Dave Downey

{{short description|American basketball player}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Dave Downey

| image = Dave Downey (NCAA 1963 program).jpg

| caption = Downey circa 1963

| position = Forward

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 4

| weight_lb = 200

| nationality = American

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1941|10|28}}

| birth_place = Canton, Illinois

| death_date =

| death_place =

| highschool = Canton (Canton, Illinois)

| college = Illinois (1960–1963)

| draft_year = 1963

| draft_round = 4

| draft_pick = 30

| draft_team = San Francisco Warriors

| highlights =

  • Big Ten Medal of Honor (1963)

}}

David John Downey (born October 28, 1941) is a former collegiate basketball player for the University of Illinois Fighting Illini basketball team. He is best known for setting the Illinois single-game scoring record with 53 points at Indiana on February 16, 1963.

Downey's 18.9 career scoring average ranks fourth in school history while his 11.0 career rebounding average ranks third, with his 790 career rebounds ranking seventh on the career list. Downey earned the 1963 Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor for excellence in both academics and athletics. He was drafted into the NBA in 1963 by the San Francisco Warriors; however, he never played a game in the league.

Downey was elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004.

Downey was the leading scorer for his hometown high school, Canton High School. His record was then broken by Kevin Rhodes. When asked about this accomplishment, Downey simply said, "It was only a matter of time until Kevin Rhodes broke my record."

Honors

=Basketball=

  • 1961 – Team MVP{{Cite web |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/fightingillini.com/documents/2018/10/5/2018_19_ILLINI_MBB_Record_Book.pdf |title=FightingIllini.com |access-date=2019-03-05 |archive-date=2022-08-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824121512/https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/fightingillini.com/documents/2018/10/5/2018_19_ILLINI_MBB_Record_Book.pdf |url-status=dead }}
  • 1961 – 2nd Team All-Big Ten
  • 1961 – Honorable Mention All American
  • 1962 – Team MVP
  • 1962 – 2nd Team All-Big Ten
  • 1962 – Honorable Mention All American
  • 1963 – Team MVP
  • 1963 – 1st Team All-Big Ten
  • 1963 – 1st Team All American
  • 1963 – Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient
  • 1963 – NCAA All-Regional Team
  • 1973 – Inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame as a player.[http://www.ibcaillinois.org/dave-downey.cfm IBCA Hall of Fame][http://basketballmuseumofillinois.com/hall-of-fame/players/19-hof-players/279-dave-downey BasketballMuseumOfIllinois.com]
  • 2004 – Elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team".
  • 2008 – Honored as one of the thirty-three honored jerseys which hang in the State Farm Center to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history.
  • 2018 – Inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame[http://uillinois_microsites.sidearmsports.com/halloffame/davedowney.html Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame]

Statistics

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Season

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Games

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Points

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |PPG

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Field Goals

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Attempts

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Avg

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Free Throws

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Attempts

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Avg

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Rebounds

! width=40px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Avg

! width=100px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Big Ten
Record

! width=100px style="{{NCAA color cell|Illinois Fighting Illini}}; text-align:center" |Overall
Record

1960–61

|24

|402

|16.8

|157

|404

|.389

|88

|123

|.715

|267

|11.1

|{{sort|0509|5–9}}

|{{sort|0915|9–15}}

1961–62

|22

|445

|20.2

|174

|385

|.452

|97

|130

|.746

|269

|12.2

|{{sort|0707|7–7}}

|{{sort|1508|15–8}}

1962–63

|26

|513

|19.7

|201

|459

|.438

|111

|156

|.712

|254

|9.8

|{{sort|1103|11–3}}

|{{sort|2006|20–6}}

class="sortbottom"

|Totals

|72

|1360

|18.9

|532

|1248

|.426

|296

|409

|.724

|790

|11.0

|{{sort|2319|23–19}}

|{{sort|4429|44–29}}

[https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/dave-downey-1.html Sports-Reference.com]

References

{{Reflist}}