1966–67 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
| 1966–67 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball | |
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| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. Not Ranked |
| AP | No. Not Ranked |
| 1966–67 record | 12–12 (6–8 Big Ten) |
| Head coach | Harry Combes |
| Assistant coach | Howie Braun |
| Assistant coach | Jim Wright |
| MVP | Jim Dawson |
| Captain | Jim Dawson |
| Home arena | Assembly Hall |
| 1966–67 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 10 | – | 4 | .714 | 16 | – | 7 | .696 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 10 | – | 4 | .714 | 18 | – | 8 | .692 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 9 | – | 5 | .643 | 16 | – | 8 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 15 | – | 9 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 15 | – | 9 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 11 | – | 11 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 6 | – | 8 | .429 | 13 | – | 11 | .542 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 6 | – | 8 | .429 | 12 | – | 12 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 9 | – | 15 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 2 | – | 12 | .143 | 8 | – | 16 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1966–67 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
A dark cloud loomed over the Fighting Illini's men's basketball team as the 1966-67 season commenced. An investigation revolving around a "slush-fund" program which provided funds to athletes within the basketball and football programs had come to the conclusion that many integral parts of the administration, coaching staff, as well as athletes, were culpable and would be punished. Unfortunately, the basketball team was the first to feel the brunt of sanctions caused by the "slush fund". For the first few weeks of the season, the 1966-67 Illini team was proving to be one of the elite teams in college basketball. They had defeated Kentucky 98-97 at Kentucky in early December, a feat the Illini had done only one other time in their history. Prior to the revelations, the teams only loss was by 2 points at the hands of West Virginia on their home court in Morgantown. Then, just two days before Christmas, while the team awaited its Chicago Stadium game with California, three fifths of the starting lineup were declared ineligible.
Rich Jones, Ron Dunlap and Steve Kuberski would never again play for Illinois, and Harry Combes and his assistant Howie Braun would be forced to resign at the end of the season. Fortunately the team that remained would bond together and defeat Cal, 97-87. Remaining starter Jim Dawson took over the scoring load from that point on, but the real surprise that night, and for the remainder of the season, was Dave Scholz.
Scholz, a 6-foot-7 sophomore from Decatur, had seen only limited action in the first five games of the season. Fortunately for the Illini, from the Cal game and beyond, Scholz utilized his opportunity to play by becoming the second leading scorer on this team and the leading scorer the following two seasons. Not only would he become the leading scorer, he would also be named a Helms Foundation first-team All-American each of his remaining years. The dismissal of the three starters also gave impetus to a Big 10 MVP award for Dawson.
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