1935–36 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1935–36 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Indiana	11	–	1	.917	18	–	2	.900
Purdue	11	–	1	.917	16	–	4	.800
Michigan	7	–	5	.583	15	–	5	.750
Illinois	7	–	5	.583	13	–	6	.684
Northwestern	7	–	5	.583	13	–	6	.684
Ohio State	5	–	7	.417	12	–	8	.600
Iowa	5	–	7	.417	9	–	10	.474
Wisconsin	4	–	8	.333	11	–	9	.550
Minnesota	3	–	9	.250	7	–	17	.292
Chicago	0	–	12	.000	6	–	14	.300

The 1935–36 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1935-36 season would turn out to be Craig Ruby's 14th and final year of coaching at the University of Illinois. It would also turn out to be Ruby's final head coaching job anywhere as he would leave to pursue a career with Hallmark Greeting Cards. Ruby's tenure at Illinois ranks 3rd behind Lou Henson (21 years) and Harry Combes (20 years). His 148 wins also ranks 5th behind Henson (423) Combes (316) and Bruce Weber (210) and Doug Mills (151). Along with future head coach Harry Combes, the Illini returned 10 lettermen from a team that had finished in first place in the Big Ten the year before. Unfortunately for the Illini, they lost 3 conference games at home and finished with a record of 7 wins and 5 losses. The team finished the season with an overall record of 13 wins 6 losses. The starting lineup included captain Howard Braun and Wilbur Henry at guard, Harry Combes, Harold Benham and James Vopicka at forward, with Robert Riegel at the center position.^[1]

Team

File:1935-36 Illinois Fighting Illini freshman basketball team.jpg

"1935-36 Fighting Illini freshmen basketball team included Lou Boudreau"

No.	Player	Position	Class	Hometown
3	Duane Cullinan	Forward	Junior	Pekin, Illinois
4	Robert Riegel	Center	Junior	Tolono, Illinois
5	Howard Braun (captain)	Guard	Senior	Champaign, Illinois
6	Wilbur Henry	Guard	Junior	North Hollywood, California
7	James Vopicka	Guard	Junior	Berwyn, Illinois
8	Harold Benham	Forward	Senior	Downers Grove, Illinois
9	Lowell Spurgeon	Guard	Sophomore	Rockford, Illinois
10	Harold Swanson	Forward	Junior	Chicago Heights, Illinois
11	Byron Blout	Forward	Senior	Salinas, California
12	Martin Markworth	Center	Senior	Cleveland, Ohio
13	Lester Lindberg	Guard	Senior	Lockport, Illinois
14	Russell Layer	Guard	Sophomore
15	Paul W. Gibbs	Guard	Senior	Los Angeles, California
16	Howard Braun	Guard	Junior	Champaign, Illinois
17	Harry Combes	Guard	Junior	Champaign, Illinois
18	Stanley Bergbom	Guard	Sophomore	Barrington, Illinois
19	William Bennis	Forward	Sophomore	Freeport, Illinois
20	William Gates	Forward	Senior	Rockford, Illinois
25	Harry Van Hook	Guard	Sophomore	Mt. Pulaski, Illinois
28	Edward Yeaton	Guard	Sophomore	Elkhorn, Wisconsin
29	Howard Gasaway	Forward	Sophomore	Liberal, Kansas

Head Coach: Craig Ruby (14th year at Illinois)

^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 7, 1935	St. Louis	35–27	Win	Champaign, IL	4,960
December 11, 1935	Wabash	40–22	Win	Champaign, IL	4,804
December 17, 1935	Depauw	47–14	Win	Champaign, IL	5,000
December 20, 1935	DePaul	26–24	Win	Chicago, IL	6,000
December 28, 1935	Knox College	48–31	Win	Galesburg, IL	1,500
December 30, 1935	California	42–17	Win	Champaign, IL	3,000
January 4, 1936	Iowa	26–27	Loss	Iowa City, IA	-
January 6, 1936	Minnesota	42–19	Win	Minneapolis, MN	-
January 11, 1936	Wisconsin	29–27	Win	Madison, WI	7,500
January 13, 1936	Ohio State	13–18	Loss	Champaign, IL	5,500
January 18, 1936	Northwestern	28–40	Loss	Champaign, IL	4,500
February 5, 1936	Notre Dame	23–33	Loss	Notre Dame, IN	-
February 10, 1936	Iowa	36–14	Win	Champaign, IL	4,000
February 15, 1936	Wisconsin	36–20	Win	Champaign, IL	4,500
February 17, 1936	Northwestern	39–38	Win	Evanston, IL	-
February 22, 1936	Minnesota	35–33	Win	Champaign, IL	4,500
February 24, 1936	Michigan	37–42	Loss	Champaign, IL	5,500
February 29, 1936	Ohio State	30–20	Win	Columbus, OH	5,500
March 2, 1936	Michigan	22–35	Loss	Ann Arbor, MI	-

Bold Italic denotes conference game

References

^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
^ All-Time Illini Rosters

[1] Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7

[2] All-Time Illini Rosters

[1]

[2]

v t e Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)
Rivalries	Indiana Iowa Missouri Northwestern
Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics