1956–57 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1956–57 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illiniois.

1956–57 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. Not Ranked
APNo. Not Ranked
1956–57 record14–8 (7-7 Big Ten)
Head coachHarry Combes
Assistant coaches
MVPHarv Schmidt
CaptainHarv Schmidt
Home arenaHuff Hall
1956–57 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Indiana10–4 .714  14–8  .636
No.  11 Michigan State10–4 .714  16–10  .615
Minnesota9–5 .643  14–8  .636
Ohio State9–5 .643  14–8  .636
Purdue8–6 .571  15–7  .682
Michigan8–6 .571  13–9  .591
Illinois7–7 .500  14–8  .636
Iowa4–10 .286  8–14  .364
Wisconsin3–11 .214  5–17  .227
Northwestern2–12 .143  6–16  .273
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

Harry Combes celebrated 10 years as the head coach of the University of Illinois' Fighting Illini basketball team. During his ten years as coach, Combes had established the Illini as a national powerhouse with sportswriters taking note. For example, the Associated Press began its basketball poll in 1949 with United Press International adding its poll in 1951 and from 1951-56 the Illini finished the season ranked in the Top 20 nationally every year. Illinois’ highest final ranking in the 1950s was second in both polls in 1952.

The 1956-57 team, unfortunately, would begin a downward spiral for Combes success, sending it into a time span where his teams would finish in the lower half of the Big Ten for four of six years. A highlight of the 1957 season would take place on December 17, 1956, when Illinois defeated San Francisco, 62-33, snapping the Dons’ 51-game regular-season win streak. This season also marked the first time that a Fighting Illini team entered a holiday tournament. The Kentucky Invitational brought Southern Methodist, Dayton and Illinois to Lexington for a two-day tournament, once again matching Adolph Rupp with Combes. Combes had talented lettermen return including the leading scorers George Bon Salle, Don Ohl and team "captain" Harv Schmidt. It also saw the return of Bill Altenberger, Hiles Stout, John Paul and Ted Caiazza. The team also added sophomore Roger Taylor. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 7 wins and 7 losses, finishing in 7th place in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 14 wins and 8 losses. The starting lineup included George Bon Salle at the center position, Roger Taylor and Don Ohl at guard and Harv Schmidt and Hiles Stout at the forward slots.[1]

Roster
1956–57 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
F 10 Hiles Stout 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)205 lb (93 kg) SrCentral High School Peoria, Illinois
G 12 Roger Taylor 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)160 lb (73 kg) SoRich High School Park Forest, Illinois
F 14 Jim Chengary 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)190 lb (86 kg) JrBowen High School Chicago, Illinois
G 20 Bill Altenberger 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)179 lb (81 kg) SrSenior High School East St. Louis, Illinois
C 22 George Bon Salle 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)225 lb (102 kg) SrLoyola Academy Chicago, Illinois
C 24 Ted Caiazza 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)235 lb (107 kg) JrLyons Township High School LaGrange, Illinois
G 30 Billy Bolk 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)175 lb (79 kg) JrJames A. Garfield High School Terre Haute, Indiana
F 32 Harvard Schmidt (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)195 lb (88 kg) SrKankakee High School Kankakee, Illinois
F 33 Al Gosnell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)190 lb (86 kg) SoLawrenceville High School Lawrenceville, Illinois
F 34 Larry Breyfogle 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)165 lb (75 kg) JrLawrenceville High School Lawrenceville, Illinois
F 40 Lloyd Eggers 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)185 lb (84 kg) SoToledo High School Toledo, Illinois
G 42 John Paul 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)175 lb (79 kg) JrSt. Edward High School Elgin, Illinois
G 44 Don Ohl 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)180 lb (82 kg) JrEdwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois
C 48 Bob Brown 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)196 lb (89 kg) SoDuPont High School Wilmington, Delaware
F 52 Tom Haller 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)180 lb (82 kg) SoLockport Township High School Lockport, Illinois
F 54 Bernie Thompson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)175 lb (79 kg) SoFairmont Senior High School Fairmont, West Virginia
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (20th year)
  • Jim Bredar (University of Illinois) (1st year)
  • Jess MacLeay (University of Illinois) (1st year)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Roster

Source[2]

Schedule

Source[3]

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state[4]
Non-Conference regular season
12/5/1956*
no, no		 No. NR Butler W 98–81  1-0
 Huff Hall (6,240)
Champaign, IL
12/8/1956*
no, no		 No. NR Oklahoma W 69–58  2-0
 McCasland Field House (3,000)
Norman, OK
12/15/1956*
no, no		 No. 7 Loyola (New Orleans) W 83–72  3-0
 Huff Hall (6,128)
Champaign, IL
12/17/1956*
no, no		 No. 7 No. 2 San Francisco W 62–33  4–0
 Huff Hall (6,912)
Champaign, IL
12/21/1956*
no, no		 No. 5 Dayton
Kentucky Invitational Tournament		 W 82–65  5-0
 Memorial Coliseum (7,000)
Lexington, KY
12/22/1956*
no, no		 No. 5 Kentucky (No. 7)
Kentucky Invitational Tournament		 L 70–91  5-1
 Memorial Coliseum (9,500)
Lexington, KY
12/28/1956*
no, no		 No. 6 Princeton W 108–87  6-1
 Huff Hall (2,559)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/5/1957
no, no		 No. 5 Minnesota (No. 19) L 88–91  6-2 (0-1)
 Williams Arena (14,062)
Minneapolis, MN
1/7/1957
no, no		 No. 5 Iowa
Rivalry		 W 81–70  7-2 (1-1)
 Huff Hall (3,390)
Champaign, IL
1/12/1957
no, no		 No. 10 Wisconsin W 79–63  8-2 (2-1)
 Wisconsin Field House (4,000)
Madison, WI
1/14/1957
no, no		 No. 10 Indiana
Rivalry		 W 112–91  9-2 (3-1)
 Huff Hall (6,899)
Champaign, IL
1/26/1957*
no, no		 No. 9 Notre Dame W 99–81  10-2
 Chicago Stadium (15,678)
Chicago, IL
2/2/1957
no, no		 No. 7 Purdue L 74–85  10-3 (3-2)
 Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000)
West Lafayette, IN
2/4/1957
no, no		 No. 7 Ohio State (No. 11) W 96–89  11-3 (4-2)
 Huff Hall (6,189)
Champaign, IL
2/9/1957
no, no		 No. 15 Michigan State L 64–70  11-4 (4-3)
 Jenison Fieldhouse (7,394)
East Lansing, MI
2/11/1957
no, no		 No. 15 Northwestern W 104–97  12-4 (5-3)
 Huff Hall (6,899)
Champaign, IL
2/16/1957
no, no		 No. 16 Michigan L 89–102  12-5 (5-4)
 Yost Field House (6,800)
Ann Arbor, MI
2/18/1957
no, no		 No. 16 Michigan State L 83–89  12-6 (5-5)
 Huff Hall (6,800)
Champaign, IL
2/23/1957
no, no		 No. NR Purdue W 80–78  13-6 (6-5)
 Huff Hall (6,850)
Champaign, IL
2/25/1957
no, no		 No. NR Ohio State W 79–72  14-6 (7-5)
 St. John Arena (13,380)
Columbus, OH
3/2/1957
no, no		 No. NR Minnesota L 75–86  14-7 (7-6)
 Huff Hall (6,251)
Champaign, IL
3/4/1957
no, no		 No. 6 Indiana (No. 10)
Rivalry		 L 76–84  14-8 (7-7)
 The Fieldhouse (10,000)
Bloomington, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats
Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Harv Schmidt22156102414
Don Ohl2214553343
George BonSalle1410469277
Hiles Stout217788242
Roger Taylor228852228
Bill Altenberger187226170
John Paul214918116
Ted Caiazza1881430
Tom Haller1631016
Larry Breyfogle156113
Jim Chengary4022
Bob Brown1000
Lloyd Eggers4000

[5]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA
Player NBA Club Round Pick
George Bon SalleSyracuse Nationals 1 7
Harv SchmidtMinneapolis Lakers 2 3

[7]

Rankings

References
  1. Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. Men's Basketball Roster
  3. University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1956-57, FightingIllini.com
  4. Schedule
  5. "Season Stats". Archived from the original on 2013-06-25. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  6. List of MVPs
  7. 1957 NBA Draft Archived 2013-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
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