1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
AP No. 4
1948–49 record 21–4 (10–2 Big Ten)
Head coach Harry Combes
Assistant coach Howie Braun
Assistant coach Wally Roettger
MVP Dike Eddleman
Captain Dike Eddleman
Home arena Huff Hall
1948–49 Big Nine Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
#4 Illinois10–2 .833  21–4  .840
#6 Minnesota9–3 .750  18–3  .857
Michigan7–5 .583  15–6  .714
#20 Ohio State6–6 .500  14–7  .667
Indiana6–6 .500  14–8  .636
Purdue6–6 .500  13–9  .591
Wisconsin5–7 .417  12–10  .545
Iowa3–9 .250  10–10  .500
Northwestern2–10 .167  5–16  .238
Rankings from AP Poll
"1948-49 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"

The 1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1948-49 squad, led by Dike Eddleman, Bill Erickson, and Walter Osterkorn, was Illinois’ first 20-game winner since 1908, finishing 21-4. Illinois beat Yale, 71-67, to advance to a national semifinal showdown with Kentucky at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Illini fell to the Wildcats, 76-47, forcing Illinois to defeat Oregon State, 57-53, in Seattle for third place.

Roster

1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 7 Jim Cottrell 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)167 lb (76 kg) SoChampaign Central High School Champaign, Illinois
F 8 Roy Gatewood 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)174 lb (79 kg) JrSalem High School Salem, Illinois
G 9 Dick Foley 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)165 lb (75 kg) SrParis High School Paris, Illinois
C 10 Bill Boyer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)190 lb (86 kg) SoBeardstown High School Beardstown, Illinois
G 11 Don Sunderlage 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)180 lb (82 kg) SoElgin High School Elgin, Illinois
G 12 Richard Brogren 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)175 lb (79 kg) SoEast High School Rockford, Illinois
C 13 Walter Osterkorn 6 ft 4.5 in (1.94 m)207 lb (94 kg) JrAmundsen High School Chicago, Illinois
F 14 Burdette Thurlby 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrKirkland High School Kirkland, Illinois
G 15 Paul Eckert 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)178 lb (81 kg) SoHerrin High School Herrin, Illinois
C 21 Walt Kersulis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)197 lb (89 kg) JrEast St. Louis Senior High School East St. Louis, Illinois
F 22 Van Anderson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)185 lb (84 kg) JrSullivan Community High School Sullivan, Illinois
F 23 Ted Beach 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)165 lb (75 kg) SoChampaign Central High School Champaign, Illinois
F 24 Benton Odum 6 ft 0.5 in (1.84 m)175 lb (79 kg) JrMarion High School Marion, Illinois
F 27 Jim Marks 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)177 lb (80 kg) SrEdwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois
F 30 Glen Trugillo 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)160 lb (73 kg) SoEast High School Rockford, Illinois
G 31 Bill Hoffman 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)175 lb (79 kg) SoWells High School Chicago, Illinois
G 33 Bill Erickson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)184 lb (83 kg) JrEast High School Rockford, Illinois
C 36 Al Leavitt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)230 lb (104 kg) SoSullivan High School Chicago, Illinois
F 40 Dwight Eddleman (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)189 lb (86 kg) SrCentralia High School Centralia, Illinois
C 48 Fred Green 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)208 lb (94 kg) SrUrbana High School Urbana, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[1]

Schedule

Source[2]

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/3/1948*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Butler W 67-62  1-0
 Huff Hall (-)
Champaign, IL
12/8/1948*
no, no		 No. NR @ Notre Dame W 59–58 ot 2-0
 Notre Dame Fieldhouse (-)
Notre Dame, IN
12/11/1948*
no, no		 No. NR vs. DePaul L 50–60  2-1
 Chicago Stadium (17,189)
Chicago, IL
12/13/1948*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Oklahoma W 73–68  3-1
 Huff Hall (6,902)
Champaign, IL
12/18/1948*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Pennsylvania W 80–61  4-1
 Huff Hall (3,943)
Champaign, IL
12/20/1948*
no, no		 No. NR vs. DePaul W 89–51  5-1
 Huff Hall (6,013)
Champaign, IL
12/21/1948*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Cornell W 71–47  6-1
 Huff Hall (3,042)
Champaign, IL
12/29/1948*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Colgate W 77–54  7-1
 Huff Hall (4,541)
Champaign, IL
12/30/1948*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Colgate W 85–55  8-1
 Huff Hall (3,880)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/3/1949
no, no		 No. NR vs. Wisconsin W 62–50  9-1 (1-0)
 Huff Hall (-)
Champaign, IL
1/8/1949
no, no		 No. NR @ Indiana
Rivalry		 W 44–42 2ot 10-1 (2-0)
 The Field House (10,000)
Bloomington, IN
1/10/1949
no, no		 No. NR @ Ohio State W 64–63  11-1 (3-0)
 Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (6,958)
Columbus, OH
1/15/1949*
no, no		 No. NR vs. Creighton W 96–30  12-1
 Huff Hall (6,958)
Champaign, IL
1/29/1949
no, no		 No. 7 vs. Minnesota (#4) W 45–44  13-1 (4-0)
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
1/31/1949
no, no		 No. 6 @ Purdue L 53–55  13-2 (4-1)
 Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000)
West Lafayette, IN
2/5/1949
no, no		 No. 4 @ Wisconsin W 61–54  14-2 (5-1)
 Wisconsin Field House (13,500)
Madison, WI
2/7/1949
no, no		 No. 4 vs. Northwestern W 85–66  15-2 (6-1)
 Huff Hall (12,088)
Champaign, IL
2/12/1949
no, no		 No. 4 vs. Ohio State (#18) W 64–49  16-2 (7-1)
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
2/21/1949
no, no		 No. 4 vs. Iowa W 80–49  17-2 (8-1)
 Huff Hall (-)
Champaign, IL
2/26/1949
no, no		 No. 4 vs. Northwestern W 81–64  18-2 (9-1)
 Chicago Stadium (17,905)
Chicago, IL
2/28/1949
no, no		 No. 4 vs. Indiana
Rivalry		 W 91–28  19-2 (10-1)
 Huff Hall (-)
Champaign, IL
3/7/1949
no, no		 No. 4 @ Michigan L 53–70  19-3 (10-2)
 Yost Field House (-)
Ann Arbor, MI
NCAA Tournament
3/21/1949*
no, no		 No. 4 vs. Yale
NCAA Tournament[3]		 W 71–67  20-3
 Madison Square Garden (18,051)
New York, NY
3/22/1949*
no, no		 No. 4 vs. Kentucky (#1)
NCAA Tournament Final Four		 L 47–76  20-4
 Madison Square Garden (15,126)
New York, NY
3/26/1949*
no, no		 No. 4 vs. Oregon State
NCAA Tournament 3rd Place Game		 W 57–53  21-4
 Hec Edmundson Pavilion (-)
Seattle, WA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

NCAA basketball tournament

  • Eastern
    • Illinois 71, Yale 67
  • Final Four
    • Kentucky 76, Illinois 47
  • Third Place Game
    • Illinois 57, Oregon State 53

[4]

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Dwight Eddleman2513069329
Wally Osterkorn259081261
Bill Erickson259179261
Fred Green256524154
Don Sunderlage255739153
Jim Marks205327133
Walt Kersulis204323109
Burdette Thurlby17362193
Van Anderson2332872
Dick Foley24241159
Ted Beach1413834
Roy Gatewood99422
Richard Brogren64311
Glen Trugillo10226
Benton Odum3133
Jim Cottrell5113
Bill Boyer2000

[5]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

RoundPickPlayerNBA Club
3N/ADike EddlemanChicago Stags

[7]

References

  1. ↑ Men's Basketball Roster
  2. ↑ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1948-49 Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine., FightingIllini.com
  3. ↑ http://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1949
  4. ↑ http://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1949
  5. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  6. ↑ List of MVPs
  7. ↑ 1949 NBA Draft Archived 2012-05-03 at the Wayback Machine.
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