Hall of Fame
James Lilly, 2004 - One of the purest shooters ever to play basketball at Western Illinois, Lilly scored 1,448 points and shot 52 percent from the floor throughout his 1979-82 Leatherneck career. As a rookie, Lilly averaged a team-best 17.1 points per game, scoring over 20 points on seven occasions, including 30 points against Northern Michigan. In his second season, he was honored on the All-Mid-Continent Conference First Team after scoring 14.8 points per contest. Lilly’s 522 total points during his final season was the second-highest single-season total in school history (second only to teammate Joe Dykstra who scored 549 during the same season), and his career-high 19.3 points per game ranked among the 'Top 20' in program history. Lilly scored a career-high 36 points on one occasion, and he became the 14th player (at the time) to score more than 1,000 points in his career. Also leading the team in steals that year, Lilly earned Mid-Con Co-Player of the Year honors, capping a three-year career in which he helped the Leathernecks to a 54-31 record under coach Jack Margenthaler.Â
Lilly’s 1,448 career points put him among the career 'Top 10' among all Leatherneck scorers and his career field goal percentage of .520 also ranked among the 'Top 10'. At the time he ranked as the third-best free throw shooter in Western Illinois history, converting 84 percent of his career attempts.Â
Prior to his Leatherneck career, Lilly excelled in basketball, baseball and track & field at Humboldt (Iowa) High School where he recorded the school’s highest single-season scoring mark and earned First Team All-State honors.
Â
