1946–47 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1946–47 Illinois Fighting Illini Illinois_Fighting_Illini_primary_logo_1947_-_1956.jpg 175px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 14–6 8–4 Douglas R. Mills Howie Braun Wally Roettger 11th 10th 12th Selected each game Jack Smiley Huff Hall The 1946–47 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season The 1946–47 season would be the last year that Doug Mills would be the head coach of the Fighting Illini, however; he would remain as the University of Illinois athletic director until 1966. During his tenure at the helm, Mills' coached 217 games over 11 seasons. Overall his teams won 151 games and lost only 66, the 151 wins remains 4th all-time in Illini history. During the Big Ten Conference season, Mills' teams won 88 games while losing only 47. Included in the 88 wins would be back-to-back conference titles in 1942 and 1943 where his teams would go 35–6 overall and 25–2 in the conference. Amazingly, Mills' three championships ('37, '42, '43) in just 11 years, place him just one behind Harry Combes, his replacement as head coach, for the most conference championships. An attempt to regroup 'The Whiz Kids' occurred during the 1946–47 season when Ken Menke, Gene Vance, and Andy Phillip returned from their service in World War II. January also saw the return of All-American guard Walt Kirk from his time in military service. Additionally, Dike Eddleman was not available to play until January based on the football team playing in the Rose Bowl. Unfortunately, the chemistry was not the same and the team finished in a tie for second in the conference with a record of 8 wins, 4 losses. Overall, the team finished with a 14–6 record. The starting lineup at the beginning of the season included 4 of the 5 Whiz Kids, guards Smiley and Vance, forwards Phillip and Ken Menke and Fred Green at center. However, as January unfolded, Mills would insert Kirk and freshman Bill Erickson into the starting lineup as well.A Century of Orange and Blue: Celebrating 100 Years of Fighting Illini Basketball By Loren Tate, Jared Gelfond pgs.36–38 1-58261-793-7 Roster thumb|1946–47 Illinois Starting Five. 1946 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Robert Menke 7 C 6 3 185 SO Elgin, Illinois Elgin High School n Roy Gatewood 8 F 6 2 182 FR Salem, Illinois Salem High School n Dick Foley 9 G 6 0 155 SO Paris, Illinois Paris High School n Bill Edwards 10 F 6 2 180 SO Paris, Illinois Paris High School n Jack Burmaster 11 G 6 2 182 JR Elgin, Illinois Elgin High School y Walt Kirk 13 G 6 3 175 SR Mt. Vernon, Illinois Mt. Vernon High School y Arthur Smiley 15 G 6 3 195 SR Waterman, Illinois Waterman High School y Jack Smiley Robert Doster 16 F 6 1 165 SO Decatur, Illinois Decatur High School n Robert Rowe 19 C 6 7 200 SO Warren, Illinois Warren High School n Ray DeMoulin 21 F 6 1 170 SO Mulberry Grove, Illinois Mulberry Grove High School n Burdette Thurlby 24 F 6 2 170 FR Kirkland, Illinois Kirkland High School n Ellis Vance 25 G 6 3 196 SR Clinton, Illinois Clinton High School y Gene Vance Chet Trost 26 F 6 3 175 SO Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School n Hal Craig 27 F 6 0 160 JR Decatur, Illinois Decatur High School n Dwight Humphrey 29 F 5 9 145 SO Moline, Illinois Moline High School n Walter Osterkorn 30 C 6 4 195 FR Chicago, Illinois Amundsen High School y Stanley Fronczak 31 G 6 2 190 JR Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn High School n Bill Erickson 33 F 6 1 173 FR Rockford, Illinois East High School y Benton Odum 34 F 6 0 172 FR Marion, Illinois Marion High School n Jim Marks 36 F 6 2 175 FR Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville High School n Ken Menke 38 F 6 0 172 SR Dundee, Illinois Dundee High School y Bob Lavoy 39 C 6 6 185 FR Aurora, Illinois West Aurora High School n Dwight Eddleman 40 F 6 2 190 SO Centralia, Illinois Centralia High School y Andrew Phillip 47 F 6 2 184 SR Granite City, Illinois Granite City High School y Andy Phillip Fred Green 48 C 6 7 210 SO Urbana, Illinois Urbana High School n Douglas Mills (University of Illinois) (11th year) Wally Roettger (University of Illinois) (12th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (10th year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1946-47 Schedule yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/6/1946 yes 1946 Cornell Big Red Cornell Huff Hall Champaign, IL 87–39 7,892 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="" 12/11/1946 yes 1946 Marquette Golden Eagles Marquette Huff Hall Champaign, IL 73–40 7,697 2–0 12/14/1946 yes 1946 Pittsburgh Panthers Pittsburgh Huff Hall Champaign, IL 58–31 7,855 3–0 12/16/1946 yes yes 1946 Missouri Tigers Missouri Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO Rivalry 50–55 4,470 3–1 12/20/1946 yes yes 1946 California Golden Bears California Haas Pavilion Berkeley, CA 58–41 7,000 4–1 12/21/1946 yes yes California Haas Pavilion Berkeley, CA 35–53 7,000 4–2 12/28/1946 yes 1946 Nebraska Cornhuskers Nebraska Huff Hall Champaign, IL 72–37 – 5–2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/1/1947 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 47–53 7,900 5–3 0–1 1/4/1947 yes 1946 University of Mexico Huff Hall Champaign, IL 94–36 7,851 6–3 1/6/1947 1946 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Huff Hall Champaign, IL 31–34 7,875 6–4 0–2 1/11/1947 1946 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 55–40 6,600 7–4 1–2 1/13/1947 1946 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 61–42 7,600 8–4 2–2 1/25/1947 Wisconsin Huff Hall Champaign, IL 63–37 7,685 9–4 3–2 2/1/1947 yes Ohio State Ohio Expo Center Coliseum Columbus, OH 59–58 – 10–4 4–2 2/5/1947 yes 1946 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Lambert Fieldhouse West Lafayette, IN 42–51 11,000 10–5 4–3 2/8/1947 yes 1946 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 45–36 7,879 11–5 5–3 2/15/1947 Indiana Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 59–50 7,874 12–5 6–3 2/22/1947 yes Northwestern Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL Rivalry 52–51 24,000 13–5 7–3 2/24/1947 yes Michigan Yost Field House Ann Arbor, MI 45–36 – 14–5 8–3 3/1/1947 yes Indiana The Field House Bloomington, IN Rivalry 41–48 – 14–6 8–4 Central Time SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1943–44 pg.81 https://web.archive.org/web/20161026185153/http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/fightingillini.com/documents/2015/10/14/2015_16_ILLINI_MBB_Record_Book_for_Web.pdf October 26, 2016 , FightingIllini.com Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws PointsAndy Phillip 208130192Ken Menke207236180Fred Green207225169Jack Smiley205638150Gene Vance204937135Walt Kirk19312284Bill Erickson 2027761Jack Burmaster 1515434Bob Doster 1212731Dick Foley 1611426Bob Lavoy1171125Dwight Eddleman 105212Benton Odum 24311Dwight Humphrey11408Wally Osterkorn 8146Ron Bontemps 4022Burdette Thurlby 4011Robert Rowe 5000Roy Gatewood2000 http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1946.html Season Stats 2014-04-02 https://web.archive.org/web/20140407065400/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1946.html 2014-04-07 dead Awards and honors Dwight Eddleman Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Andy Phillip True Magazine 1st team All-American (1947) National Association of Basketball Coaches 1st team All-American (1947) Consensus 2nd team All-American (1947) Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1947) Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1961) Jack Smiley Helms 3rd Team All-American (1947) Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1947) 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 Gene Vance Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1947) References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:1946 in sports in Illinois Category:1947 in sports in Illinois