1941–42 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1941–42 Illinois Fighting Illini 1941–42_Illinois_Fighting_Illini_men's_basketball_team.jpg 300px Big Ten Conference Big Ten 18–5 13–2 Douglas R. Mills Howie Braun Wally Roettger Lou Boudreau 6th 5th 7th 1st William Hocking Andy Phillip Huff Hall Big Ten champions The 1941–42 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois. Regular season The Illinois Fighting Illini finished the season with a record of 18 wins and 5 losses. Under the direction of head coach and athletic director Douglas Mills, the Illini grouped a team of players, all around 6' 3", into a nearly undefeatable lineup later to be known as "The Whiz Kids". This group captured the attention of the entire nation while winning back-to-back conference titles and combining for a 35–6 record, 25–2 in the Big Ten over those two seasons. They dazzled crowds everywhere averaging 58 points per game, while most teams were averaging in the low 40s. Primarily made up of sophomores, they dominated the 1941–42 conference basketball season by posting a 13–2 record. A starting lineup consisting of Arthur "Jack" Smiley, Ken Menke, Andy Phillip, Ellis "Gene" Vance, Victor Wukovits and Art Mathisen, developed a winning attitude that would maintain for the next 15 years, a time period where the Illini would finish no less than third in the conference for 13 of them. The 1942 NCAA tournament was only in its fourth year of existence and was staged around the collegiate basketball coaches convention being held at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. The warm weather and unsufferable humidity caused the young Illini to lose two games in a period of two days. The final living Whiz Kid, Gene Vance, died in 2012. Roster 1941 Illinois Fighting Illini y Henry Sachs 4 G 6 1 SR Chicago, Illinois n Raymond Bergeson 5 C 6 4 SO Bridgeton, New Jersey n Clifton Fulton 6 G 5 10 FR Pittsburg, Kansas n Raymond Grierson 7 F 6 2 FR Champaign, Illinois n Edwin Parker 8 F 6 2 JR Taft, California n Kenneth Parker 9 G 6 0 JR Granite City, Illinois n Bishop Barrick 10 G 6 1 SO Stillman Valley, Illinois n Kenneth Brown 11 F 6 2 SO Catlin, Illinois n David Dillon 12 F 6 2 SR Sturgis, Michigan n Victor Wukovits 13 C 6 3 SR Mishawaka, Indiana n Johnson Johnson 14 F 6 1 SO - n Arthur Smiley 15 G 6 2 SO Waterman, Illinois y Jack Smiley William Hocking 16 G 6 0 SR Evanston, Illinois n C Herbert Matter 17 F 6 0 SO Naperville, Illinois n Robert Shapland 18 G 5 9 SO Champaign, Illinois n Arthur Mathisen 19 C 6 5 JR Dwight, Illinois y Art Mathisen Daryl Shapiro 20 G 5 6 SO Toledo, Ohio n Ellis Vance 25 G 6 2 JR Clinton, Illinois y Gene Vance Charles Fowler 33 F 5 9 FR Watseka, Illinois n Ken Menke 38 F 6 2 SO Dundee, Illinois y Andrew Phillip 47 G 6 2 SO Granite City, Illinois y Andy Phillip Douglas Mills (University of Illinois) (6th year) Wally Roettger (University of Illinois) (7th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (5th year) Lou Boudreau (University of Illinois) (1st year) https://fightingillini.com/sports/2015/7/18/mbb_alltimerosters_1925_1949.aspx?#1942 Schedule yes |- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season 12/9/1941 yes 1941 Marquette Golden Eagles Marquette Huff Hall Champaign, IL 45–43 3,990 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="" 12/13/1941 yes 1941 Chanute Air Force Base Chanute Field Huff Hall Champaign, IL 38–40 4,068 1–1 12/17/1941 yes 1941 Butler Bulldogs Butler Huff Hall Champaign, IL 52–50 3,903 2–1 12/20/1941 yes yes 1941 Detroit Titans Detroit Titans Gymnasium Detroit, MI 49–34 – 3–1 12/23/1941 yes 1941 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Huff Hall Champaign, IL 48–29 3,405 4–1 12/30/1941 yes 1941 Harvard Crimson Harvard Huff Hall Champaign, IL 39–30 3,116 5–1 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season 1/3/1942 yes Wisconsin Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI 55–40 7,000 6–1 1–0 1/10/1942 yes Michigan Yost Fieldhouse Ann Arbor, MI 44–40 3,500 7–1 2–0 1/12/1942 yes 1941 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State Ohio Expo Center Coliseum Columbus, OH 58–49 2,658 8–1 3–0 1/17/1942 1941 Chicago Maroons University of Chicago Huff Hall Champaign, IL 54–26 4,349 9–1 4–0 1/19/1942 1941 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 42–35 5,195 10–1 5–0 1/24/1942 1941 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Huff Hall Champaign, IL 49–36 7,051 11–1 6–0 2/7/1942 1941 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern Huff Hall Champaign, IL Rivalry 41–33 6,915 12–1 7–0 2/9/1942 yes Indiana The Fieldhouse Bloomington, IN Rivalry 36–41 6,200 12–2 7–1 2/14/1942 Michigan Huff Hall Champaign, IL 55–29 3,500 13–2 8–1 2/16/1942 yes Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 41–37 13,013 14–2 9–1 2/21/1942 Ohio State Huff Hall Champaign, IL 48–31 5,195 15–2 10–1 2/23/1942 Wisconsin Huff Hall Champaign, IL 45–43 6,105 16–2 11–1 2/28/1942 yes Northwestern Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL Rivalry 63–49 18,000 17–2 12–1 3/2/1942 yes Iowa Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA Rivalry 32–46 13,500 17–3 12–2 3/7/1942 1941 Purdue Boilermakers Purdue Huff Hall Champaign, IL 34–32 7,035 18–3 13–2 |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA Tournament 3/20/1942 yes Kentucky Tulane Gym New Orleans, LA First Round yes 44–46 3,500 18–4 3/21/1942 yes 1941 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State Tulane Gym New Orleans, LA East Regional Third Place 34–41 yes 3,500 18–5 Central Time SourceUniversity of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1939–40 pg.79, FightingIllini.com Player stats Player Games played Field goals Free throws PointsAndy Phillip 238758232Ken Menke239338224Victor Wukovits 235135137Arthur Mathisen224148130Jack Smiley 234320106Gene Vance 23441098Charles Fowler1414432William Hocking1510424Henry Sachs 1011123Edwin Parker 159422Raymond Grierson 4306Herbert Matter 2204David Dillon 3113Cliff Fulton 5102Raymond Bergeson 1000Bishop Barrick 1000 http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1941.html Season Stats 2014-04-17 https://web.archive.org/web/20140419011850/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1941.html 2014-04-19 dead Awards and honors Andy Phillip National Player of the Year Consensus All-American Big Ten Player of the Year Pic Magazine 2nd team All-American Converse 3rd team All-American 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 Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Gene Vance Sporting News Honorable Mention All-American Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005) Jack Smiley Sporting News Honorable Mention All-American Art Mathisen Sporting News Honorable Mention All-American Ken Menke Sporting News Honorable Mention All-American Converse Honorable Mention All-American References Illinois Fighting Illini Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball Illinois