The 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois. The Illinois Fighting Illini finished the season with a record of 17 wins and 1 loss. The season was cut short as three of the five starters headed off to active duty in the armed forces. Illinois won the Big Ten Conference Title and had finished the regular season as the nations' top ranked team. Paced by a group of players known as the Whiz Kids, the team consisted of 20-year-old All-America forward Andy Phillip and teenagers Ken Menke, Gene Vance, Jack Smiley and team captain Art Mathisen. These players were so dominant in the Big Ten, that only Northwestern's Otto Graham could crack the all-conference team.[2]
The Army drafted Mathisen, Menke and Smiley. That left only Vance and Phillip, both good enough to be selected to Illinois' All-Century team. Head coach Doug Mills made a decision in February 1943 that all five always supported, the club did not participate in either the NCAA or NIT tournament.[3]Wyoming's NCAA championship that season may not have happened had Illinois’ season not coincided with World War II. The team was retroactively named the national champion by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.[4]
Four of the five, minus Mathisen, returned to Illinois and tried to recapture the glory for one more season in 1946–47 after the war ended, but the chemistry had changed as well as their talent. Illinois went 14–6.
The final living Whiz Kid, Gene Vance, died in 2012.
Rosteredit
1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
^. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
^ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 565. ISBN978-0-345-51392-2.
^University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1942–43 pg.79, FightingIllini.com
^. Archived from the original on June 25, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
^(PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
February 09, 2024
1942, illinois, fighting, illini, basketball, team, represented, university, illinois, 1942, illinois, fighting, illini, basketballpremo, porretta, national, championbig, championconferencebig, conferencerecord17, head, coachdouglas, millsassistant, coacheshow. The 1942 43 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketball team represented the University of Illinois 1942 43 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketballPremo Porretta National ChampionBig Ten championConferenceBig Ten ConferenceRecord17 1 12 0 Big Ten Head coachDouglas R MillsAssistant coachesHowie Braun Wally Roettger Ralph FletcherDavid M Bullock Trainer 1 MVPAndy PhillipCaptainArthur MathisenHome arenaHuff HallSeasons 1941 421943 44 1942 43 Big Ten Conference men s basketball standings vte Conf OverallTeam W L PCT W L PCTIllinois 12 0 1 000 17 1 944Indiana 11 2 846 18 2 900Northwestern 7 5 583 8 9 471Wisconsin 6 6 500 12 9 571Purdue 6 6 500 9 11 450Minnesota 5 7 417 8 9 471Ohio State 5 7 417 8 9 471Michigan 4 8 333 10 8 556Iowa 3 9 250 7 10 412Chicago 0 9 000 0 21 000Rankings from AP Poll 1942 43 Fighting Illini men s basketball team Contents 1 Regular season 1 1 Roster 2 Schedule 3 Player stats 4 Awards and honors 5 ReferencesRegular season editThe 1942 43 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketball team represented the University of Illinois The Illinois Fighting Illini finished the season with a record of 17 wins and 1 loss The season was cut short as three of the five starters headed off to active duty in the armed forces Illinois won the Big Ten Conference Title and had finished the regular season as the nations top ranked team Paced by a group of players known as the Whiz Kids the team consisted of 20 year old All America forward Andy Phillip and teenagers Ken Menke Gene Vance Jack Smiley and team captain Art Mathisen These players were so dominant in the Big Ten that only Northwestern s Otto Graham could crack the all conference team 2 The Army drafted Mathisen Menke and Smiley That left only Vance and Phillip both good enough to be selected to Illinois All Century team Head coach Doug Mills made a decision in February 1943 that all five always supported the club did not participate in either the NCAA or NIT tournament 3 Wyoming s NCAA championship that season may not have happened had Illinois season not coincided with World War II The team was retroactively named the national champion by the Premo Porretta Power Poll 4 Four of the five minus Mathisen returned to Illinois and tried to recapture the glory for one more season in 1946 47 after the war ended but the chemistry had changed as well as their talent Illinois went 14 6 The final living Whiz Kid Gene Vance died in 2012 Roster edit 1942 43 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketball teamPlayers CoachesPos Name Height Weight Year HometownG 3 Frank Bohac So Braidwood IllinoisG 4 Bishop Barrick Jr Stillman Valley IllinoisC 5 Raymond Bergeson Jr Bridgeton New JerseyG 6 Clifton Fulton So Pittsburg KansasF 7 Raymond Grierson So Champaign IllinoisF 8 Edwin Parker Sr Taft CaliforniaG 9 Kenneth Parker Sr Granite City IllinoisG 10 Gordon Hortin So Evansville IndianaG 11 John Kjellstrom So Hebron IllinoisF 12 Ken Menke Jr Dundee IllinoisC 13 Alton Shirley So Edmond OklahomaF 14 Oliver Shoaff So Mt Carmel IllinoisG 15 Arthur Smiley Jr Waterman IllinoisF 16 W L Miller Fr Chicago IllinoisF 17 Herb Matter Jr Naperville IllinoisC 19 Arthur Mathisen C Sr Dwight IllinoisG 25 Ellis Vance Jr Clinton IllinoisF 33 Charles Fowler So Watseka IllinoisG F 47 Andrew Phillip Jr Granite City Illinois Head coachDouglas Mills University of Illinois 7th year Assistant coach es Wally Roettger University of Illinois 8th year Howie Braun University of Illinois 6th year Legend C Team captain S Suspended I Ineligible W Walk on nbsp Injured nbsp Current redshirtAll Time Illini RosterSource 5 Schedule editDatetime TV Opponent Result Record Site attendance city stateNon Conference regular season12 7 1942 no no Detroit W 38 25 1 0 0 0 Huff Hall 5 277 Champaign IL12 12 1942 no no Nebraska W 69 27 2 0 0 0 Huff Hall 4 884 Champaign IL12 14 1942 no no Missouri Rivalry W 51 30 3 0 0 0 Huff Hall 4 465 Champaign IL12 19 1942 no no Great Lakes W 57 53 4 0 0 0 Chicago Stadium 13 295 Chicago IL12 21 1942 no no Camp Grant L 31 41 4 1 0 0 Camp Grant Y M C A 2 200 Rockford IL1 2 1943 no no Stanford W 38 26 5 1 0 0 Huff Hall 6 835 Champaign ILBig Ten regular season1 9 1943 no no Michigan W 47 34 6 1 1 0 Huff Hall 7 188 Champaign IL1 11 1943 no no Wisconsin W 47 34 7 1 2 0 Wisconsin Field House 14 000 Madison WI1 16 1943 no no Iowa Rivalry W 61 41 8 1 3 0 Huff Hall 7 004 Champaign IL1 18 1943 no no Iowa Rivalry W 66 34 9 1 4 0 Huff Hall 6 684 Champaign IL2 1 1943 no no Northwestern W 68 51 10 1 5 0 Huff Hall 6 766 Champaign IL2 6 1942 no no Ohio State W 60 48 11 1 6 0 Ohio Expo Center Coliseum 3 300 Columbus OH2 8 1943 no no Ohio State W 50 44 12 1 7 0 Ohio Expo Center Coliseum 2 900 Columbus OH2 13 1943 no no Minnesota W 56 35 13 1 8 0 Williams Arena 6 800 Minneapolis MN2 15 1943 no no Minnesota W 55 29 14 1 9 0 Williams Arena 5 100 Minneapolis MN2 20 1943 no no Wisconsin W 50 26 15 1 10 0 Huff Hall 7 102 Champaign IL2 27 1943 no no Northwestern W 68 51 16 1 11 0 Chicago Stadium 19 880 Chicago IL3 1 1943 no no University of Chicago W 92 25 17 1 12 0 Huff Hall 6 443 Champaign IL Non conference game Rankings from AP Poll Tournament seedings in parentheses All times are in Central Time Bold Italic connotes conference game Source 6 Player stats editPlayer Games Played Field Goals Free Throws PointsAndy Phillip 18 131 43 305Arthur Mathisen 18 86 51 201Ken Menke 17 70 43 183Jack Smiley 17 59 17 135Gene Vance 18 56 14 126Edwin Parker 18 12 10 34Oliver Shoaff 14 7 3 17Kenneth Parker 14 7 2 16Alton Shirley 14 3 0 6Cliff Fulton 6 1 2 4Herbert Matter 2 1 2 4Charles Fowler 7 2 0 4W L Miller 5 1 0 2Gordon Hortin 6 1 0 2 7 Awards and honors editAndy Phillip National Player of the Year Consensus All American Converse 1st team All American Helms 1st team All American Pic Magazine 1st team All American Look Magazine 1st team All American Sporting News 1st team All American Associated Press 1st team All American United Press International 1st team All American National Enterprise Association 1st team All American Big Ten Player of the Year Team Most Valuable Player 8 Fighting Illini All Century team 2005 Gene Vance Converse Honorable Mention All American Fighting Illini All Century team 2005 Jack Smiley Converse 3rd team All American Art Mathisen Converse Honorable mention All AmericanReferences edit National Athletic Trainer Association 1943 College Basketball Recap My Losing Season Wyoming Utah Sailors Ferrin Mikan and the Great Santini Archived from the original on July 14 2011 Retrieved October 7 2010 ESPN ed 2009 ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia The Complete History of the Men s Game New York NY ESPN Books p 565 ISBN 978 0 345 51392 2 FightingIllini com University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1942 43 pg 79 FightingIllini com Season Stats Archived from the original on June 25 2013 Retrieved April 4 2014 List of MVPs PDF Archived from the original PDF on October 30 2014 Retrieved January 15 2013 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1942 43 Illinois Fighting Illini men 27s basketball team amp oldid 1170762489, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
