1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini 1952–53_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 10 11 18–4 14-4 Harry Combes Howie Braun Cal Luther 6th 16th 2nd Jim Bredar Irv Bemoras Huff Hall thumb|"1952-53 Fighting Illini men's basketball team" 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.Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC 1-58261-356-7 Roster 1952 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Morris Sterneck 7 G 6 0 170 SO Salem, Illinois Salem High School n Elmer Plew 9 G 6 0 170 SO Paris, Illinois Paris High School n Jim Wright 16 G 6 0 165 JR Lawrenceville, Illinois Lawrenceville High School n James Bredar 19 G 5 10 170 SR Salem, Illinois Salem High School y Jim Bredar C Johnny Kerr 22 C 6 9 215 JR Chicago, Illinois Tilden High School y Ed Makovsky 24 G 6 5 205 SO Cicero, Illinois Morton High School n Robert Peterson 25 C 6 8 250 SR Wayne, Illinois Elgin High School n Irving Bemoras 26 G 6 3 188 SR Chicago, Illinois Marshall High School y Jim Dutcher 27 F 6 3 188 SO Downers Grove, Illinois Downers Grove High School Jim Dutcher (basketball) Max Baumgardner 29 F 6 5 195 SR Sterling, Illinois Sterling High School n Clive Follmer 33 F 6 4 198 SR Forrest, Illinois Forrest High School y Max Hooper 47 F 6 5 200 JR Mt. Vernon, Illinois Mt. Vernon High School n James Schuldt 48 G 6 0 193 SR Dundee, Illinois Dundee Community High School n Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (6th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (16th year) Cal Luther (Valparaiso University) (2nd year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1952-53 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1952-53, FightingIllini.com yes yesSchedule |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/10/1952 yes 1952 Loyola Ramblers Loyola (Chicago) Huff Hall Champaign, IL 71–57 6,905 1-0 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 12/15/1952 Michigan Huff Hall Champaign, IL 96–66 6,905 2-0 1-0 12/20/1952 3 yes 1952 Butler Bulldogs Butler Huff Hall Champaign, IL 75–58 6,905 3-0 12/23/1952 2 yes 1952 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota 17 Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 73–77 16,878 3-1 1-1 12/27/1952 2 1952 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 87–62 6,905 4-1 2-1 12/30/1952 4 yes 1952 Saint Mary's Gaels St. Mary's Huff Hall Champaign, IL 94–65 6,905 5-1 1/5/1953 4 yes 1952 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Lambert Fieldhouse West Lafayette, IN 87–71 - 6-1 3-1 1/10/1953 4 Wisconsin Huff Hall Champaign, IL 71–61 6,905 7-1 4-1 1/12/1953 4 1952 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 83–58 6,905 8-1 5-1 1/17/1953 4 yes Indiana 6 The Fieldhouse Bloomington, IN Rivalry 70–74 2OT 10,000 8-2 5-2 1/19/1953 4 yes 1952 Michigan State Spartans Michigan State Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI 76–64 - 9-2 6-2 2/2/1953 6 yes 1952 DePauw Tigers DePauw Huff Hall Champaign, IL 93–50 4,002 10-2 2/7/1953 6 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 65–61 13,500 11-2 7-2 2/9/1953 6 yes Michigan Yost Field House Ann Arbor, MI 92–62 6,000 12-2 8-2 2/14/1953 5 1952 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 80–63 6,905 13-2 9-2 2/16/1953 5 Purdue Huff Hall Champaign, IL 93–67 6,905 14-2 10-2 2/21/1953 5 yes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 62–67 14,000 14-3 10-3 2/23/1953 5 Minnesota Huff Hall Champaign, IL 83–82 6,905 15-3 11-3 2/28/1953 10 Indiana 2 Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 79–91 6,905 15-4 11-4 3/2/1953 10 Michigan State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 66–53 6,905 16-4 12-4 3/7/1953 10 yes Ohio State Ohio Expo Center Coliseum Columbus, OH 93–74 5,242 17-4 13-4 3/9/1953 10 yes Northwestern McGaw Memorial Hall Evanston, IL Rivalry 86–70 9,700 18-4 14-4 |- Central Time Rankings 1952–53 NCAA men's basketball rankings Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws PointsJohn Kerr 2215380386Irv Bemoras 2211984322Jim Bredar2210650262Clive Follmer 228286250Max Hooper 217345191Bob Peterson225354160Jim Schuldt 19141139Jim Wright 1715737Max Baumgardner9131036Ed Makovsky 1691533Elmer Plew 1312630Jim Dutcher 107923Morris Sterneck 9146 http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1952.html 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 Awards and honors Irv Bemoras Converse 2nd team All-American Look Magazine 2nd team All-American Helms 2nd team All-American Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American Team Most Valuable Player http://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 Jim Bredar International News Service 2nd team All-American Converse 2nd team All-American Look Magazine 2nd team All-American Helms 2nd team All-American Associated Press 3rd team All-American Johnny Kerr Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American International News Service Honorable Mention All-American Converse Honorable Mention All-American Clive Follmer Big Ten Medal of Honor Team players drafted into the NBA PlayerNBA ClubJim BredarFt. Wayne Pistons1953 NBA Draft Rankings 1952–53 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:1952 in sports in Illinois Category:1953 in sports in Illinois