1947–48 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1947–48 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1947–48 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record15–5 (7–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPJack Burmaster
CaptainJack Burmaster
Home arenaHuff Hall
Seasons
1947–48 Big Nine Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Michigan 10 2   .833 16 6   .727
Iowa 8 4   .667 15 4   .789
Illinois 7 5   .583 15 5   .750
Wisconsin 7 5   .583 12 8   .600
Purdue 6 6   .500 11 9   .550
Minnesota 5 7   .417 10 10   .500
Ohio State 5 7   .417 10 10   .500
Indiana 3 9   .250 8 12   .400
Northwestern 3 9   .250 6 14   .300

Regular season

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After 11 seasons that included three Big Ten Conference championships and a trip to the NCAA tournament, Doug Mills removed himself as head coach of the Fighting Illini, however; he remained as the University of Illinois athletic director until 1966. Replacing Mills was a former Illini player, Harry Combes. Combes was a senior during Mills' first season with the Fighting Illini, a team that won the conference championship. During Combes' 20 years as head coach, the Illini won 316 games while losing only 150, a .678 winning percentage. During conference play, his teams won 174 times while only losing 104 games. Combes still owns several Illini coaching records including winning 4 conference championships. Combes most significant feat over his 20 years was back-to-back NCAA tournament third-place finishes in 1951 and 1952. Combes came to Illinois after spending five seasons at Champaign High School where he served as boys basketball and baseball coach. While at Champaign High School, from 1939 to 1947, he compiled an impressive of 254–46 record in basketball and an equally substantial baseball record of 70-26-2 (.724) over a five-year period (1937–1942).

With the 'Whiz Kids' gone, a fresh start with a couple of All-American athletes was the focus for the new head coach. Bill Erickson, Dwight Eddleman, Jack Burmaster, Wally Osterkorn, Fred Green, Burdette Thurlby and Jim Marks returned from a team that finished with an overall record of 14–6, placing second in the Big Ten.

Roster

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1947–48 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
C 7 Robert Menke 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Elgin High School Elgin, Illinois
G 9 Dick Foley 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr Paris High School Paris, Illinois
G 11 Jack Burmaster (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Sr Elgin High School Elgin, Illinois
C 13 Walter Osterkorn 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Amundsen High School Chicago, Illinois
F 14 Burdette Thurlby 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Kirkland High School Kirkland, Illinois
F 16 Robert Doster 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Decatur High School Decatur, Illinois
G 17 Joseph Rodriguez 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Niagara Falls High School Niagara Falls, New York
C 19 Robert Rowe 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Warren High School Warren, Illinois
C 21 Walt Kersulis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So East St. Louis Senior High School East St. Louis, Illinois
F 22 Van Anderson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Sullivan Community High School Sullivan, Illinois
F 24 Benton Odum 6 ft 0.5 in (1.84 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Marion High School Marion, Illinois
G 26 Stanley Fronczak 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Brooklyn High School Brooklyn, New York
F 27 Jim Marks 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Edwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois
F 29 Dwight Humphrey 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 145 lb (66 kg) Jr Moline High School Moline, Illinois
F 33 Bill Erickson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 174 lb (79 kg) So East High School Rockford, Illinois
F 40 Dwight Eddleman 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Centralia High School Centralia, Illinois
C 48 Fred Green 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 206 lb (93 kg) Jr Urbana High School Urbana, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

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Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/5/1947*
no, no
Coe W 67–27  1–0
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
12/8/1947*
no, no
Notre Dame W 40–38  2–0
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
12/13/1947*
no, no
Pittsburgh W 70–33  3–0
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
12/20/1947*
no, no
at Penn W 70–44  4–0
Palestra (2,500)
Philadelphia, PA
12/22/1947*
no, no
Washington State W 71–35  5–0
Huff Hall (5,196)
Champaign, IL
12/23/1947*
no, no
Washington State W 59–42  6–0
Huff Hall (4,142)
Champaign, IL
1/1/1948*
no, no
Harvard W 77–41  7–0
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/3/1948
no, no
at Wisconsin L 47–52  7–1
(0–1)
Wisconsin Field House (13,000)
Madison, WI
1/5/1948
no, no
Northwestern
Rivalry
W 52–47  8–1
(1–1)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
1/10/1948
no, no
Ohio State W 61-58  9–1
(2–1)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
1/17/1948
no, no
at Minnesota L 51–59  9–2
(2–2)
Williams Arena (16,690)
Minneapolis, MN
1/19/1948
no, no
Indiana
Rivalry
W 46–45  10–2
(3–2)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
1/24/1948
no, no
Wisconsin W 57–36  11-2
(4–2)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
1/28/1948*
no, no
at Marquette W 88–66  12–2
(4–2)
Marquette Gymnasium (5,200)
Milwaukee, WI
2/7/1948
no, no
Michigan L 57–66  12–3
(4–3)
Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
2/9/1948*
no, no
at Iowa
Rivalry
L 61–70  12–4
(4–4)
Iowa Field House (16,048)
Iowa City, IA
2/14/1948
no, no
at Ohio State L 50–57  12–5
(4–5)
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (4,449)
Columbus, OH
2/21/1948
no, no
at Purdue W 98–54  13–5
(5–5)
Lambert Fieldhouse (6,905)
West Lafayette, IN
2/28/1948
no, no
at Northwestern
Rivalry
W 60–43  14–5
(6–5)
Chicago Stadium (17,680)
Chicago, IL
3/1/1948
no, no
at Indiana
Rivalry
W 52–51  15–5
(7–5)
The Field House (10,500)
Bloomington, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source[1]

Player stats

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Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Dwight Eddleman 20 115 47 277
Jack Burmaster 18 72 34 178
Bill Erickson 18 55 37 147
Wally Osterkorn 15 48 45 141
Fred Green 18 43 21 107
Jim Marks 15 33 18 84
Burdette Thurlby 17 28 18 74
Walt Kersulis 15 25 18 68
Van Anderson 14 21 8 50
Stan Fronczak 17 21 7 49
Dick Foley 16 13 6 32
Bob Doster 7 3 4 10
Cliff Fulton 5 3 0 6
Benton Odum 2 2 0 4
Joe Rodriguez 2 1 1 3
Tom Gallagher 6 1 0 2
Bob Menke 1 1 0 2
Robert Rowe 1 0 0 0
Dwight Humphrey 5 0 0 0

[2]

Awards and honors

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Team players drafted into the NBA

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Round Pick Player NBA Club
2 - Jack Burmaster St. Louis Bombers

[4]

References

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  1. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1943–44 pg.81, FightingIllini.com
  2. ^ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  3. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  4. ^ "1948 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on May 3, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2012.