1958–59 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1958–59 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1958–59 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record12–10 (7-7 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPRoger Taylor
CaptainRoger Taylor
Home arenaHuff Hall
Seasons
1958–59 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 Michigan State 12 2   .857 19 4   .826
Northwestern 8 6   .571 15 7   .682
Michigan 8 6   .571 15 7   .682
Purdue 8 6   .571 15 7   .682
Illinois 7 7   .500 12 10   .545
Indiana 7 7   .500 11 11   .500
Ohio State 7 7   .500 11 11   .500
Iowa 7 7   .500 10 12   .455
Minnesota 5 9   .357 8 14   .364
Wisconsin 1 13   .071 3 19   .136
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

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University of Illinois' head coach, Harry Combes and his Fighting Illini basketball team once again led the Big Ten in wins for a decade with a 165-64 record in the 1950s. The Illini’s winning percentage, .721, ranked 11th nationally. Additionally, the Associated Press began its basketball poll in 1949 with United Press International adding its poll in 1951 and from 1951-56 the Illini finished the season ranked in the Top 20 nationally every year. Illinois’ highest final ranking in the 1950s was second in both polls in 1952.

The 1958-59 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer, team "captain" and team "MVP" Roger Taylor. It also saw the return of Mannie Jackson, Govoner Vaughn, Bruce Bunkenberg, Al Gosnell, Lou Landt and Ed Perry. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 7 wins and 7 losses, finishing tied for 5th place in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 12 wins and 10 losses. During the season, the Illini would play Kentucky, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, at a Freedom Hall in Louisville. The outcome of this game would be a 75-76 loss. The starting lineup included John Wessels at the center position, Roger Taylor and Mannie Jackson at guard and Govoner Vaughn, Ed Perry and Al Gosnell at the forward slots.[1]

Roster

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1958–59 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
C 10 John Wessels 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Rockford West High School Rockford, Illinois
G 11 Roger Taylor (C) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Rich High School Park Forest, Illinois
G 12 Lee Frandsen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Jr Davenport Central High School Davenport, Iowa
G 14 Jim Dorris 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Centralia High School Centralia, Illinois
F 15 Bob Schmidt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Kankakee High School Kankakee, Illinois
F 20 Bruce Bunkenburg 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Roosevelt High School Chicago, Illinois
F 22 Ed Perry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Salem High School Salem, Illinois
F 24 Ken Charlcraft 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 192 lb (87 kg) So Maroa-Forsyth High School Maroa, Illinois
C 25 John Homeier 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Feitshans High School Springfield, Illinois
G 30 Mannie Jackson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Edwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois
G 32 Lou Landt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Roosevelt High School Berwyn, Illinois
F 33 Al Gosnell 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Lawrenceville High School Lawrenceville, Illinois
F 34 Roger DeVries 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Forreston High School Forreston, Illinois
F 35 Govoner Vaughn 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Edwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois
F 40 Tom Adams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Washington Community High School Washington, Illinois
G 41 John Easterbrook 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 150 lb (68 kg) So Champaign Central High School Champaign, Illinois
G 42 Phil Flanigan 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 140 lb (64 kg) Sr Tuscola High School Tuscola, Illinois
G 44 Bill Larson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Rochelle Township High School Rochelle, Illinois
G 51 Bill Mohlenbrock 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 178 lb (81 kg) So Murphysboro High School Murphysboro, Illinois
C 52 Vern Altemeyer 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Scottsburg Senior High School Scottsburg, Indiana
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster

Schedule

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Source[2]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state[3]
Non-Conference regular season
12/1/1958*
no, no
Butler W 103–79  1-0
Huff Hall (6,057)
Champaign, IL
12/6/1958*
no, no
at Marquette L 53–69  1-1
Marquette Gymnasium (9,280)
Milwaukee, WI
12/13/1958*
no, no
College of Pacific W 85–67  2-1
Huff Hall (6,257)
Champaign, IL
12/15/1958*
no, no
Iowa State W 68–46  3-1
Huff Hall (6,328)
Champaign, IL
12/20/1958*
no, no
New York University W 83–78  4-1
Huff Hall (3,401)
Champaign, IL
12/23/1958*
no, no
Stanford W 71–62  5-1
Huff Hall (3,203)
Champaign, IL
12/30/1958*
no, no
vs. No. 1 Kentucky L 75–76  5-2
Freedom Hall (18,274)
Louisville, KY
Big Ten regular season
1/3/1959
no, no
Ohio State W 81–80  6-2
(1-0)
Huff Hall (3,454)
Champaign, IL
1/5/1959
no, no
at Wisconsin W 77–51  7-2
(2-0)
Wisconsin Field House (3,618)
Madison, WI
1/10/1959
no, no
No. 20 No. 5 Michigan State L 96–97  7-3
(2-1)
Huff Hall (6,649)
Champaign, IL
1/12/1959
no, no
No. 20 Iowa
Rivalry
W 103–97  8-3
(3-1)
Huff Hall (6,887)
Champaign, IL
1/24/1959*
no, no
vs. Notre Dame L 75–85  8-4
Chicago Stadium (-)
Chicago, IL
1/26/1959
no, no
at Minnesota L 70–81  8-5
(3-2)
Williams Arena (7,965)
Minneapolis, MN
1/31/1959
no, no
No. 18 at Purdue L 81–102  8-6
(3-3)
Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000)
West Lafayette, IN
2/2/1959
no, no
No. 18 Michigan L 85–87  8-7
(3-4)
Huff Hall (6,901)
Champaign, IL
2/7/1959
no, no
at Northwestern
Rivalry
L 79–88  8-8
(3-5)
McGaw Memorial Hall (9,045)
Evanston, IL
2/9/1959
no, no
at Indiana
Rivalry
W 89–83  9-8
(4-5)
The Fieldhouse (9,500)
Bloomington, IN
2/16/1959
no, no
Wisconsin W 93–54  10-8
(5-5)
Huff Hall (6,067)
Champaign, IL
2/21/1959
no, no
No. 19 Indiana
Rivalry
W 100–98  11-8
(6-5)
Huff Hall (6,712)
Champaign, IL
2/28/1959
no, no
at Iowa
Rivalry
W 72–70  12-8
(7-5)
Iowa Field House (15,125)
Iowa City, IA
3/2/1959
no, no
at Michigan L 95-101  12-9
(6-7)
Yost Field House (4,500)
Ann Arbor, MI
3/7/1959
no, no
Northwestern
Rivalry
L 81–84  12-10
(7-7)
Huff Hall (6,376)
Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

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Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Rebounds Points
Roger Taylor 21 158 60 68 376
John Wessels 22 126 75 205 327
Mannie Jackson 22 137 25 89 299
Govoner Vaughn 21 110 43 170 263
Al Gosnell 22 59 49 108 167
Ed Perry 22 46 22 93 114
Vern Altemeyer 21 34 25 80 93
Lou Landt 19 36 11 34 83
Bruce Bunkenburg 13 17 12 41 46
Lee Frandsen 15 12 2 14 26
John Easterbrook 12 4 5 3 13
Tom Adams 6 2 0 2 4
Jim Dorris 5 1 2 6 4
Bob Schmidt 3 0 0 2 0
Bill Mohlenbrock 4 0 0 0 0
John Homeier 2 0 0 1 0

[4]

Awards and honors

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Team players drafted into the NBA

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Player NBA Club Round Pick
Roger Taylor Syracuse Nationals 5 5

[6]

Rankings

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References

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  1. ^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1958-59, FightingIllini.com
  3. ^ Schedule
  4. ^ Season Stats Archived 2013-11-02 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
  6. ^ 1959 NBA Draft Archived 2010-03-18 at the Wayback Machine