1943–44 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1943–44 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
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Conference Big Ten Conference
1943–44 record 11–9 (5–7 Big Ten)
Head coach Douglas R. Mills
Assistant coach Howie Braun
Assistant coach Wally Roettger
MVP Stan Patrick
Captain Selected each game
Home arena Huff Hall
Seasons
« 1942–43 1944–45 »
1943–44 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
Ohio State 10 – 2   .833     14 – 7   .667
Iowa 9 – 3   .750     14 – 4   .778
Wisconsin 9 – 3   .750     12 – 9   .571
Northwestern 8 – 4   .667     12 – 7   .632
Purdue 8 – 4   .667     11 – 10   .524
Illinois 5 – 7   .417     11 – 9   .550
Michigan 5 – 7   .417     8 – 10   .444
Minnesota 2 – 10   .167     7 – 14   .333
Indiana 2 – 10   .167     7 – 15   .318
Chicago 0 – 8   .000     1 – 19   .050
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1943–44 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

March 1, 1943 changed the future of Fighting Illini men's basketball when the team was broken up due to all five starters from back-to-back Big Ten Conference championships heading to active duty in the armed forces. The group who left, known as the Whiz Kids, consisted of 21-year-old All-America forward Andy Phillip and 20-year-olds Ken Menke, Gene Vance, Jack Smiley and Art Mathisen. Phillip went on to become a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Four of the five, minus Mathisen, returned to Illinois and tried to recapture the glory for one more season in 1946–47 after the war ended, but the chemistry had changed as well as their talent. Illinois went 14–6.

The 1943–44 season, however, was a struggle for head coach Doug Mills, as it was the second worst season of his career. The overall record was 11 wins and 9 losses with a conference mark of 5 and 7. The team finished with a 6 - 4 record at home and a .500 record on the road at 5 - 5. The Illini returned only one player from the 1942-43 season, Gordon Horton, who wasn't even a starter, which meant the entire lineup was made up of rookie/unproven players. The starting lineup consisted of Walton Kirk, Howard Judson, Ray DeMoulin, Bob Morton, Don Delaney and Gordon Gillespie.

Roster

No Player Position Class Hometown
4 Ray DeMoulin Forward Freshman Mulberry Grove, Illinois
5 Gordon Gillespie Center Freshman Chicago, Illinois
6 Stan Patrick Guard Senior Chicago, Illinois
7 Don Delaney Center Sophomore Sacramento, California
8 Howard Judson Guard/Forward Freshman Hebron, Illinois
9 Walt Kirk Guard Sophomore Mt. Vernon, Illinois
10 Gordon Hortin Guard Junior Evansville, Indiana
11 Jake Staab Forward Sophomore Chillicothe, Illinois
12 Jim Seyler Guard Sophomore Champaign, Illinois
13 Bob Morton Guard/Forward Freshman Elgin, Illinois
14 Richard Foley Guard Freshman Paris, Illinois
15 William Eddleman Forward Sophomore Anna, Illinois
16 Kermit Knetsch Center Sophomore Paw Paw, Illinois
17 John Larson Center Sophomore Sioux City, Iowa
18 Lou Possehl Forward Senior Chicago, Illinois
19 Leo Gedvillas Guard Sophomore Spring Valley, Illinois
20 Bob White Forward Sophomore
21 Morris Dolan Center Sophomore
22 Lee Stickler Guard Sophomore Alton, Illinois
23 Raymond Fregan Guard Sophomore Brookfield, Illinois
24 Donald Sudkamp Guard Freshman Champaign, Illinois

Record

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
December 4, 1943 Alumni 53–35 Win Champaign, IL 3,041
December 7, 1943 Detroit 56–25 Win Champaign, IL 2,011
December 11, 1943 Great Lakes 44–52 Loss Chicago, IL 12,000
December 18, 1943 Missouri 39–29 Win Columbia, MO -
December 20, 1943 Kentucky 43–41 Win Champaign, IL 2,719
December 29, 1943 Great Lakes 64–51 Win Champaign, IL 4,429
January 3, 1944 Wisconsin 45–43 Win Madison, WI -
January 7, 1944 Wisconsin 38–43 Loss Champaign, IL 4,660
January 8, 1944 Michigan 45–52 Loss Ann Arbor, MI -
January 15, 1944 University of Chicago 69–32 Win Chicago, IL 300
January 21, 1944 Iowa 51–62 Loss Iowa City, IA -
January 22, 1944 Iowa 44–53 Loss Iowa City, IA -
February 7, 1944 Kentucky 40–51 Loss Lexington, KY -
February 11, 1944 Northwestern 29–42 Loss Champaign, IL 2,834
February 12, 1944 DePaul 45–33 Win Chicago, IL -
February 18, 1944 Ohio State 41–52 Loss Champaign, IL 2,577
February 19, 1944 Ohio State 53–54 Loss Champaign, IL 2,717
February 25, 1944 Northwestern 50–47 Win Evanston, IL
March 3, 1944 Minnesota 50–32 Win Champaign, IL 2,420
March 4, 1944 Minnesota 53–27 Win Champaign, IL 2,404

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Stan Patrick 20 97 46 240
Walt Kirk 20 84 55 223
Howard Judson 20 74 12 160
Gordon Gillespie 20 20 26 55
Jimmy Seyler 20 18 13 49
Dick Foley 6 20 8 48
Don Delaney 11 18 6 42
Jake Staab 12 14 12 40
Robert Morton 16 13 3 29
Ray DeMoulin 12 11 1 23
Gordon Hortin 11 4 2 10
Kermit Knetsch 6 4 1 9
Lou Possehl 7 3 2 8
Jack Larson 6 2 1 5
Donald Sudkamp 3 2 0 4
Bob White 4 1 1 3
Leo Gedvilas 1 1 0 2
Lee Stickler 2 0 0 0
Raymond Fregan 1 0 0 0
Maurice Dolan 1 0 0 0
Carl Bontemps 1 0 0 0

[2]

Awards and honors


References

  1. ↑ All-Time Illini Rosters
  2. ↑ Season Stats
  3. ↑ List of MVPs
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