1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team American college basketball season
"1952-53 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"
The 1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign .
Regular season
Under the leadership of Harry Combes and coming off consecutive third-place finishes in the NCAA Tournament , the Fighting Illini men's basketball program had become one of the most powerful in the nation. The 1952-53 team returned one of the most dominant players in the NCAA, Johnny Kerr . It also returned United Press honorable mention all-American guards Irv Bemoras and Jim Bredar .
Unfortunately the Illini would lose 4 conference games during the Big Ten season which would give them a second-place finish. Three of the four losses came at the hands of ranked opponents. The starting lineup included captain Jim Bredar and Irving Bemoras at guard, Clive Follmer and Max Hooper 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
1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
G
7
Morris Sterneck
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
So
Salem High School
Salem, Illinois
G
9
Elmer Plew
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
So
Paris High School
Paris, Illinois
G
16
Jim Wright
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
165 lb (75 kg)
Jr
Lawrenceville High School
Lawrenceville, Illinois
G
19
James Bredar (C)
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
Sr
Salem High School
Salem, Illinois
C
22
Johnny Kerr
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
215 lb (98 kg)
Jr
Tilden High School
Chicago, Illinois
G
24
Ed Makovsky
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
So
Morton High School
Cicero, Illinois
C
25
Robert Peterson
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
250 lb (113 kg)
Sr
Elgin High School
Wayne, Illinois
G
26
Irving Bemoras
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
188 lb (85 kg)
Sr
Marshall High School
Chicago, Illinois
F
27
Jim Dutcher
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
188 lb (85 kg)
So
Downers Grove High School
Downers Grove, Illinois
F
29
Max Baumgardner
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
Sr
Sterling High School
Sterling, Illinois
F
33
Clive Follmer
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
198 lb (90 kg)
Sr
Forrest High School
Forrest, Illinois
F
47
Max Hooper
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
Jr
Mt. Vernon High School
Mt. Vernon, Illinois
G
48
James Schuldt
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
193 lb (88 kg)
Sr
Dundee Community High School
Dundee, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Roster
Schedule
Source[ 2]
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state[ 3]
Non-Conference regular season
12/10/1952 *no, no
Loyola (Chicago)
W 71–57
1-0
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
12/15/1952 no, no
Michigan
W 96–66
2-0 (1-0)
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
12/20/1952 *no, no
No. 3
Butler
W 75–58
3-0
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
12/23/1952 no, no
No. 2
at No. 17 Minnesota
L 73–77
3-1 (1-1)
Williams Arena (16,878)Minneapolis, MN
12/27/1952 no, no
No. 2
Ohio State
W 87–62
4-1 (2-1)
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
12/30/1952 *no, no
No. 4
St. Mary's
W 94–65
5-1
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
1/5/1953 no, no
No. 4
at Purdue
W 87–71
6-1 (3-1)
Lambert Fieldhouse (-)West Lafayette, IN
1/10/1953 no, no
No. 4
Wisconsin
W 71–61
7-1 (4-1)
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
1/12/1953 no, no
No. 4
Northwestern Rivalry
W 83–58
8-1 (5-1)
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
1/17/1953 no, no
No. 4
at No. 6 Indiana Rivalry
L 70–74 2OT
8-2 (5-2)
The Fieldhouse (10,000)Bloomington, IN
1/19/1953 no, no
No. 4
at Michigan State
W 76–64
9-2 (6-2)
Jenison Fieldhouse (-)East Lansing, MI
2/2/1953 *no, no
No. 6
DePauw
W 93–50
10-2
Huff Hall (4,002)Champaign, IL
2/7/1953 no, no
No. 6
at Wisconsin
W 65–61
11-2 (7-2)
Wisconsin Field House (13,500)Madison, WI
2/9/1953 no, no
No. 6
at Michigan
W 92–62
12-2 (8-2)
Yost Field House (6,000)Ann Arbor, MI
2/14/1953 no, no
No. 5
Iowa Rivalry
W 80–63
13-2 (9-2)
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
2/16/1953 no, no
No. 5
Purdue
W 93–67
14-2 (10-2)
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
2/21/1953 no, no
No. 5
at Iowa Rivalry
L 62–67
14-3 (10-3)
Iowa Field House (14,000)Iowa City, IA
2/23/1953 no, no
No. 5
Minnesota
W 83–82
15-3 (11-3)
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
2/28/1953 no, no
No. 10
No. 2 Indiana Rivalry
L 79–91
15-4 (11-4)
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
3/2/1953 no, no
No. 10
Michigan State
W 66–53
16-4 (12-4)
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
3/7/1953 no, no
No. 10
at Ohio State
W 93–74
17-4 (13-4)
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (5,242)Columbus, OH
3/9/1953 no, no
No. 10
at Northwestern Rivalry
W 86–70
18-4 (14-4)
McGaw Memorial Hall (9,700)Evanston, IL
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Central Time .
Rankings
Player stats
Player
Games Played
Field Goals
Free Throws
Points
John Kerr
22
153
80
386
Irv Bemoras
22
119
84
322
Jim Bredar
22
106
50
262
Clive Follmer
22
82
86
250
Max Hooper
21
73
45
191
Bob Peterson
22
53
54
160
Jim Schuldt
19
14
11
39
Jim Wright
17
15
7
37
Max Baumgardner
9
13
10
36
Ed Makovsky
16
9
15
33
Elmer Plew
13
12
6
30
Jim Dutcher
10
7
9
23
Morris Sterneck
9
1
4
6
[ 4]
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
[ 6]
Rankings
References
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics