1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
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Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches #2
AP #2
1951–52 record 22–4 (12-2 Big Ten)
Head coach Harry Combes
Assistant coach Howie Braun
Assistant coach Cal Luther
MVP Rod Fletcher
Captain Rod Fletcher
Home arena Huff Hall
Seasons
« 1950–51 1952–53 »
1951–52 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#2 Illinois 12 – 2   .857     22 – 4   .846
#7 Iowa 11 – 3   .786     19 – 3   .864
Minnesota 10 – 4   .714     15 – 7   .682
Indiana 9 – 5   .643     16 – 6   .727
Michigan State 6 – 8   .429     13 – 9   .591
Ohio State 6 – 8   .429     8 – 14   .364
Wisconsin 5 – 9   .357     10 – 12   .455
Michigan 4 – 10   .286     7 – 15   .318
Northwestern 4 – 10   .286     7 – 15   .318
Purdue 3 – 11   .214     8 – 14   .364
Rankings from AP Poll
File:The1951-52 fighting illini mens basketball team.png
"1951-52 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"
"1951-52 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"

The 1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1951-52 Fighting Illini men's basketball team had reached a level of national prominence that was only bettered by the 1914-15 national championship team. Head coach Harry Combes had guided his team to a Big Ten championship, a third place finish in the 1952 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and a final AP ranking of No. 2 in the nation. Combes was beginning to build a dynasty in Champaign with 3 Big Ten Championships and 3 third place finishes in the NCAA tournament in his first 5 years at the helm. The 1951-52 season not only brought Illinois another Big Ten title, it also introduced John Kerr, a center from Tilden Tech in Chicago. He began his three-year reign as Illinois’ top scorer with a sophomore-record 357 points. The Illini recorded a 22-4 overall mark and went 12-2 in the conference. Once again, Illinois advanced to the national semifinals and ran into underdog St. John’s. The Redmen fought their way to a 61-59 victory in the NCAA’s first Final Four, in Seattle. Illinois took another third-place award home after beating Santa Clara, 67-64, behind 26 points by Kerr. At the conclusion of the tournament, Kerr and James Bredar were named to the Final Four All-Tournament team. Subsequently, at the conclusion of the season, Rodney Fletcher was named a Consensus 1st team All-American.

The starting lineup for the season included captain Rodney Fletcher, James Bredar and Irving Bemoras at guard, Clive Follmer at the forward slot with Robert Peterson and, future hall of famer Johnny "Red" Kerr at the center position. The team also included former University of Minnesota head coach Jim Dutcher.[1]

Roster

No. Player Position Height Weight Class Hometown High School
9 Elmer Plew Guard 6-0 170 Freshman Paris, Illinois Paris High School
11 Jim Dutcher Forward 6–3 185 Freshman Downers Grove, Illinois Downers Grove High School
16 Jim Wright Guard 6–0 160 Sophomore Lawrenceville, Illinois Lawrenceville High School
19 James Bredar Guard 5–11 167 Junior Salem, Illinois Salem High School
22 Johnny Kerr Center 6–9 205 Sophomore Chicago, Illinois Tilden High School
24 Ed Makovsky Forward 6–5 194 Freshman Cicero, Illinois Morton High School
25 Robert Peterson Center 6–8 235 Junior Wayne, Illinois Elgin High School
26 Irving Bemoras Guard 6–3 1/2 185 Junior Chicago, Illinois Marshall High School
27 Mack Follmer Center 6–4 200 Senior Forrest, Illinois Forrest High School
29 Max Baumgardner Forward 6-3 175 Junior Sterling, Illinois Sterling High School
33 Clive Follmer Forward 6-4 195 Junior Forrest, Illinois Forrest High School
34 Seymour Gantman Guard 5–7 165 Senior Chicago, Illinois Marshall High School
35 Ren Alde Guard 6–2 180 Senior Pana, Illinois Pana Senior High School
37 Rod Fletcher (captain) Guard 6–4 194 Senior Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School
38 Herb Gerecke Guard 6–1 180 Senior Pekin, Illinois Pekin High School
41 Max Hooper Forward 6–5 200 Sophomore Mt. Vernon, Illinois Mt. Vernon High School
44 Walt Moore Guard 6–2 165 Freshman Mt. Vernon, Illinois Mt. Vernon High School
47 Dick Christiansen Forward 6–3 1/2 180 Senior Winnetka, Illinois New Trier High School
48 James Schuldt Guard 6–0 193 Junior Dundee, Illinois Dundee Community High School

Schedule

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
December 8, 1951 Butler 68–57 Win Indianapolis, IN 3,043
December 12, 1951 Loyola (Chicago) 74–66 Win Champaign, IL -
December 13, 1951 Oklahoma 69–51 Win Champaign, IL 6,505
December 20, 1951 North Carolina 86–66 Win Champaign, IL 2,899
December 22, 1951 DePaul 70–61 Win Champaign, IL -
December 28, 1951 UCLA (ranked No. 16) 73–67 Win Champaign, IL -
December 21, 1951 Marquette 68–57 Win Champaign, IL -
January 5, 1952 Minnesota 52–43 Win Minneapolis, MN 17,862
January 7, 1952 Wisconsin 53–49 Win Champaign, IL 6,912
March 12, 1952 Michigan 67–51 Win Ann Arbor, MI 6,300
January 14, 1952 Indiana (ranked No. 4) 78–66 Win Champaign, IL 6,912
January 26, 1952 DePaul 65–69 Loss Chicago, IL -
January 28, 1952 Purdue 84–57 Win West Lafayette, IN -
February 2, 1952 Ohio State 66–62 Win Columbus, OH 8,265
February 9, 1952 Iowa (ranked No. 9) 68–73 Loss Iowa City, IA -
February 11, 1952 Michigan State 84–62 Win Champaign, IL 6,912
February 16, 1952 Ohio State 80–53 Win Champaign, IL 6,912
February 18, 1952 Indiana (ranked No. 20) 77–70 Win Bloomington, IN 10,556
February 23, 1952 Iowa 78–62 Win Champaign, IL 6,912
March 1, 1952 Purdue 82–71 Win Champaign, IL 6,912
March 3, 1952 Northwestern 95–74 Win Champaign, IL 6,912
March 8, 1952 Wisconsin 48–58 Loss Madison, WI 13,000

Bold Italic connotes conference game

NCAA Mideast Regional, Chicago

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
March 21, 1952 Dayton (ranked No. 11) 80–61 Win Chicago, IL -
March 22, 1952 Duquesne (ranked No. 4) 74–68 Win Chicago, IL -

NCAA Finals, Seattle

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
March 25, 1952 St. Johns (ranked No. 10) 59–61 Loss Seattle, WA -
March 26, 1952 Santa Clara 67–64 Win Seattle, WA -

NCAA basketball tournament

  • East
    • Illinois 80, Dayton 61
    • Illinois 74, Duquesne 68
  • Final Four
    • St. Johns, New York 61, Illinois 59
  • Third Place Game
    • Illinois 67, Santa Clara 64

[3]

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
John Kerr 26 143 71 357
Rod Fletcher 26 105 80 290
Irv Bemoras 26 108 69 285
Jim Bredar 26 104 52 260
Bob Peterson 26 87 77 251
Clive Follmer 20 73 91 237
Max Hooper 20 29 11 69
Herb Gerecke 20 21 17 59
Jim Wright 12 5 2 12
Dick Christiansen 10 5 1 11
Ed Makovsky 9 1 5 7
Jim Schuldt 7 1 4 6
Max Baumgardner 7 3 0 6
Jim Dutcher 5 2 2 6
Walt Moore 4 2 1 5
Mack Follmer 9 0 4 4

[4]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA Club
Rod Fletcher Minneapolis Lakers

[6]

Rankings

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Main article: 1951–52 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

  1. ↑ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. ↑ All-Time Illini Rosters
  3. ↑ http://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1952
  4. ↑ Season Stats
  5. ↑ List of MVPs
  6. ↑ 1952 NBA Draft
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