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Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball
Collegiate basketball team
Collegiate basketball team
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball |
| logo | Illinois State Redbirds Wordmark.png |
| logo_size | 200 |
| current | 2025-26 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team |
| university | Illinois State University |
| conference | Missouri Valley Conference |
| location | Normal, Illinois |
| record | |
| coach | Ryan Pedon |
| tenure | 4th |
| arena | CEFCU Arena |
| capacity | 10,200 |
| nickname | Redbirds |
| h_pattern_b | _thinsidesonwhite |
| h_pattern_s | _blanksides2 |
| h_body | CE1126 |
| h_shorts | CE1126 |
| a_pattern_b | _thinwhitesides |
| a_pattern_s | _thinwhitesides |
| a_body | CE1126 |
| a_shorts | CE1126 |
| bestfinish | 4 |
| NCAAfinalfour | 1967* |
| NCAAeliteeight | 1967, 1969 |
| NCAAsweetsixteen | 1967, 1968, 1969* |
| NCAAroundof32 | 1984, 1985, 1998 |
| NCAAtourneys | 1957, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1969*, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1997, 1998 |
| conference_season | 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1984, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2017 |
| conference_tournament | 1983, 1990, 1997, 1998 |
| below | '* at Division II level''''' |
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. The Redbirds have appeared in the NCAA tournament six times, most recently in 1998.
Season-by-season records
NCAA Division I
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Postseason
NCAA Division I
The Redbirds have appeared in six NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 3–6.
Source
NCAA Division II
Illinois State made the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament five times and had a combined record of 6–7.
| 1969 | Regional Semifinals |
|---|---|
| Regional Finals | |
| Elite Eight | North Park |
| Valparaiso | |
| Ashland | W 87–82 |
| W 103–87 | |
| L 35–41 |
NIT results
The Redbirds have appeared in 14 National Invitation Tournaments (NIT). Their combined record is 11–14.
| 2017 | Automatic | Illinois State | (1) | First Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Round | (8) UC Irvine | |||
| (4) UCF | W 85–71 | |||
| L 62–63 |
Source
CBI results
The Redbirds have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) twice. Their combined record is 5–1. They turned down a bid in the 2015–16 season and again in the 2017–18 season. They were the 2025 champion.
| 2025 | First Round |
|---|---|
| Semifinal | |
| Final | vs. Presbyterian |
| vs. Incarnate Word | |
| vs. Cleveland State | W 78–70 |
| W 78–73 | |
| W 79–68 |
Source
Players
Retired numbers
Main article: List of NCAA men's basketball retired numbers
Illinois State has retired only one number in program history, that of first-team All-American and Olympian Doug Collins.
| Illinois State Redbirds | border=0 | color=white}}" width=40px | No. | Illinois State Redbirds | border=0 | color=white}}" width=150px | Player | Illinois State Redbirds | border=0 | color=white}}" width= px | Career | Illinois State Redbirds | border=0 | color=white}}" width= px | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Doug Collins | 1970–1973 |
Redbirds drafted into the NBA
Redbirds in international leagues
- Jackie Carmichael (born 1990)
- Daishon Knight (born 1991)
- Nic Moore (born 1992)
- Zach Lofton (born 1992)
- DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (born 1993)
- Deontae Hawkins (born 1993)
- Nick Banyard (born 1994)
- Kaza Kajami-Keane (born 1994)
- Reggie Lynch (born 1994), for Bnei Herzliya of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Paris Lee (born 1995)
- Elijah Clarance (born 1998)
Rivalries
The I-74 Rivalry is the rivalry between Illinois State and Bradley.
Plane crash
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
References
- "Illinois State Redbirds Index {{!}} College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com".
- "Illinois State media guide".
- [https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/goredbirds.com/documents/2019/10/31/Section_4_Records_Web.pdf All-time number roster] at 2019–20 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball media guide, page 56
- "Reggie Lynch, Basketball Player, News, Stats".
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