BillyBob1
- Champaign
Also had a big part in the upset of #1 Indiana.
Illini Basketball 2025-2026
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I remember watching it on a bootleg stream (wasn't televised anywhere but Hawaii). They really did use a potato to film it
As I stated previously, both Mount and The Pistol were singularly elite. Maravich could and would do so many more things than Mount, but if I had my life on the line as to who could make the most shots out of 100 from 15 to 30 ft., I would stake my life on Mount.
That said, if I had to stake my life on who could fill seats and wow the crowd with magic, I would not hesitate to give the nod to Pete.
LouHenson
- Naples Florida
He was Pru, he was sort of a magician, but as a pure shooter not in Rick Mounts league. Way better athlete and “creator” but Mount was the best shooter in my opinion.
LouHenson
- Naples Florida
Rick Howett was my favorite player growing up. I made a like papier-mache figure of him in grade school with his number (I think it was #10?). I wanted to beat Purdue and Mount so bad, but we did not very often.
According to the web, Rick Mount was 6' -4". I saw him play Illinois in Champaign and that seems about right. He had a very quick and fairly high release, which made blocking his shot almost impossible.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Name checks out
Clips I have watched show a good elevation… 6-4 180 lbs… he had some ups! Man the game for the most part back then was skinny
When I played HS ball in the late 70’s the coach wanted us out of the weight room… did not want “muscle bound bb players) kind of crazy yes? Coaches did not want players playing football as well. I played football and B Ball… BB coach was always pissed that I was in the weight room in the fall …. football coach had us lifting… bet thise two guys had conflicts
In an oddity, three GREAT college basketball scorers/shooters all played the same three seasons in college... 67-68, 68-69, and 69-70... and each player's last name started with the letter M. They were Pete Maravich (LSU), Rick Mount (Purdue), and Calvin Murphy (Niagra). What a great time in college basketball!
Yes, Rick Mount was listed as a 6'4" Forward. In his Junior year at Purdue, they lost by 20 points to UCLA and Lew Alcindor in the Championship game. (Curtis Rowe started at Forward for UCLA, and Sidney Wicks came off the bench as a Forward.) 5'11" Senior Point Guard Bill Keller (played in the ABA and NBA) and 6'3" Senior Forward Herm Gilliam (played in the NBA) also started for Purdue versus UCLA. Keller and Gilliam seemed like the primary ball handlers for Purdue. While Mount was pretty much THE SHOOTER.
Keaton Wagler will be all Big Ten by the time his career is done here …
Brandon Lee has some shades of Feliz to his game … Will be a fan favorite …
Joel Goodson
- how was I to know, she was with the Russians too?
music to my ears
rmlsr
- El Paso,IL
These two must really be proving themselves in their summer workouts. Hopefully they aren’t looking impressive because of poor defense.
just kidding. I believe we happened to recruit 2 really good HS players but since they are HS players nobody was expecting that much from them and much more focused on the transfers or Euros that are coming in they kinda ignored Brandon Lee and Keaton Wagler. JmoMay I screenshot this?
LouHenson
- Naples Florida
Not even close. I am 6’ 4” and my dad’s family grew up in West Lafayette. My dad went to Lebanon high where Mount went to school. I went to Mackey for years (even went to grad school at PU). Not even 6 foot tall.
Ryllini
- Lombard
We just have to keep him here.
For us oldtimers, that game will remain with us forever. Illinois lost that game as IU's Jimmy Rayl almost matched Downey's total (I think he ended up with 51) Both teams were over 100 points at the end. Defense was optional under Harry Combs.February 16, 1963: "Before the game at Bloomington’s IU Field House, Downey was feeling ill. So bad, in fact, that he didn’t participate in pregame warm-ups. But once the whistle blew, Downey was ready. He hit 11 of 17 shots in the first half for 27 points. Downey almost matched that in the second half with another 26 points. He finished the game 22 of 34 from the field and nine of nine at the line. He set new Big Ten records that day for points and field goals in a game."
Fast forward 60+ years. Following law school and a successful business career, Dave and his family have donated millions of dollars to the University of Illinois, the most recent of which occurred last month when he and his wife Jane Hays donated $2 million to the Carle Illinois College of Medicine.
A true STUDENT-ATHLETE and loyal alumni. I L L . . .
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As a side note to Downey's huge game, IIRC, we played at Northwestern at Huff earlier that week which was a trap game for us going to IU next. Downey had the worst game I ever saw him play against NW. He couldn't buy a basket. Again, IIRC, that was the game we won when Bob Starnes hit a 75 foot shot at the buzzer, prompting the News-Gazette headline, "Illini thank their lucky Starnes."
I remember watching Wagler playing on TV last February and during the course of the game saying to myself how is this guy not a top 100 player as he did everything for his team and played so within himself just letting the game come to himThese two must really be proving themselves in their summer workouts. Hopefully they aren’t looking impressive because of poor defense.
Best pure shooters I ever saw in college were Steph at Davidson and Larry at ISU. Took unknown programs to the next level and did ok in the NBA as well.
I dont disagree with your statement about Wagler. My question is how did we pull him out from under Self's nose? Was he ABK?
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