Dan Hartleb become the fourth winningest head coach in Illinois history with the 5-4 win over Michigan State on Friday night, and Tom Dedin had a front row seat.

Dedin, who was tied with Hartleb at No. 4, sat just behind the home dugout, cheering on his old team with his his wife and former player Terry Wells. He didn’t even know about the record.

After 27 years, Dedin still cares most about Illini wins.

“He passed me? Good for him!” laughed Dedin, who coached Illinois from 1979-87. “I didn’t even realize that, but the important thing is the guys are playing well for him.”

In his nine seasons, Dedin was 268-234-6 and led the Illini to Big Ten tournament berths in 1981, ’82 and ‘85.

With the win, Hartleb surpassed him with a 269-216 record in his ninth season as head coach. And just like Dedin, school history wasn’t even on Hartleb’s mind.

“Monday, I had no idea I was close to tying,” Hartleb said. “But it was kind of special that we, as a team, had the opportunity to get that record with Coach Dedin here. 

“It’s a great honor to be moving up on that wins list.”

While Dedin helped design Illinois Field before its construction in 1987, he never coached a game on it. But as he hopes happens when he visits a few times a year, the Illini treated him to a competitive game.

Jason Goldstein homered in the second inning to score the game’s first run. In the third, a sacrifice fly in right center from Michael Hurwitz brought in the Illini runner on third to extend Illinois’ lead to 2-0. 

Michigan State answered in the fourth with a single up the rightfield line that scored one. 

Still, the Illinois lead held until Michigan State scored three more in the eighth inning, dangling the Illini’s fifth-straight win in front of them.

They wouldn’t for long, as the Illini exploited weak spots in the Spartan defense and scored three runs to go up by one. 

Ryan Nagle walked to start the bottom frame before Adam Walton brought him home on a triple to right center. Two outs later, David Kerian would slam another into right field, which fell once the Spartan right fielder overran the ball.

“He was running pretty hard at it,” Kerian said. “I just ran hard. That’s what the coaches always tell us, and it paid off this time.” 

The next pitch went wild, and Kerian darted home to score the final run. Closer Tyler Jay pitched through six Spartan batters to finish the ninth, giving the Illini a win in the first game of their last home series of the season. 

Retired and now living in Denver, Dedin enjoys coming back for games, especially the ones the Illini win. 

Saturday, the program will honor his Big Ten-winning teams from ’82 and ’85, reuniting him with about 25 former players.

While his place in the Illinois record books may be changing, his love for the team that gave him “the best days in his coaching career” will never die. 

“I’m very supportive of Illinois and Illinois athletics, and of Dan Hartleb,” Dedin said. “Because this was my baby, too.”

 J.J. can be reached at [email protected] and @Wilsonable07.