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Over the next week, we'll be taking a closer look at Illinois basketball's updated career leaders in major statistical categories to see if any members of the current roster can etch their names into the record books. Today's post will look at the All-Time Career Rebounding List.
The 2015-16 season, shockingly, witnessed a whopping zero additions to this compilation of Illinois rebounders. No changes will be made in 2016-17. And there likely won't be any changes in 2017-18, either. But the year after that? There's a small chance thanks to Leron Black and Michael Finke! Let's take a closer look at where things stand.
Illinois Basketball's All-Time Rebounding Leaders
| RANK | PLAYER | YEARS | FR. | SO. | JR. | SR. | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Augustine | (2002-06) | 186 | 242 | 295 | 300 | 1,023 |
| 2 | Mike Davis | (2007-11) | 61 | 275 | 330 | 243 | 909 |
| 3 | Efrem Winters* | (1982-86) | 213 | 195 | 236 | 183 | 853 |
| 4 | Deon Thomas* | (1990-94) | 186 | 193 | 256 | 194 | 846 |
| 5 | Eddie Johnson* | (1977-81) | 84 | 130 | 310 | 267 | 831 |
| 6 | Skip Thoren | (1962-65) | - | 150 | 331 | 349 | 830 |
| 7 | Brian Cook | (1999-03) | 143 | 212 | 233 | 227 | 815 |
| 8 | Nick Weatherspoon* | (1970-73) | 246 | 265 | 295 | X | 803 |
| 9 | Dave Downey | (1960-63) | - | 267 | ? | ? | 790 |
| 10 | Don Freeman | (1963-66) | - | ? | ? | 285 | 742 |
Asterisks denote minor discrepancies between total career rebounds, and the sum of yearly totals from basketball reference; this is possibly due to the exclusion of postseason games on the stat sheet PDFs. The career numbers come straight from Illinois' official record book.
Current Illini who could crack the Top 10
| RANK | PLAYER | YEARS | FR. | SO. | JR. | SR. | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | Leron Black | (2014-) | 141 | 31* | ? | ? | 172 |
| N/A | Michael Finke | (2015-) | 121 | ? | ? | ? | 121 |
The Fighting Illini has been playing basketball since 1905 and, out of all those players, we're trying to project a potential addition to a list of ten rebounders. What I'm trying to say is that the odds are heavily against Leron Black and Michael Finke. But they do have a chance!
I admittedly have no idea what Black's situation is, but it sounds like Illinois may apply for a NCAA medical redshirt now that he's been reinstated to the team (he only played in 7 games last year). He'll have a decent chance of becoming an all-time leader in this category if that does indeed become a reality. As a freshman, Black recorded 141 rebounds while only playing 14.8 minutes per game; that figure should see a big leap since he's now one of a few front court players on the roster. He just needs to learn how to stay out of foul trouble.
I'm including Finke here because he got off to a better start than some of the other names on the list, but I don't see this ultimately happening. Like Black, though, the sophomore will be relied upon a lot more in 2016-17, so he could improve those odds with a 200+ rebound season.