1936–37 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1936–37 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1936–37 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Big Ten Conference champions
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
1936–37 record14–4 (10-2 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
CaptainRobert Riegel
Home arenaHuff Hall
1936–37 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Illinois102 .833  144  .778
Minnesota102 .833  146  .700
Michigan93 .750  164  .800
Purdue84 .667  155  .750
Ohio State75 .583  137  .650
Indiana66 .500  137  .650
Northwestern48 .333  119  .550
Iowa39 .250  119  .550
Wisconsin39 .250  812  .400
Chicago012 .000  416  .200
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

New head coach Doug Mills took over the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team for the 1936–37 season replacing Craig Ruby. Mills was a player for the Illini from 1927 to 1930 and served as the assistant coach for the 1935–36 season. Mills' service toward the University of Illinois would continue until 1947 as head coach and until 1966 as athletic director. Along with future head coach Harry Combes, the Illini returned 7 lettermen from a team that had finished in a third place tie in the Big Ten the year before. Even though they lost 2 home games during conference play, the Illini finished the season in a tie for the conference championship with a record of 10 wins and 2 losses. The team finished the season with an overall record of 14 wins 4 losses. Along with Combes, the Illini also featured future major league baseball hall of fame shortstop and manager, Lou Boudreau. The starting lineup included captain Robert Riegel at the center position, Boudreau and Combes at forward and Wilbur Henry, James Vopicka and Tom Nisbet at guard.[2] Following that season, the men's gymnasium got a new name, George Huff Gymnasium, after former Illinois athletic director George Huff, who died on October 1, 1936. During the championship season, Boudreau led the team in scoring with 8.7 points per game.

Roster

"1936–37 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"
1936–37 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearHometown
F 3 Loren Grabb
So Decatur, Illinois
C 4 Robert Riegel (C)
Sr Tolono, Illinois
F 5 Carter Cooley
So Chicago, Illinois
G 6 Wilbur Henry
Sr North Hollywood, California
G 7 James Vopicka
Sr Berwyn, Illinois
F 8 Harry Lasater Jr.
Fr Fairfield, Illinois
F 10 Harold Swanson
Sr Chicago Heights, Illinois
F 11 Byron Blout
Sr Salinas, California
G 15 George Wardley
So Gary, Indiana
F 16 Charles Farrington
Jr Urbana, Illinois
G 17 Harry Combes
Sr Champaign, Illinois
G 18 Tom Nisbet
So Chicago, Illinois
F 20 Frank Schack
So Decatur, Illinois
F 21 Lou Boudreau
So Harvey, Illinois
G 28 Edward Yeaton
Jr Elkhorn, Wisconsin
F 29 Albert Billings
So Elgin, Illinois
G 30 Robert Castelo
So Champaign, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

All-Time Illini Rosters Roster

Source[3]

Schedule

Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/8/1936*
no, no
Carroll W 51–34  1–0 (0–0)
Huff Hall (6,500)
Champaign, IL
12/12/1936*
no, no
Depauw W 44–24  2–0 (0–0)
Huff Hall (6,000)
Champaign, IL
12/19/1936*
no, no
Notre Dame W 44–29  3–0 (0–0)
Huff Hall (7,000)
Champaign, IL
12/23/1936*
no, no
DePaul L 25–31  3–1 (0–0)
DePaul Auditorium (6,000)
Chicago, IL
12/30/1936*
no, no
Bradley W 43–33  4–1 (0–0)
Hewitt Gymnasium (3,800)
Peoria, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1937
no, no
Northwestern L 38–47  4–2 (0–1)
Huff Hall (7,328)
Champaign, IL
1/9/1937
no, no
Wisconsin W 31–28  5–2 (1–1)
Wisconsin Field House (6,700)
Madison, WI
1/11/1937
no, no
Indiana
Rivalry
W 40–31  6–2 (2–1)
Huff Hall (7,000)
Champaign, IL
1/16/1937
no, no
Iowa
Rivalry
W 42–28  7–2 (3–1)
Huff Hall (6,810)
Champaign, IL
1/18/1937
no, no
Purdue W 38–37  8–2 (4–1)
Jefferson High School (5,600)
West Lafayette, IN
1/23/1937
no, no
University of Chicago W 28–23  9–2 (5–1)
Huff Hall (6,000)
Champaign, IL
2/6/1937*
no, no
Notre Dame L 33–41  9–3 (5–1)
Notre Dame Fieldhouse (–)
Notre Dame, IN
2/13/1937
no, no
University of Chicago W 34–26  10–3 (6–1)
Henry Crown Field House (3,000)
Chicago, IL
2/15/1937
no, no
Purdue L 34–61  10–4 (6–2)
Huff Hall (7,600)
Champaign, IL
2/20/1937
no, no
Indiana
Rivalry
W 42–25  11–4 (7–2)
IU Fieldhouse (5,000)
Bloomington, IN
2/22/1937
no, no
Wisconsin W 48–31  12–4 (8–2)
Huff Hall (9,000)
Champaign, IL
2/27/1937
no, no
Iowa
Rivalry
W 40–29  13–4 (9–2)
Iowa Field House (9,000)
Iowa City, IA
3/6/1937
no, no
Northwestern W 32–26  14–4 (10–2)
Patten Gymnasium (6,000)
Evanston, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Bold Italic connotes conference game Source[4]

Awards and honors

References

  1. National Athletic Trainer Association
  2. Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  3. FightingIllini.com
  4. University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1936–37 pg.79, FightingIllini.com
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.