1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini 1951–52_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 2 2 22–4 12–2 Harry Combes Howie Braun Cal Luther 5th 15th 1st Rod Fletcher Rod Fletcher Huff Hall Big Ten conference champions NCAA men's Division I tournament Final Four thumb|"1951-52 Fighting Illini men's basketball team" thumb|"1951-52 Fighting Illini men's basketball team" The 1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season The 1951-52 Fighting Illini men's basketball team had reached a level of national prominence that was only bettered by the 1914-15 national championship team. Head coach Harry Combes had guided his team to a Big Ten championship, a third place finish in the 1952 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and a final AP ranking of No. 2 in the nation. Combes was beginning to build a dynasty in Champaign with 3 Big Ten Championships and 3 third place finishes in the NCAA tournament in his first 5 years at the helm. The 1951-52 season not only brought Illinois another Big Ten title, it also introduced John Kerr, a center from Tilden Tech in Chicago. He began his three-year reign as Illinois’ top scorer with a sophomore-record 357 points. The Illini recorded a 22-4 overall mark and went 12-2 in the conference. Once again, Illinois advanced to the national semifinals and ran into underdog St. John’s. The Redmen fought their way to a 61-59 victory in the NCAA’s first Final Four, in Seattle. Illinois took another third-place award home after beating Santa Clara, 67-64, behind 26 points by Kerr. At the conclusion of the tournament, Kerr and James Bredar were named to the Final Four All-Tournament team. Subsequently, at the conclusion of the season, Rodney Fletcher was named a Consensus 1st team All-American. The starting lineup for the season included captain Rodney Fletcher, James Bredar and Irving Bemoras at guard, Clive Follmer 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.Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC 1-58261-356-7 Roster 1951 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Elmer Plew 9 G 6 0 170 FR Paris, Illinois Paris High School n Jim Dutcher 11 F 6 3 185 FR Downers Grove, Illinois Downers Grove High School y Jim Dutcher (basketball) Jim Wright 16 G 6 0 160 SO Lawrenceville, Illinois Lawrenceville High School n James Bredar 19 G 5 11 167 JR Salem, Illinois Salem High School y Jim Bredar Johnny Kerr 22 C 6 9 205 SO Chicago, Illinois Tilden High School y Ed Makovsky 24 F 6 5 194 SO Cicero, Illinois Morton High School n Robert Peterson 25 C 6 8 235 JR Wayne, Illinois Elgin High School n Irving Bemoras 26 G 6 3.5 185 JR Chicago, Illinois Marshall High School y Mack Follmer 27 C 6 4 200 SR Forrest, Illinois Forrest High School n Max Baumgardner 29 F 6 3 175 JR Sterling, Illinois Sterling High School n Clive Follmer 33 F 6 4 195 JR Forrest, Illinois Forrest High School y Seymour Gantman 34 G 5 7 165 SR Chicago, Illinois Marshall High School n Ren Alde 35 G 6 2 180 SR Pana, Illinois Pana High School n Rod Fletcher 37 G 6 4 194 SR Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School y C Rod Fletcher (basketball) Herb Gerecke 38 G 6 1 180 SR Pekin, Illinois Pekin High School n Max Hooper 41 F 6 5 200 SO Mt. Vernon, Illinois Mt. Vernon High School n Walt Moore 44 G 6 2 165 FR Mt. Vernon, Illinois Mt. Vernon High School n Dick Christiansen 47 G 6 3.5 180 SR Winnetka, Illinois New Trier High School n James Schuldt 48 G 6 0 193 JR Dundee, Illinois Dundee Community High School n Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (5th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (15th year) Cal Luther (Valparaiso University) (1st year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1951-52 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1951-52 https://web.archive.org/web/20140331174934/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1951.html 2014-03-31 , FightingIllini.com yes yesSchedule |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/4/1951 yes yes 1951 Butler Bulldogs Butler Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN 68–57 3,043 1-0 12/12/1951 3 yes 1951 Loyola Ramblers Loyola (Chicago) Huff Hall Champaign, IL 74–66 - 2-0 12/13/1951 3 yes 1951 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma Huff Hall Champaign, IL 69-51 6,505 3-0 12/20/1951 3 yes 1951 North Carolina Tar Heels North Carolina Huff Hall Champaign, IL 86–66 2,899 4-0 12/22/1951 3 yes 1951 DePaul Blue Demons DePaul Huff Hall Champaign, IL 70–61 - 5-0 12/28/1951 2 yes UCLA 16 Huff Hall Champaign, IL 73–67 2,411 6-0 12/31/1951 2 yes 1951 Marquette Golden Eagles Marquette Marquette Gymnasium Milwaukee, Wisconsin 68–57 - 7-0 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/5/1952 2 yes 1951 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 52–43 17,862 8-0 1-0 1/7/1952 2 Wisconsin Huff Hall Champaign, IL 53–49 6,912 9-0 2-0 1/12/1952 2 yes Michigan Yost Field House Ann Arbor, MI 67–51 6,300 10-0 3-0 1/14/1952 2 Indiana 4 Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 78–66 6,912 11-0 4-0 1/26/1952 1 yes DePaul yes Alumni Hall Chicago, IL 65–69 - 11-1 1/28/1952 1 yes 1951 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Lambert Fieldhouse West Lafayette, IN 84–57 - 12-1 5-0 2/2/1952 3 yes 1951 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State Ohio Expo Center Coliseum Columbus, OH 66–62 8,265 13-1 6-0 2/9/1952 3 yes Iowa 9 Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 68–73 - 13-2 6-1 2/11/1952 3 1951 Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 84–62 6,912 14-2 7-1 2/16/1952 6 1951 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 80–53 6,912 15-2 8-1 2/18/1952 6 yes Indiana 20 The Fieldhouse Bloomington, IN Rivalry 77–70 10,556 16-2 9-1 2/23/1952 5 Iowa 4 Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 78–62 6,912 17-2 10-1 3/1/1952 2 Purdue Huff Hall Champaign, IL 82–71 6,912 18-2 11-1 3/5/1952 2 1951 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 95–74 6,912 19-2 12-1) 3/8/1952 2 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 48–58 13,000 19-3 12-2 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA tournament 3/21/1952 2 yes yes 1951 Dayton Flyers Dayton 11 Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional first round 80–61 - 20-3 3/22/1952 2 yes yes 1951 Duquesne Dukes Duquesne 4 Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL NCAA Tournament First Round Mideast Regional Final 74–68 - 21-3 3/25/1952 2 yes yes St. Johns 10 Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA NCAA Tournament National Semifinals 59–61 - 21-4 3/26/1952 2 yes yes Santa Clara Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA NCAA Tournament National Third Place Game 67–64 - 22-4 |-RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More Central Time Rankings 1951–52 NCAA men's basketball rankings Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws PointsJohn Kerr 2614371357Rod Fletcher 2610580290Irv Bemoras 2610869285Jim Bredar2610452260Bob Peterson268777251Clive Follmer 207391237Max Hooper 20291169Herb Gerecke 20211759Jim Wright 125212Dick Christiansen 105111Ed Makovsky 9157Jim Schuldt 7146Max Baumgardner7306Jim Dutcher 5226Walt Moore 4215Mack Follmer 9044 http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1951.html Season Stats 2014-03-31 https://web.archive.org/web/20140331174934/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1951.html 2014-03-31 dead Awards and honors Rod Fletcher Consensus 1st team All-American (1952) Look Magazine 1st team All-American (1952) Converse 1st team All-American (1952) Helms 1st team All-American (1952) Associated Press 2nd team All-American (1952) United Press International 2nd team All-American (1952) International News Service 2nd team All-American (1952) Collier's Weekly 2nd team All-American (1952) National Association of Basketball Coaches 2nd team All-American (1952) Athletic Publications 2nd team All-American (1952) Team Most Valuable Playerhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ill/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/05_mbb_guide_06.pdf 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 Irv Bemoras Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1952) United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952) Johnny Kerr NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team (1952) Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1952) United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952) Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American (1952) Jim Bredar NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team (1952) United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952) Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1952) Bob Peterson United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952) Team players drafted into the NBA PlayerNBA ClubRod FletcherMinneapolis Lakers1952 NBA draft Rankings 1951–52 NCAA men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Illinois Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons Category:1951 in sports in Illinois Category:1952 in sports in Illinois