Dave Downey obit

Former Illini basketball star Dave Downey dies at 84

 

He was not on the list.

CHAMPAIGN — Former Illinois basketball star and Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame member Dave Downey died on Saturday, his son, Jay, told The News-Gazette.

He was 84.

Jay Downey said his dad, a 1959 Canton High School graduate, was thrilled to be in attendance when the court at Alice Ingersoll Gymnasium dedicated in his honor on Dec. 5.

Dave Downey, who chose Illinois over Kentucky to play with Bill Small and Bill Burwell in Champaign, was a three-time Illini MVP during his career in the early 1960s. He helped Illinois go from nine wins as a sophomore in 1960-61 to 20 wins, a Big Ten title and a trip to the Elite Eight in 1962-63 during his senior year.

Downey earned First Team All-Big Ten, First Team All-American honors and was Illinois’ Big Ten Medal of Honor winner as a senior. He averaged 18.9 points in three seasons for the Illini and is still the program’s record holder with a 53-point game against Indiana on Feb. 16, 1963.

Downey left Illinois as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,360 points and career leader in rebounds with 790. Both numbers have since been surpassed, but the 6-foot-4 forward still ranks 25th in scoring and 10th in rebounds. His No. 40 Illinois jersey hangs from the State Farm Center rafters among the rest of the Illini’s honored jerseys.

Downey was selected by the San Francisco Warriors with the 30th overall pick in the fourth round of the 1963 NBA Draft. The Illini standout opted against playing professionally and instead started his career in Champaign working at MassMutual Life Insurance. Downey earned his law degree from Illinois in 1966 while working, but stayed in the life insurance business for more than four decades.

Influenced by his basketball career, Downey was also active in the civil rights movement in Champaign. He served on the Model Community Coordinating Council alongside representatives from the Urban League and NAACP and local activists in the mid-60s to work to integrate the Champaign fire department and the Ironworkers’ Union, among others. In 1968, Downey was asked to serve on a committee formed to desegregate Champaign schools.

Downey, who earned the 2019 V. Dale Cozad Entrepreneur of the Year Award, held many positions while running his own life insurance business in Champaign. He served on the board of First Busey Corporation and was a lifetime member of the University of Illinois Foundation Board. He also served on the board of The News-Gazette and was, at one point, a member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, the University of Illinois Athletic Board and the University of Illinois College of Business Board of Overseers. Downey was also an adjunct professor of finance at the University of Illinois.