1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team explained

Mode:Basketball
Year:1952–53
Team:Illinois Fighting Illini
Conference:Big Ten Conference
Short Conf:Big Ten
Coachrank:10
Aprank:11
Record:18–4
Conf Record:14-4
Hc Year:6th
Ac1 Year:16th
Ac2 Year:2nd

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

Schedule

Source[2] [3] |-!colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season|-!colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season

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Rankings

See main article: 1952–53 NCAA men's basketball rankings.

Player stats

PlayerGames PlayedField GoalsFree ThrowsPoints
John Kerr 2215380386
Irv Bemoras 2211984322
Jim Bredar2210650262
Clive Follmer 228286250
Max Hooper 217345191
Bob Peterson225354160
Jim Schuldt 19141139
Jim Wright 1715737
Max Baumgardner9131036
Ed Makovsky 1691533
Elmer Plew 1312630
Jim Dutcher 107923
Morris Sterneck 9146
[4]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

[6]

Rankings

See main article: 1952–53 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings.

Notes and References

  1. Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC
  2. http://www.fightingillini.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=1507&path=mbball University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1952-53
  3. http://www.fightingillini.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=1507&path=mbball Schedule
  4. Web site: Season Stats . 2014-03-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140331161511/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1952.html . 2014-03-31 . dead .
  5. Web site: List of MVPs . 2013-01-15 . 2014-10-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141030004049/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf . dead .
  6. http://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1953&lg=N 1953 NBA Draft