Tournament Final game in Indianapolis, a plane carrying Illinois State assistant coach Torrey Ward and six others crashed just outside Bloomington, Illinois, leaving no survivors.

References

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  1. ^ Redbird Athletics Identity Manual (PDF). November 29, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  2. ^ "Illinois State Redbirds Index | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  3. ^ a b c "Illinois State media guide" (PDF).
  4. ^ All-time number roster at 2019–20 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball media guide, page 56
  5. ^ "Reggie Lynch, Basketball Player, News, Stats". Eurobasket LLC.
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