1949–50 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1949–50 Illinois Fighting Illini 1949–50_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 14–8 7-5 Harry Combes Howie Braun 3rd 13th Bill Erickson Wally Osterkorn Huff Hall The 1949–50 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season The 1949-50 season looked to have solid promise based on the fact that the team had 3 returning starters from a "Final Four" team a year earlier. Unfortunately for the Fighting Illini men's basketball team, the conference season proved to be more difficult than expected. With 5 of the team's 8 losses coming at the hands of conference competition, the Illini, not only placed in a third place tie in the Big Ten, they also missed out on the opportunity to play in a post-season tournament. Head coach Harry Combes had guided the team a year earlier to a Big Ten championship, a third place finish in the 1949 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and a final AP ranking of No. 4 in the nation. The 1949-50 team compiled an overall record of 14 wins and 8 losses with a conference record of 7 wins and 5 losses. The starting lineup included captain William Erickson, Roy Gatewood and Donald Sunderlage as forwards, Rodney Fletcher, and Burdette Thurlby at guard and Walter Osterkorn and Mack Follmer rotating at the center position.Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC 1-58261-356-7 Roster 1949 Illinois Fighting Illini y yes Jim Cottrell 7 G 5 10 167 JR Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School n Roy Gatewood 8 F 6 2 174 SR Salem, Illinois Salem High School n Don Sunderlage 11 G 6 1 180 JR Elgin, Illinois Elgin High School y Walter Osterkorn 13 C 6 4.5 207 SR Chicago, Illinois Amundsen High School y Burdette Thurlby 14 F 6 2 180 SR Kirkland, Illinois Kirkland High School n Walt Kersulis 21 C 6 4 197 SR East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis Senior High School n Van Anderson 22 F 6 2 185 SR Sullivan, Illinois Sullivan Community High School n Ted Beach 23 F 6 1 165 JR Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School n Mack Follmer 27 C 6 4 200 SO Forrest, Illinois Forrest High School n Glen Trugillo 30 F 5 11 160 JR Rockford, Illinois East High School n Bill Erickson 33 G 6 1 184 SR Rockford, Illinois East High School y C Seymour Gantman 34 G 5 7 165 SO Chicago, Illinois Marshall High School n Ren Alde 35 G 6 2 180 SO Pana, Illinois Pana High School n Rod Fletcher 37 G 6 4 194 SO Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School y Rod Fletcher (basketball) Herb Gerecke 38 G 6 1 180 SO Pekin, Illinois Pekin High School n John Marks JR Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville High School n Cliff Fulton SR Mooseheart, Illinois Mooseheart High School n Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (3rd year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (13th year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1949-50 Schedule SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1949-50 https://web.archive.org/web/20140407060418/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1949.html 2014-04-07 , FightingIllini.com yes yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/3/1949 yes yes 1949 Butler Bulldogs Butler Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN 60–56 7,704 1-0 12/8/1949 yes 1949 Toledo Rockets Toledo Huff Hall Champaign, IL 67–51 6,905 2-0 12/10/1949 yes yes Oklahoma McCasland Field House Norman, OK 47–55 4,500 2-1 12/14/1949 yes 1949 Arkansas Razorbacks Arkansas Huff Hall Champaign, IL 65–53 6,905 3-1 12/17/1949 yes Oklahoma Huff Hall Champaign, IL 57–47 6,905 4-1 12/22/1949 yes 1949 Saint Louis Billikens St. Louis Huff Hall Champaign, IL 59–47 5,333 5-1 12/23/1949 yes UCLA Huff Hall Champaign, IL 63–65 6,905 5-2 12/27/1949 yes 1949 Columbia Lions Columbia Huff Hall Champaign, IL 58–46 4,760 6-2 12/30/1949 yes Princeton Huff Hall Champaign, IL 68–61 4,593 7-2 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/2/1950 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 50–59 13,000 7-3 0-1 1/7/1950 16 yes 1949 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State Ohio Expo Center Coliseum Columbus, OH 62–83 - 7-4 0-2 1/9/1950 1949 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Huff Hall Champaign, IL 59–54 6,905 8-4 1-2 1/16/1950 1949 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 76–50 6,905 9-4 2-2 1/21/1950 Ohio State 11 Huff Hall Champaign, IL 66–50 6,905 10-4 3-2 2/1/1950 20 yes yes St. Louis Bauman–Eberhardt Center St. Louis, MO 42–62 - 10-5 2/4/1950 yes 1949 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 67–57 13,527 11-5 4-2 2/11/1950 yes 1949 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 65–70 13,394 11-6 4-3 2/13/1950 Indiana 16 Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 72–83 6,905 11-7 4-4 2/18/1950 Michigan Huff Hall Champaign, IL 70–60 6,905 12-7 5-4 2/25/1950 Wisconsin Huff Hall Champaign, IL 76–58 6,905 13-7 6-4 2/27/1950 yes Indiana 17 The Field House Bloomington, IN Rivalry 66–80 10,036 13-8 6-5 3/4/1950 yes Northwestern Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL Rivalry 69–52 14,200 14-8 7-5 |- Central Time Rankings 1949–50 NCAA men's basketball rankings Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws PointsWally Osterkorn 2212583333Bill Erickson 227873229Burdette Thurlby 215752166Don Sunderlage 225445153Rod Fletcher 193924102Roy Gatewood17381894Mack Follmer 22341381Van Anderson19251464Walt Kersulis 19231460Ted Beach19201353Cliff Fulton 177721Herb Gerecke 63511Seymour Gantman 7339Jim Cottrell 4124John Marks 1102Glen Trugillo2102Ron Alde 1000 http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1949.html Season Stats 2014-03-31 https://web.archive.org/web/20140407060418/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1949.html 2014-04-07 dead Awards and honors Bill Erickson Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1950) Wally Osterkorn 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 Team players drafted into the NBA Round Pick Player NBA club 2 15 Wally OsterkornChicago Stags7 83 Bill EricksonTri-Cities Blackhawks 1950 NBA Draft Rankings 1949–50 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Category:1949 in sports in Illinois Category:1950 in sports in Illinois