1907–08 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1907–08 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1907–08 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	20–6 (6–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Fletcher Lane (1st season)
Captain	Maurice Dadant
Home arena	Kenney Gym

1907–08 Western Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Chicago	7	–	1		.875			23	–	2		.920
Wisconsin	7	–	1		.875			10	–	2		.833
Illinois	6	–	5		.545			20	–	6		.769
Minnesota	2	–	6		.250			12	–	7		.632
Purdue	0	–	8		.000			5	–	9		.357
Iowa	-	–	-		–			10	–	6		.625
Indiana	-	–	-		–			9	–	6		.600
Northwestern	-	–	-		–			2	–	7		.222

Regular season

The 1907–08 season saw the third coach in three years take the reins at the University of Illinois. Fletcher Lane was Illinois’ third coach, but lasted just one season. Even though he led his team to a 20–6 record, the university, as well as the athletes, deemed Lane's coaching style as subpar. Lane's team benefited from a long Southern trip in which the team beat several YMCA and club teams from Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, and Georgia. The starting lineup consisted of forwards Albert Penn and H. J. Popperfuss, center Avery Brundage, and guards Thomas E. Thompson and captain M. G. Dadant.

Roster

"1907-08 Fighting Illini team"

1907–08 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F Charles Stewart — — Sr New York, New York G Edward Ryan — — Sr Chicago, Illinois F Henry Popperfuss — — So Tomah, Wisconsin F Maurice Dadant (C) — — Sr Hamilton, Illinois G Avery Brundage — — Jr Chicago, Illinois G Thomas E. Thompson — — So Williams Bay, Wisconsin G Roy Rennacker — — So Winnetka, Illinois G Carl Watson — — Fr DeKalb, Illinois F Albert Penn — — Jr Syracuse, New York G Strother Ambrose Briggs — — Fr Minier, Illinois G Benjamin Albert Horn — — So Chicago, Illinois	Head coach Fletcher Lane (University of Nebraska) (1st year) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Source

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/19/1907* no, no	at Decatur YMCA	W 33-28	1-0	Decatur YMCA  Decatur, IL
12/20/1907* no, no	at WashingtonU	W 36–25	2-0	Francis Gymnasium  St. Louis, MO
12/21/1907* no, no	at Cairo Athletic Club	W 92–14	3-0	Cairo Athletic Club  Cairo, IL
12/23/1907* no, no	at Memphis YMCA	W 56–8	4-0	Memphis YMCA  Memphis, TN
12/25/1907* no, no	at Ft. Worth YMCA	W 41–25	5-0	Ft. Worth YMCA  Ft. Worth, TX
12/25/1907* no, no	at Ft. Worth YMCA	W 32–20	6-0	Ft. Worth YMCA  Ft. Worth, TX
12/26/1907* no, no	at Waco YMCA	W 58–20	7-0	Waco YMCA  Waco, TX
12/27/1907* no, no	at Temple YMCA	W 36–17	8-0	Temple YMCA  Temple, TX
12/28/1907* no, no	at Galveston YMCA	W 41–21	9-0	Galveston YMCA  Galveston, TX
12/30/1907* no, no	at Beaumont YMCA	W 34–17	10-0	Beaumont YMCA  Beaumont, TX
1/1/1908* no, no	at Mobile YMCA	W 22–21	11-0	Mobile YMCA  Mobile, AL
1/2/1908* no, no	at Columbus YMCA	W 31-30	12-0	Columbus YMCA  Columbus, GA
1/2/1908* no, no	at Montgomery YMCA	L 21–31	12-1	Montgomery YMCA  Montgomery, AL
1/3/1908* no, no	at Birmingham Athletic Club	W 46–24	13-1	Birmingham Athletic Club  Birmingham, AL
1/4/1908* no, no	at Rose Polytechnic Institute	W 35–26	14-1	Terre Haute High School  Terre Haute, IN
Big Ten regular season
1/11/1908 no, no	at Purdue	W 24–23	15-1 (1-0)	Lafayette Colliseum  West Lafayette, IN
1/18/1908 no, no	Wisconsin	L 20–28	15-2 (1-1)	Kenney Gym  Urbana, IL
1/25/1908 no, no	Indiana Rivalry	W 39–12	16-2 (2-1)	Kenney Gym  Urbana, IL
2/8/1908 no, no	University of Chicago	L 21–35	16-3 (2-2)	Kenney Gym  Urbana, IL
2/14/1908 no, no	at Iowa Rivalry	L 36–46	16-4 (2-3)	Iowa Armory  Iowa City, IA
2/15/1908 no, no	at Minnesota	W 16–15	17-4 (3-3)	University of Minnesota Armory  Minneapolis, MN
2/29/1908 no, no	Purdue	W 38–15	18-4 (4-3)	Kenney Gym  Urbana, IL
3/6/1908 no, no	at University of Chicago	L 17–42	18-5 (4-4)	Bartlett Gymnasium  Chicago, IL
3/7/1908 no, no	at Northwestern Rivalry	W 18–13	19-5 (5-4)	Patten Gymnasium  Evanston, IL
3/9/1908 no, no	at Wisconsin	L 14–27	19-6 (5-5)	University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium  Madison, WI
3/12/1908 no, no	Minnesota	W 22–20	20-6 (6-5)	Kenney Gym  Urbana, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Awards and honors

• First 20 win season for the Fighting Illini men's basketball program.