1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 10
APNo. 11
Record18–4 (14-4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPIrv Bemoras
CaptainJim Bredar
Home arenaHuff Hall
1952–53 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 1 Indiana17–1 .94423–3  .885
No. 11 Illinois14–4 .77818–4  .818
Minnesota11–7 .61114–8  .636
Michigan State11–7 .61113–9  .591
Wisconsin10–8 .55613–9  .591
Iowa9–9 .50012–10  .545
Ohio State7–11 .38910–12  .455
Northwestern5–13 .2786–16  .273
Michigan3–15 .1676–16  .273
Purdue3–15 .1674–18  .182
Rankings from AP Poll
"1952-53 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"

The 1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

Regular season

Under the leadership of Harry Combes and coming off consecutive third-place finishes in the NCAA Tournament, the Fighting Illini men's basketball program had become one of the most powerful in the nation. The 1952-53 team returned one of the most dominant players in the NCAA, Johnny Kerr. It also returned United Press honorable mention all-American guards Irv Bemoras and Jim Bredar.

Unfortunately the Illini would lose 4 conference games during the Big Ten season which would give them a second-place finish. Three of the four losses came at the hands of ranked opponents. The starting lineup included captain Jim Bredar and Irving Bemoras at guard, Clive Follmer and Max Hooper at the forward slot with Robert Peterson and, future hall of famer Johnny "Red" Kerr at the center position. The team also included former University of Minnesota head coach Jim Dutcher.[1]

Roster

1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 7 Morris Sterneck 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)170 lb (77 kg) SoSalem High School Salem, Illinois
G 9 Elmer Plew 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)170 lb (77 kg) SoParis High School Paris, Illinois
G 16 Jim Wright 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)165 lb (75 kg) JrLawrenceville High School Lawrenceville, Illinois
G 19 James Bredar (C) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)170 lb (77 kg) SrSalem High School Salem, Illinois
C 22 Johnny Kerr 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)215 lb (98 kg) JrTilden High School Chicago, Illinois
G 24 Ed Makovsky 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)205 lb (93 kg) SoMorton High School Cicero, Illinois
C 25 Robert Peterson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)250 lb (113 kg) SrElgin High School Wayne, Illinois
G 26 Irving Bemoras 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)188 lb (85 kg) SrMarshall High School Chicago, Illinois
F 27 Jim Dutcher 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)188 lb (85 kg) SoDowners Grove High School Downers Grove, Illinois
F 29 Max Baumgardner 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)195 lb (88 kg) SrSterling High School Sterling, Illinois
F 33 Clive Follmer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)198 lb (90 kg) SrForrest High School Forrest, Illinois
F 47 Max Hooper 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)200 lb (91 kg) JrMt. Vernon High School Mt. Vernon, Illinois
G 48 James Schuldt 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)193 lb (88 kg) SrDundee Community High School Dundee, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
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
12/10/1952*
no, no		 No. NR Loyola (Chicago) W 71–57  1-0
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
12/15/1952
no, no		 No. NR Michigan W 96–66  2-0 (1-0)
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
12/20/1952*
no, no		 No. 3 Butler W 75–58  3-0
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
12/23/1952
no, no		 No. 2 Minnesota (No. 17) L 73–77  3-1 (1-1)
 Williams Arena (16,878)
Minneapolis, MN
12/27/1952
no, no		 No. 2 Ohio State W 87–62  4-1 (2-1)
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
12/30/1952*
no, no		 No. 4 St. Mary's W 94–65  5-1
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
1/5/1953
no, no		 No. 4 Purdue W 87–71  6-1 (3-1)
 Lambert Fieldhouse (-)
West Lafayette, IN
1/10/1953
no, no		 No. 4 Wisconsin W 71–61  7-1 (4-1)
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
1/12/1953
no, no		 No. 4 Northwestern W 83–58  8-1 (5-1)
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
1/17/1953
no, no		 No. 4 Indiana (No. 6)
Rivalry		 L 70–74 2OT 8-2 (5-2)
 The Fieldhouse (10,000)
Bloomington, IN
1/19/1953
no, no		 No. 4 Michigan State W 76–64  9-2 (6-2)
 Jenison Fieldhouse (-)
East Lansing, MI
2/2/1953*
no, no		 No. 6 DePauw W 93–50  10-2
 Huff Hall (4,002)
Champaign, IL
2/7/1953
no, no		 No. 6 Wisconsin W 65–61  11-2 (7-2)
 Wisconsin Field House (13,500)
Madison, WI
2/9/1953
no, no		 No. 6 Michigan W 92–62  12-2 (8-2)
 Yost Field House (6,000)
Ann Arbor, MI
2/14/1953
no, no		 No. 5 Iowa
Rivalry		 W 80–63  13-2 (9-2)
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
2/16/1953
no, no		 No. 5 Purdue W 93–67  14-2 (10-2)
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
2/21/1953
no, no		 No. 5 Iowa
Rivalry		 L 62–67  14-3 (10-3)
 Iowa Field House (14,000)
Iowa City, IA
2/23/1953
no, no		 No. 5 Minnesota W 83–82  15-3 (11-3)
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
2/28/1953
no, no		 No. 10 Indiana (No. 2)
Rivalry		 L 79–91  15-4 (11-4)
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
3/2/1953
no, no		 No. 10 Michigan State W 66–53  16-4 (12-4)
 Huff Hall (6,905)
Champaign, IL
3/7/1953
no, no		 No. 10 Ohio State W 93–74  17-4 (13-4)
 Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (5,242)
Columbus, OH
3/9/1953
no, no		 No. 10 Northwestern W 86–70  18-4 (14-4)
 McGaw Memorial Hall (9,700)
Evanston, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Rankings

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
John Kerr2215380386
Irv Bemoras2211984322
Jim Bredar2210650262
Clive Follmer228286250
Max Hooper217345191
Bob Peterson225354160
Jim Schuldt19141139
Jim Wright1715737
Max Baumgardner9131036
Ed Makovsky1691533
Elmer Plew1312630
Jim Dutcher107923
Morris Sterneck9146

[5]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player NBA Club
Jim BredarFt. Wayne Pistons

[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 1952-53, FightingIllini.com
  4. ↑ Schedule
  5. ↑ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  6. ↑ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  7. ↑ 1953 NBA Draft Archived 2013-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
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