1944–45 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1944–45 Illinois Fighting Illini 1944–45_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 13–7 7–5 Douglas R. Mills Howie Braun Wally Roettger 9th 8th 10th Selected each game Walton Kirk Huff Hall thumb|"1944-45 Fighting Illini men's basketball team" The 1944–45 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season After the second worst season in Doug Mills tenure as the head coach of the Fighting Illini, the ongoing war created even more havoc with the 1944–45 season. The Illini were required to play games close to home which meant they played certain teams multiple times. For example, the team played Great Lakes three times, Chanute Field, in nearby Rantoul, Illinois, two times and George Mikan and the DePaul Blue Demons two times as well. As the season progressed, Mills experimented with several lineups, including a 19 player barrage versus Nebraska. These varied lineups allowed Mills to play an impressive freshman, Johnny Orr, playing his only season for Illinois prior to rejoining his high school coach, Dolph Stanley, at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. The Big Ten Conference season was unusual as well. The Illini dropped their opening game to Michigan followed by a seven-game winning streak then concluding with four consecutive losses. The heaviest load fell on the hands of sophomores Walt Kirk and Howard Judson with freshman Walt Kersulis, Jack Burmaster, and Orr also being major contributors. Kirk would be named a Consensus All-American for his performance during the season. The team completed their season with an overall record of 13 wins and 7 losses with a conference mark of 7 and 5 for a third-place finish. They finished with a 7 - 3 record at home and a road record of 5 - 4. The starting lineup consisted of Walton Kirk, Howard Judson, Johnny Orr, Jack Burmaster, Don Delaney and Walt Kersulis. Roster 1944 Illinois Fighting Illini y Carl Bontemps 3 G/C FR Taylorville, Illinois n Maurice Dolan 7 C JR Champaign, Illinois n William Eddleman 8 F 6 0 JR Anna, Illinois n Jim Seyler 9 G 5 11 JR Champaign, Illinois n Johnny Orr 11 F/C FR Taylorville, Illinois y Johnny Orr (basketball, born 1927) Leo Gedvilas 12 G 6 0 SO Spring Valley, Illinois n John Larson 14 C JR Sioux City, Iowa n Roger Little 15 G FR Champaign, Illinois n Paul Schnackenberg 18 F FR Chicago, Illinois n Walt Kersulis 19 C FR East St. Louis, Illinois n Walter Mroz 20 F 5 9 FR Chicago, Illinois n Jake Staab 21 F 6 2 JR Chillicothe, Missouri n Lee Stickler 22 G SO Alton, Illinois n Joe Sulenski 23 F FR Chicago, Illinois n Vic Bubas 24 G FR Gary, Indiana y Walt Kirk 25 G JR Mt. Vernon, Illinois y Howard Judson 26 F SO Hebron, Illinois y Howie Judson Gordon Hortin 28 G SR Evansville, Indiana n Don Delaney 31 C JR Sacramento, California n Bob Morton 34 F SO Elgin, Illinois n Jack Burmaster 38 G 6 2 FR Elgin, Illinois y Douglas Mills (University of Illinois) (9th year) Wally Roettger (University of Illinois) (10th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (8th year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1944-45 Schedule yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/2/1944 yes Chanute Field Huff Hall Champaign, IL 64–25 3,500 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="" 12/8/1944 yes yes 1944 Naval Station Great Lakes Great Lakes Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 44–40 9,845 2–0 12/9/1944 yes yes Great Lakes Great Lakes Gymnasium Great Lakes, IL 56–53 2,400 3–0 12/16/1944 yes yes 1944 DePaul Blue Demons DePaul DePaul Auditorium Chicago, IL 43–40 - 4–0 12/20/1944 yes Great Lakes Huff Hall Champaign, IL 45–52 4,000 4–1 12/29/1944 yes 1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers Nebraska Huff Hall Champaign, IL 77–39 2,500 5–1 1/1/1945 yes DePaul Huff Hall Champaign, IL 56–63 4,158 5–2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/6/1945 Michigan Huff Hall Champaign, IL 38–43 4,200 5–3 0–1 1/13/1945 yes Michigan Yost Field House Ann Arbor, MI 55–37 4,000 6–3 1–1 1/19/1945 1944 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 51–42 4,210 7–3 2–1 1/26/1945 Iowa Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 43–42 6,000 8–3 3–1 2/6/1945 yes yes Chanute Field Chanute Field Rantoul, IL 58–46 - 9–3 2/10/1945 yes 1944 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 50–32 4,520 10-3 4–1 2/12/1945 Indiana Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 71–48 4,620 11–3 5–1 2/16/1945 Ohio State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 56-41 7,100 12–3 6–1 2/19/1945 Minnesota Huff Hall Champaign, IL 49–48 4,657 13–3 7–1 2/23/1945 yes Ohio State Ohio Expo Center Coliseum Columbus, OH 44–60 - 13–4 7–2 2/24/1945 yes Northwestern Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL Rivalry 45–47 15,862 13–5 7–3 2/28/1945 yes Indiana The Fieldhouse Bloomington, IN Rivalry 55–65 3,500 13–6 7–4 3/3/1945 yes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 37–43 14,400 13–7 7–5 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 PointsWalt Kirk207856212Howard Judson 207324170Jack Burmaster 166424152John Orr 205118120Walt Kersulis19371690Don Delaney 19302383Jimmy Seyler20291674Jake Staab 19142250Robert Morton 1417741Leo Gedvilas1211325Paul Schnackenberg76315Joe Sulenski3204Carl Bontemps 2204Vic Bubas 6102Jack Larson 1102Wallie Mroz 4000Gordon Hortin5000William Eddleman2000Maurice Dolan1000 http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1944.html Season Stats 2014-04-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20140407065908/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1944.html 2014-04-07 dead Awards and honors Johnny Orr Big Ten Coach of the Year (1974) Michigan National Coach of the Year (1976) Michigan Walt Kirk Consensus First-Team All-American (1945) Helms First-Team All-American (1945) Argosy Magazine Second-Team All-American (1945) Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1945) 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 References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:1944 in sports in Illinois Category:1945 in sports in Illinois