1943–44 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1943–44 Illinois Fighting Illini 1943–44_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 11–9 5–7 Douglas R. Mills Howie Braun Wally Roettger 8th 7th 9th Selected each game Stan Patrick Huff Hall The 1943–44 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season March 1, 1943, changed the future of Fighting Illini men's basketball when the team was broken up due to all five starters from back-to-back Big Ten Conference championships heading to active duty in the armed forces. The group who left, known as the Whiz Kids, consisted of 21-year-old All-America forward Andy Phillip and 20-year-olds Ken Menke, Gene Vance, Jack Smiley and Art Mathisen. Phillip went on to become a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Four of the five, minus Mathisen, returned to Illinois and tried to recapture the glory for one more season in 1946–47 after the war ended, but the chemistry had changed as well as their talent. Illinois went 14–6. The 1943–44 season, however, was a struggle for head coach Doug Mills, as it was the second worst season of his career. The overall record was 11 wins and 9 losses with a conference mark of 5 and 7. The team finished with a 6–4 record at home and a .500 record on the road at 5–5. The Illini returned only one player from the 1942–43 season, Gordon Horton, who wasn't even a starter, which meant the entire lineup was made up of rookie/unproven players. The starting lineup consisted of Walton Kirk, Howard Judson, Ray DeMoulin, Bob Morton, Don Delaney and Gordon Gillespie. Roster 1943 Illinois Fighting Illini y Ray DeMoulin 4 F FR Mulberry Grove, Illinois n Gordon Gillespie 5 C FR Chicago, Illinois n Stan Patrick 6 G SR Chicago, Illinois y Don Delaney 7 C SO Sacramento, California n Howard Judson 8 G/F FR Hebron, Illinois y Howie Judson Walt Kirk 9 G SO Mt. Vernon, Illinois y Gordon Hortin 10 G JR Evansville, Indiana n Jake Staab 11 F SO Chillicothe, Illinois n Jim Seyler 12 G SO Champaign, Illinois n Bob Morton 13 G/F FR Elgin, Illinois n Richard Foley 14 G FR Paris, Illinois n William Eddleman 15 F SO Anna, Illinois n Kermit Knetsch 16 C SO Paw Paw, Illinois n John Larson 17 C SO Sioux City, Iowa n Lou Possehl 18 F SR Chicago, Illinois y Leo Gedvillas 19 G SO Spring Valley, Illinois n Bob White 20 F SO Rockford, Illinois n Morris Dolan 21 C SO Trenton, Missouri n Lee Stickler 22 G SO Alton, Illinois n Raymond Fregan 23 G SO Brookfield, Illinois n Donald Sudkamp 24 G FR Champaign, Illinois n Douglas Mills (University of Illinois) (8th year) Wally Roettger (University of Illinois) (9th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (7th year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/2015/7/18/mbb_alltimerosters_1925_1949.aspx?#1944 Schedule yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/4/1943 yes Alumni Huff Hall Champaign, IL 53–35 3,041 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="" 12/7/1943 yes 1943 Detroit Titans Detroit Huff Hall Champaign, IL 56–25 2,011 2–0 12/11/1943 yes yes 1943 Naval Station Great Lakes Great Lakes Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL 44–52 12,000 2–1 12/18/1943 yes yes 1943 Missouri Tigers Missouri Brewer Fieldhouse Columbia, MO Rivalry 39–29 – 3–1 12/20/1943 yes 1943 Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky Huff Hall Champaign, IL 43–41 2,719 4–1 12/29/1943 yes Great Lakes Huff Hall Champaign, IL 64–51 4,429 5–1 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/3/1944 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 45–43 – 6–1 1–0 1/7/1944 Wisconsin Huff Hall Champaign, IL 38–43 4,660 6–2 1–1 1/8/1944 yes Michigan Yost Field House Ann Arbor, MI 45–52 – 6–3 1–2 1/15/1944 yes 1943 Chicago Maroons University of Chicago Henry Crown Field House Chicago, IL 69–32 300 7–3 2–2 1/21/1944 yes 1943 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 51–62 – 7–4 2–3 1/22/1944 yes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 44–53 – 7–5 2–4 2/7/1944 yes yes Kentucky Alumni Gymnasium Lexington, KY 40–51 2,900 7–6 2/11/1944 1943 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 29–42 2,834 7–7 2–5 2/12/1944 yes yes 1943 DePaul Blue Demons DePaul DePaul Auditorium Chicago, IL 45–33 – 8–7 2/18/1944 Ohio State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 41–52 2,577 8–8 2–6 2/19/1944 Ohio State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 53–54 2,717 8–9 2–7 2/25/1944 yes Northwestern Patten Gymnasium Evanston, IL Rivalry 50–47 – 9–9 3–7 3/3/1944 1943 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Huff Hall Champaign, IL 50–32 2,420 10–9 4–7 3/3/1944 Minnesota Huff Hall Champaign, IL 53–27 2,717 11–9 5–7 Central Time SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1943–44 pg.81, FightingIllini.com Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws PointsStan Patrick209746240Walt Kirk208455223Howard Judson 207412160Gordon Gillespie 20202655Jimmy Seyler20181349Dick Foley 620848Don Delaney 1118642Jake Staab 12141240Robert Morton 1613329Ray DeMoulin 1211123Gordon Hortin114210Kermit Knetsch 6419Lou Possehl7328Jack Larson 6215Donald Sudkamp3204Bob White 4113Leo Gedvilas1102Lee Stickler 2000Raymond Fregan1000Maurice Dolan1000Carl Bontemps 1000 http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1943.html Season Stats 2014-04-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20140407070051/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1943.html 2014-04-07 dead Awards and honors Walt Kirk Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1944) Stan Patrick 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:1943 in sports in Illinois Category:1944 in sports in Illinois