1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini 1948–49_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 4 21–4 10–2 Harry Combes Howie Braun Wally Roettger 2nd 12th 14th Dike Eddleman Dike Eddleman Huff Hall Big Ten Conference champions NCAA men's Division I tournament Final Four thumb|"1948-49 Fighting Illini men's basketball team" The 1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season The 1948-49 squad, led by Dike Eddleman, Bill Erickson, and Walter Osterkorn, was Illinois’ first 20-game winner since 1908, finishing 21-4. Illinois beat Yale, 71-67, to advance to a national semifinal showdown with Kentucky at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Illini fell to the Wildcats, 76-47, forcing Illinois to defeat Oregon State, 57-53, in Seattle for third place. Roster 1948 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Jim Cottrell 7 G 5 10 167 SO Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School n Roy Gatewood 8 F 6 2 174 JR Salem, Illinois Salem High School n Dick Foley 9 G 6 0 165 SR Paris, Illinois Paris High School n Bill Boyer 10 C 6 4 190 SO Beardstown, Illinois Beardstown High School n Don Sunderlage 11 G 6 0 180 SO Elgin, Illinois Elgin High School y Richard Brogren 12 G 5 11 175 SO Rockford, Illinois East High School n Walter Osterkorn 13 C 6 4.5 207 JR Chicago, Illinois Amundsen High School y Burdette Thurlby 14 F 6 2 180 JR Kirkland, Illinois Kirkland High School n Paul Eckert 15 G 6 1 178 SO Herrin, Illinois Herrin High School n Walt Kersulis 21 C 6 4 197 JR East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis Senior High School n Van Anderson 22 F 6 2 185 JR Sullivan, Illinois Sullivan Community High School n Ted Beach 23 F 6 1 165 SO Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School n Benton Odum 24 f 6 0.5 175 JR Marion, Illinois Marion High School n Jim Marks 27 F 6 2 177 SR Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville High School n Glen Trugillo 30 F 5 11 160 SO Rockford, Illinois East High School n Bill Hoffman 31 G 6 0 175 SO Chicago, Illinois Wells High School n Bill Erickson 33 G 6 1 184 JR Rockford, Illinois East High School y Al Leavitt 36 C 6 5 230 SO Chicago, Illinois Sullivan High School n Dwight Eddleman 40 F 6 2 189 SR Centralia, Illinois Centralia High School y C Fred Green 48 C 6 7 208 SR Urbana, Illinois Urbana High School n Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (2nd year) Wally Roettger (University of Illinois) (14th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (12th year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1948-49 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1948-49 https://web.archive.org/web/20140407065158/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1948.html 2014-04-07 , FightingIllini.com yes yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/3/1948 yes 1948 Butler Bulldogs Butler Huff Hall Champaign, IL 67–62 – 1–0 12/8/1948 yes yes 1948 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Notre Dame Fieldhouse Notre Dame, IN 59–58 OT – 2–0 12/11/1948 yes yes 1948 DePaul Blue Demons DePaul Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 50–60 17,189 2–1 12/13/1948 yes 1948 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma Huff Hall Champaign, IL 73–68 6,902 3–1 12/18/1948 yes 1948 Penn Quakers Pennsylvania Huff Hall Champaign, IL 80–61 3,943 4–1 12/20/1948 yes DePaul Huff Hall Champaign, IL 89–51 6,013 5–1 12/21/1948 yes 1948 Cornell Big Red Cornell Huff Hall Champaign, IL 71–47 3,042 6–1 12/29/1948 yes 1948 Colgate Raiders Colgate Huff Hall Champaign, IL 77–54 4,541 7–1 12/30/1948 yes Colgate Huff Hall Champaign, IL 85–55 3,880 8–1 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/3/1949 Wisconsin Huff Hall Champaign, IL 62–50 – 9–1 1–0 1/8/1949 yes Indiana The Field House Bloomington, IN Rivalry 44–42 2OT 10,000 10–1 2–0 1/10/1949 yes 1948 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State Ohio Expo Center Coliseum Columbus, OH 64–63 6,958 11–1 3–0 1/15/1949 yes 1948 Creighton Bluejays Creighton Huff Hall Champaign, IL 96–30 6,958 12–1 1/29/1949 7 1948 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota 4 Huff Hall Champaign, IL 45–44 6,905 13–1 4–0 1/31/1949 6 yes 1948 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Lambert Fieldhouse West Lafayette, IN 53–55 10,000 13–2 4–1 2/5/1949 4 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 61–54 13,500 14–2 5–1 2/7/1949 4 1948 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 85–66 12,088 15–2 6–1 2/12/1949 4 Ohio State 18 Huff Hall Champaign, IL 64–49 6,905 16–2 7–1 2/21/1949 4 1948 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 80–49 – 17–2 8–1 2/26/1949 4 yes Northwestern Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL Rivalry 81–64 17,905 18–2 9–1 2/28/1949 4 Indiana Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 91–28 – 19–2 10–1 3/7/1949 4 yes Michigan Yost Field House Ann Arbor, MI 53–70 – 19–3 10–2 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA tournament 3/21/1949 4 yes yes 1948 Yale Bulldogs Yale Madison Square Garden New York, NY NCAA tournamenthttps://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1949 RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More 71–67 18,051 20–3 3/22/1949 4 yes yes Kentucky 1 Madison Square Garden New York, NY NCAA Tournament Final Four 47–76 15,126 20–4 3/26/1949 4 yes yes Oregon State Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA NCAA Tournament 3rd place game 57–53 – 21–4 |- Central Time NCAA basketball tournament Eastern Illinois 71, Yale 67 Final Four Kentucky 76, Illinois 47 Third-place game Illinois 57, Oregon State 53 Rankings 1948–49 NCAA men's basketball rankings Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws PointsDwight Eddleman 2513069329Wally Osterkorn 259081261Bill Erickson 259179261Fred Green256524154Don Sunderlage 255739153Jim Marks 205327133Walt Kersulis 204323109Burdette Thurlby 17362193Van Anderson2332872Dick Foley 24241159Ted Beach1413834Roy Gatewood99422Richard Brogren 64311Glen Trugillo10226Benton Odum 3133Jim Cottrell 5113Bill Boyer 2000 http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1948.html Season Stats 2014-04-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20140407065158/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1948.html 2014-04-07 dead Awards and honors Dwight Eddleman Converse 1st team All-American (1949) Associated Press 2nd team All-American (1949) United Press International 2nd team All-American (1949) Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award (1949) Big Ten Player of the Year (1949) Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) 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 Bill Erickson Consensus 2nd team All-American (1949) Helms 1st team All-American (1949) Collier's Weekly 1st team All-American (1949) National Association of Basketball Coaches 1st team All-American (1949) United Press International 3rd team All-American (1949) Sporting News 3rd team All-American (1949) Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1949) Team players drafted into the NBA Round Pick Player NBA club 3 N/ADike EddlemanChicago Stags 1949 NBA draft Rankings 1948–49 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons Illinois Category:1948 in sports in Illinois Category:1949 in sports in Illinois