Harry Combes, for the ninth consecutive year at Illinois, directed a team that would finish no worse than third place in the Big Ten. His 164 wins and 44 losses overall with a 94 and 30 record in the conference gave Combes three "Final Four" finishes as well as three conference championships. Combes' team, recruited by assistant coach Howie Braun, was exclusively recruited from the state of Illinois.
The 1955-56 team had talented lettermen return including the leading scorers George Bon Salle and team "captain"Paul Judson. It also saw the return of Bruce Brothers, Bill Ridley, Bill Altenberger, Hiles Stout, and future Illini head coach, Harv Schmidt. The team also added future NBA all-star Don Ohl as a sophomore. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 11 wins and 3 losses, finishing in 2nd place in the Big Ten. Unfortunately the Illini would lose four total games with two of the four coming in the final three days of the season. The Illini's final Associated Press ranking placed them at "#7", however; they maintained a "#2" national ranking for the final month of the regular season. The starting lineup included George Bon Salle at the center position, Bill Ridley and Paul Judson at guard and Harv Schmidt, Bruce Brothers and Don Ohl at the forward slots.[1]
Rosteredit
1955–56 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
1955, illinois, fighting, illini, basketball, team, 1955, illinois, fighting, illini, basketball, team, represented, university, illinois, 1955, illinois, fighting, illini, basketballconferencebig, conferencerankingcoachesno, 8apno, 10record18, head, coachharr. The 1955 56 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketball team represented the University of Illinois 1955 56 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketballConferenceBig Ten ConferenceRankingCoachesNo 8APNo 10Record18 4 11 3 Big Ten Head coachHarry CombesAssistant coachHowie BraunMVPBruce BrothersCaptainPaul JudsonHome arenaHuff HallSeasons 1954 551956 57 1955 56 Big Ten Conference men s basketball standings vte Conf OverallTeam W L PCT W L PCTNo 4 Iowa 13 1 929 20 6 769No 10 Illinois 11 3 786 18 4 818Ohio State 9 5 643 16 6 727Purdue 9 5 643 16 6 727Michigan State 7 7 500 13 9 591Indiana 6 8 429 13 9 591Minnesota 6 8 429 11 11 500Michigan 4 10 286 9 13 409Wisconsin 4 10 286 6 16 273Northwestern 1 13 071 2 20 091Rankings from AP Poll Contents 1 Regular season 1 1 Roster 2 Schedule 3 Player stats 4 Awards and honors 5 Team players drafted into the NBA 6 Rankings 7 ReferencesRegular season editHarry Combes for the ninth consecutive year at Illinois directed a team that would finish no worse than third place in the Big Ten His 164 wins and 44 losses overall with a 94 and 30 record in the conference gave Combes three Final Four finishes as well as three conference championships Combes team recruited by assistant coach Howie Braun was exclusively recruited from the state of Illinois The 1955 56 team had talented lettermen return including the leading scorers George Bon Salle and team captain Paul Judson It also saw the return of Bruce Brothers Bill Ridley Bill Altenberger Hiles Stout and future Illini head coach Harv Schmidt The team also added future NBA all star Don Ohl as a sophomore The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 11 wins and 3 losses finishing in 2nd place in the Big Ten Unfortunately the Illini would lose four total games with two of the four coming in the final three days of the season The Illini s final Associated Press ranking placed them at 7 however they maintained a 2 national ranking for the final month of the regular season The starting lineup included George Bon Salle at the center position Bill Ridley and Paul Judson at guard and Harv Schmidt Bruce Brothers and Don Ohl at the forward slots 1 Roster edit 1955 56 Illinois Fighting Illini men s basketball teamPlayers CoachesPos Name Height Weight Year Previous school HometownF 8 Jim Chengary 6 ft 3 in 1 91 m 190 lb 86 kg So Bowen High School Chicago IllinoisF 10 Hiles Stout 6 ft 4 in 1 93 m 205 lb 93 kg Jr Central High School Peoria IllinoisG 11 Bill Ridley 5 ft 9 in 1 75 m 160 lb 73 kg Sr Taylorville High School Taylorville IllinoisG 20 Bill Altenberger 6 ft 1 in 1 85 m 179 lb 81 kg Jr Senior High School East St Louis IllinoisC 22 George Bon Salle 6 ft 7 in 2 01 m 215 lb 98 kg Jr Loyola Academy Chicago IllinoisC 24 Ted Caiazza 6 ft 7 in 2 01 m 235 lb 107 kg So Lyons Township High School LaGrange IllinoisG 30 Phil Judson 6 ft 2 in 1 88 m 165 lb 75 kg Sr Alden Hebron High School Hebron IllinoisF 32 Bruce Brothers 6 ft 5 in 1 96 m 200 lb 91 kg Sr Quincy Senior High School Quincy IllinoisF 33 Harvard Schmidt 6 ft 6 in 1 98 m 190 lb 86 kg Jr Kankakee High School Kankakee IllinoisG 34 Paul Judson C 6 ft 4 in 1 93 m 172 lb 78 kg Sr Alden Hebron High School Hebron IllinoisF 35 Larry Breyfogle 6 ft 3 in 1 91 m 165 lb 75 kg So Lawrenceville High School Lawrenceville IllinoisG 43 John Paul 6 ft 1 in 1 85 m 175 lb 79 kg So St Edward High School Elgin IllinoisG 44 Don Ohl 6 ft 3 in 1 91 m 190 lb 86 kg So Edwardsville High School Edwardsville Illinois Head coachHarry Combes University of Illinois 9th year Assistant coach es Howie Braun University of Illinois 19th year Legend C Team captain S Suspended I Ineligible W Walk on nbsp Injured nbsp Current redshirtAll Time Illini RosterSource 2 Schedule editSource 3 Datetime TV Rank Opponent Result Record Site attendance city state 4 Non Conference regular season12 6 1955 no no No 8 Butler W 107 75 1 0 Huff Hall 4 535 Champaign IL12 10 1955 no no No 8 Missouri Rivalry L 73 74 1 1 Brewer Fieldhouse 5 800 Columbia MO12 13 1955 no no No NR Notre Dame W 103 93 2 1 Notre Dame Fieldhouse 4 300 Notre Dame IN12 17 1955 no no No NR Washington St Louis W 75 74 3 1 Huff Hall 4 444 Champaign IL12 19 1955 no no No NR DePaul W 97 79 4 1 Huff Hall 4 747 Champaign IL12 23 1955 no no No 17 Oklahoma W 82 58 5 1 Huff Hall 3 390 Champaign IL12 29 1955 no no No 9 Drake W 102 66 6 1 Huff Hall 3 713 Champaign ILBig Ten regular season1 2 1956 no no No 9 Michigan State No 16 W 73 65 7 1 1 0 Huff Hall 5 192 Champaign IL1 9 1956 no no No 6 Wisconsin W 96 77 8 1 2 0 Huff Hall 6 069 Champaign IL1 14 1956 no no No 8 Indiana No 12 Rivalry W 96 72 9 1 3 0 The Fieldhouse 10 056 Bloomington IN1 16 1956 no no No 8 Purdue W 92 76 10 1 4 0 Lambert Fieldhouse 9 500 West Lafayette IN1 28 1956 no no No 5 DePaul W 80 66 11 1 Chicago Stadium 15 254 Chicago IL1 30 1956 no no No 5 Minnesota W 95 84 12 1 5 0 Williams Arena 9 805 Minneapolis MN2 6 1956 no no No 6 Indiana Rivalry W 92 89 13 1 6 0 Huff Hall 6 912 Champaign IL2 11 1956 no no No 6 Ohio State W 111 64 14 1 7 0 Huff Hall 6 154 Champaign IL2 13 1956 no no No 6 Michigan W 89 66 15 1 8 0 Huff Hall 6 135 Champaign IL2 18 1956 no no No 3 Michigan State W 96 76 16 1 9 0 Jenison Fieldhouse 9 094 East Lansing MI2 20 1956 no no No 3 Purdue W 102 77 17 1 10 0 Huff Hall 6 135 Champaign IL2 25 1956 no no No 2 Ohio State L 84 87 17 2 10 1 Ohio Expo Center Coliseum 8 539 Columbus OH2 27 1956 no no No 2 Minnesota W 97 81 18 2 11 1 Huff Hall 5 765 Champaign IL3 3 1956 no no No 2 Iowa No 10 Rivalry L 72 96 18 3 11 2 Iowa Field House 15 200 Iowa City IA3 5 1956 no no No 2 Northwestern L 82 83 18 4 11 3 McGaw Memorial Hall 8 500 Evanston IL Non conference game Rankings from AP Poll Tournament seedings in parentheses All times are in Central Time Bold Italic connotes conference gamePlayer stats editPlayer Games Played Field Goals Free Throws PointsGeorge BonSalle 22 156 118 430Paul Judson 22 160 84 404Bill Ridley 21 109 104 322Harv Schmidt 22 113 69 295Bruce Brothers 22 51 58 160Don Ohl 22 57 33 147Hiles Stout 22 35 42 112Bill Altenberger 18 19 15 53Ted Caiazza 5 8 4 20Phil Judson 6 7 4 18Jim Chengary 9 7 0 14Larry Breyfogle 9 5 1 11John Paul 12 5 0 10 5 Awards and honors editPaul Judson Converse 2nd Team All American National Association of Basketball Coaches 3rd Team All American United Press International 3rd Team All American Newspaper Enterprises Association 3rd Team All American International News Service Honorable Mention All American Bill Ridley Converse 2nd Team All American National Association of Basketball Coaches 3rd Team All American United Press International 3rd Team All American Newspaper Enterprises Association 3rd Team All American Bruce Brothers Converse Honorable Mention All American Team Most Valuable Player 6 Harv Schmidt Converse Honorable Mention All AmericanTeam players drafted into the NBA editPlayer NBA Club Round PickPaul Judson Syracuse Nationals 2 13 7 Rankings editMain article 1955 56 NCAA men s basketball rankingsReferences edit Fighting Illini Basketball A Hardwood History By News Gazette Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1 58261 356 7 1955 56 Men s Basketball Roster University of Illinois Athletics Retrieved September 22 2023 University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1955 56 FightingIllini com Schedule Season Stats Archived from the original on March 19 2014 Retrieved March 19 2014 List of MVPs PDF Archived from the original PDF on October 30 2014 Retrieved January 21 2013 1956 NBA Draft Archived 2013 02 03 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1955 56 Illinois Fighting Illini men 27s basketball team amp oldid 1176535657, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
